After finishing the performance and returning to my seat, the small animal-like Taira-chan, whose eyes were as red as a rabbit’s, was patting the seat next to her.
“Over here, Senpai!”
There were three seats lined up to the left of Taira-chan.
Well, I didn’t really care where I sat, but...
“Konuma-kun, should I sit next to Tsubame-chan instead?”
For some reason, Ichikawa made that suggestion. Why?
“A-amane-sama... r-right now, that would be bad...!”
Taira-chan’s cheeks flushed deep red. Why, though?
“Just sit down already, Takuto. Yurisuke and the others are about to start.”
Sako pushed me from behind. That wasn’t a 'why' moment. She was just being logical.
“Oh, sorry.”
In the end, I sat to the left of Taira-chan.
“Heave-ho.”
“A-are...?”
With a very smooth movement, Sako sat to my left, and then Ichikawa sat to the far left while tilting her head in confusion.
“...So, Taira-chan, why would it be bad to sit next to Ichikawa?”
When I asked in a whisper, she replied,
“Because, it was ‘Boat’! How many times do you think I’ve been saved by that song?! I’ve even gone to Inokashira Park to look at the boats while clasping my hands in prayer! The emotions are just too much, it’s so emo, I’m crying, I’m sobbing! Also, is it true that you were the one who suggested performing that song, Konuma-senpai?! Are you a god?! How much are you going to play with my heart?! Are you a god?! Thank you so much! And and, I have to watch Stella-chan’s big moment now, so I wouldn’t be able to concentrate if amane-sama was right next to me!”
While she managed to keep her voice down, she fired back a long response, unable to suppress her excitement. Scary...
How do I put it? That feeling of losing sight of your surroundings when talking about something you love... I’ve seen it somewhere before. Wait, that’s just like me. I should be careful...
From now on, I’ll try to be conscious of conveying my intentions as briefly as possible.
“Got it.”
“Jeez, that’s such a normie way of talking!”
While we were having that silly exchange, about thirty members of the Instrumental Music Club lined up on stage.
In addition to the drums, bass, piano, and guitar, there were brass instruments like trombones and trumpets, and woodwinds like saxophones all lined up. I wonder if it’s easiest to describe it as something like a large-scale Ska Para...?
It seems the Instrumental Music Club performs music called ‘Big Band Jazz.’
I had some knowledge of the Big Band Jazz genre—like it being featured in the movie ‘Swing Girls’ a long time ago, or being a popular show at a certain kingdom of dreams (the one by the sea) for over ten years—but this was the first time I was seeing it live.
President Azuma, with a bass hanging from her neck, began speaking through the microphone Ichikawa had been using just moments ago.
“Hello, we are the Instrumental Music Club! We play a style of music called Big Band Jazz. How many of you have seen us perform before?”
Almost everyone raised their hands. Actually, everyone except me raised their hands.
...Wait, am I really in such a small minority!?
“Konuma-senpai, you’ve never seen them?! Even though you’re Azuma-senpai’s best friend?!”
Taira-chan looked genuinely appalled.
“No, like I said, I wouldn’t go as far as calling us best friends...”
“The Instrumental Music Club is a famous part of Musashino International! If you look us up on Wikipedia, the Instrumental Music Club is at the very top of the club activities section! Look, look!”
She shoved her smartphone in my face. Seriously, Taira-chan loves internet information too much... Don’t believe everything you see on the internet; I’ve seen people say that plenty of times. On the internet.
Azuma spoke up again.
“I’m happy so many of you know us! I’d like to introduce the instruments, but anyway, since ‘Hearing is believing,’ we’ll just play. Well, either way, you’re listening.”
The audience gave a modest chuckle at her pun.
Exactly one person, Otomo-kun, was cracking up, looking at her with a face that said, ‘That’s our Yuri-chan,’ which was kind of creepy.
“It’s frustrating, but she put that well...!”
To my right, Taira-chan was grinding her teeth. Eh, that much?
“Hey, Kenji, what is Yuri saying? Erina doesn’t get it at all.”
“I don’t get it either.”
I heard those voices nearby.
Well, Erina-san is a returnee, after all... But Hazama, you should at least try to understand her.
“First, so that everyone in the Rock Club thinks we’re cool, we’ll play a song said to be a fusion of Big Band Jazz and Rock—Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band’s ‘The Jazz Police’! Yutaka, give us the count!”
Otomo-kun nodded, clicked his sticks together, and the performance began.
The song started with a rock-style guitar riff that made me think, “This is jazz?” and the bass joined in a moment later.
In that instant.
“No way...”
The words slipped out of my mouth despite myself.
“Yurisuke... that girl again...”
To my left, Sako was biting her nail.
What is this? What the hell is this...?
There stood Azuma, playing the bass better and cooler than any bassist I had ever seen live.
Hey, she’s way too good...
“...Senpai, is this your first time seeing Azuma-senpai play bass?”
Taira-chan whispered to me so only I could hear.
“Y-yeah...”
“Azuma-senpai is said to be the most skilled active bassist in the history of the Instrumental Music Club, which has produced many professionals.”
“Seriously...?”
“Moreover, Azuma-senpai, who prides herself on being ordinary, has skill that is backed by an overwhelming amount of practice. If the President is practicing like a demon while saying ‘talent doesn’t matter,’ the other members can’t slack off at all.”
“True...”
“That’s how she got the nickname ‘Demon President.’”
“I see...”
So it wasn’t a nickname that came from her being harsh toward the members, then...?
“...I talked too much during the performance, sorry.”
Perhaps interpreting my silence that way, Taira-chan closed her mouth and returned her gaze to the stage.
The precise yet energetic and powerful performance continued.
I was distracted by Azuma’s bass, but Otomo-kun’s drumming was also incredibly good.
It didn’t feel like he was hitting the drums; it felt like the drums were a part of Otomo-kun’s body, and he was simply making the sounds he wanted to make.
Just how much practice does it take to be able to do this...?
What do you mean, ‘All I can do is music’? If you can do this much, it’s more than enough...
A saxophone solo ended, an incredibly skilled guitar solo passed, and the song built up significantly—chopping, swelling, surging, and going wild, vibrating everything from the hall to the air to our very hearts.
Everyone performing exchanged glances.
A trumpet wailed like a scream for the final phrase, and the song ended.
“““Woooooah!!!”””
The Rock Club erupted in cheers.
“Seriously...?”
I could only laugh, overwhelmed by the surprise and emotion.
Sako was already muttering,
“What’s even the point of me playing bass...”
She was having an identity crisis. No, I could understand why she’d feel that way. It was that kind of performance.
“Thank you! The Instrumental Music Club will perform one more song!”
Azuma began speaking through the microphone again.
“Next, we’ll play a song that sounds a bit more like typical Big Band Jazz, called ‘Ya Gotta Try.’”
“This is the song Stella-chan is participating in!”
Taira-chan called out.
“The title ‘Ya Gotta Try’ seems to mean something like ‘You must give it a shot.’ In reality, this song has a very fast tempo and is quite difficult!”
Azuma made a ‘phew’ face, and the members of the Instrumental Music Club laughed wryly.
“And for this difficult piece, a first-year student who is participating in an ensemble for the first time will play a piano solo! Sitting right here, Hoshikage Stella.”
“Yay, it’s Stella-chan!”
On stage, Hoshikage-san, who had sat down at the piano placed right next to Azuma without me noticing, looked down bashfully.
“Recently, a friend of mine said, ‘If you try, you might not be able to do it, but if you don’t try, you definitely won’t be able to do it.’”
Azuma said that and looked toward me with a gentle smile. Or so it felt.
“That’s why I think we ‘gotta try’! So, with those thoughts in our hearts, we will perform!”
She braced herself, holding her bass.
“A cover of the Buddy Rich Big Band, ‘Ya Gotta Try’!”
When Otomo-kun began the count.
From the very beginning, the piano solo started.
The piano solo section proceeded with only the piano, drums, and bass.
“She really is amazing...”
Taira-chan breathed in admiration.
Yeah, she really is amazing.
She really is, but... still.
“...That girl is running wild.”
To my left, Sako whispered.
It was true.
Hoshikage-san couldn’t keep the tempo; following only her genius sensibilities, it was unstable, becoming faster or slower.
Because Otomo-kun’s drums and Azuma’s bass were matching her instantaneously, the song was holding together for now.
In fact, the members of the Rock Club were listening to the piano solo enraptured.
But.
This is a big band performance.
There must be a timing where the other wind instruments join in somewhere.
The members of the Instrumental Music Club looked bewildered, exchanging glances. After whispering and consulting with those nearby, they furrowed their brows in distress.
‘If you try, you might not be able to do it, but if you don’t try, you definitely won’t be able to do it.’
That’s true.
But.
Maybe that was an expression that admitted ‘there are things you can’t do even if you try.’
“Dammit...”
I bit my lower lip.
“Wait...?”
Even Taira-chan seemed to have noticed the anomaly.
The eyes of the Instrumental Music Club members concentrated on Azuma.
In the midst of that.
Azuma was smiling boldly.
While playing a super-fast bass line, she spoke loudly into the microphone.
“A big round of applause for the piano solo, Hoshikage Stella!”
Hmm...?
Everyone in the Rock Club cheered and sent a round of applause.
And Azuma continued.
“Next is a drum solo by our genius drummer, Otomo Yutaka!”
The club members on stage looked startled, glanced at each other, and nodded.
Did they understand from just that...?
‘I think the most important thing for a big band is coordination.’
It seemed I had underestimated the unity of the club that Azuma, who said those words, presided over.
“Here we go, one, two, one-two-three-four!”
After counting that far, she instantly took her hands off the bass.
“Ah...!”
Azuma hugged Hoshikage-san from behind.
Instantly, the piano sound stopped, and Otomo-kun’s drum solo began.
To be able to respond so instantaneously, she really is a demon...
Beside her, Hoshikage-san looked up at Azuma with a remorseful, tearful face.
In response, Azuma smiled gently and spoke to Hoshikage-san.
I can’t use lip-reading, let alone Azuma’s unique skill Mind Reading.
But I understood those short words.
“Leave it to me.”
Saying that, Azuma gently rested the sole of her shoe against the leg of the stool Hoshikage-san was sitting on.
Azuma turned to the microphone again.
“A big round of applause for the drums, Otomo Yutaka! Now, wind section, let’s go!”
And then.
“One, two, one-two-three-four!”
To that count, Azuma began tapping out the rhythm with her foot against the leg of Hoshikage-san’s stool.
“Yurisuke is too amazing...”
Hoshikage-san turned toward Azuma, nodded firmly, and resumed playing exactly on tempo.
Yes.
‘Actually, she recognizes it normally if there’s a touch...!’
Even if Hoshikage-san can’t hear with her ears, she can feel signals through her body.
Azuma’s foot tapping hit Hoshikage-san’s stool, indirectly sending the tempo to her body.
Because of that, Hoshikage-san became able to perform in the ensemble exactly on tempo.
“That’s incredible...!”
Taira-chan’s wet eyes sparkled as they reflected the stage lights.
“You’re too cool, Azuma-senpai...!!”
No, seriously, she’s way too cool...
After that, the song proceeded without a single mistake, including the piano.
The song reached its climax, and after all the instruments sang out with everything they had.
For a moment.
All instruments stopped their sound.
For just one measure, the piano played alone once more.
Then all the instruments screamed out sounds of joy again, and the song ended.
“““Wooooooooooooooooooooooah!!!!!!”””
“Thank you very much!”
Surrounded by ear-splitting cheers, Azuma wiped away her sweat.
‘Even if I don’t look it, I’m putting my youth into the Instrumental Music Club!’
Azuma’s words from the way home one day refrained in my mind.
With a beaming smile, Azuma declared loudly.
“This is our youth itself!”