Notes: Still surprised that this story is liked by people but here is the new chappie
Credits to: Natewantstobattle for the insert :3
Chapter 3: Instrumental Recording
"They're calling you The Fool now, you know?" Umbra said as Luna shushed him. Just the day after they were given the assignment, she was almost done with the song. At least for the bass, drums and melody. She just needed to finish guitar 1, 2 and 3 before placing the rest of the lyrics.
She placed her pencil on her lips as the car snuggled against her neck, "Can you even feel the cameras watching our every movements, Umbra?" He didn't seem to care as he just snuggled closer to her neck.
She sighed as she stood up from the desk before picking her guitar up and started strumming.
Just sleep
Just dream
Just sleep
Just dream
Just sleep
Just dream
She stopped playing as she turned to the window of the practice room and watched as other partners were happily talking about their song. Umbra sensed her wavering spirit.
"Are you sure you want to do it alone? This way you won't get a boyfriend you know." The cat said, trying to cheer her up.
Luna chuckled emptily, "I'm not talking about the project, Umbra. I can never be with someone. Not when they are after my life. They may take on innocent lives. Just like them. And the only thing I could do was watch helplessly as they slaughter every single one of them."
Umbra stayed quiet, his eyes no longer lazy. If it wasn't for that mere coincidence when she found him and made a accidental contract with her, she wouldn't even be alive until that day.
"Making people hate me is easier said than done. Distancing myself away is even worse because people will have no reason to fear me... What should I do, Umbra? It's kill or be killed in our life."
Umbra stayed quiet. It had been years since they've settled in one place. They were always on the move, due to certain circumstances. But they kept on coming back.
"To be honest with you... I'm not even sure. It's not even a week yet and the fact that your pigmentation problem also prevents you from using too much make up makes it harder. Are you sure about showing your true self here and at least not wearing a wig or something?" He asked, worried for his master as Luna petted him lovingly.
"Thank you for your concern. But it's been 15 years since they last saw me in my original appearance. They probably don't remember how I look like. Just know the fact that I have you on my side." She said.
Umbra sighed as he rested his head on her shoulder, "I see. Sometimes hiding in plain sight is good, but it's quite risky. With all of these people here." He warned her.
Luna gripped her hands tightly before looking at her right wrist. It was the contract with Umbra. It was a snake eating its own tail, not so surprising since he considered herself as a waking time bomb.
The door to the practice room was suddenly opened, Luma widened her eyes as she hid her wrist before she looked at the intruder.
"Eh? Ah, I-I'm sorry to disturb you, Lacrima-san. I c-chose the wrong room." Haruka said as the other girl sighed.
Luna closed her eyes before Umbra jumped off of her neck and went outside the window quickly, "It's fine." She said, packing all of her things, "I'm about to leave anyway." Once she had everything what was hers, she went to the door silently.
She stopped right in front of the frame before saying, "We're in the same boat, huh? Everyone doubts us." She said without looking back. Haruka quietly let's out a small gasp of air, but couldn't reply to her.
Haruka was a target of bullying due to the fact she couldn't read music at all. And everyone was talking behind her back and felt pity to the one that got partnered up with her. People like that made her sick to the stomach.
"I don't have anything to say to you. Even if someone were to try and cheer us up, it won't be enough. We can only rely on ourselves in this world. Remember that, Haruka. This world is cruel." She said before finally going outside. And yet so beautiful...
Lunch
Luna was still writing the composition, and she had no trouble doing so while walking towards the library. Oddly enough, it was the second time she had met Haruka that day. Though she seemed to be absorbed into her own studies so she ignored her before taking the window seat once more.
Guitar 1 and 2 were already done. She just need to adjust some parts for Guitar 3 before placing the rest of the lyrics and adding sound effects.
If they're done, she needed to talk to the teachers so they could arrange the time for professional musicians to accompany and play the work she had done. She would be the one singing as well so it lessened the burden on her.
She yawned slightly before looking through her work once more. Almost done, and it only took her roughly around three days. That was not a bad start she supposed.
Oh well, might as well insert the lyrics here. She thought to herself before a shadow loomed over her. She looked up to see the timid girl that was supposed to be studying a second ago.
"Um, Lacrima-san. I need help with learning this," she said as she showed the white haired girl the book and notes she has with her, "can you assist me please?"
Luna thought to herself. It was just a few days ago the assignment was given and probably the only one who was almost finish with it was herself. Time was no problem for her. She shrugged, "Fine then, sit down. What do you need help with?" She asked.
Haruka cheered up with a big smile before taking a seat as instructed, "I need help on how to compose a song. I managed to learn how to read music a notes but I unfortunately have no idea how to compose it." She said regretfully.
Luna tilted her head before beginning her explanation, "Before you begin composing your song, you will need to consider what it is for. What the purpose of the song is, what type of song it is, will significantly impact the writing process. You should plan accordingly." She said as she saw Haruka was taking notes on her notebook and looked at her as if asking her to continue.
"Some people will compose entirely from their own mind and will only sing or hum a part if they need to get an idea of how it sounds. Others, especially when writing a piece to be played on a specific instrument, will use that instrument while composing in order to try out how certain things sounds. Think about if you want or need an instrument with you in order to compose and plan accordingly."
She took a small breather before continuing, "Consider how you will be writing the music down, in both final format and while you are working. Those with more musical training will want to write sheet music, whereas those who have less may want to write out tabs or chords. If you are writing only for yourself and have a very good memory, it may be possible not to write anything at all but this is not recommended. Since you're a beginner, it's best if you start using paper-based alright?" The girl nodded her head as she jotted down all of the information she had.
"Before you can begin to compose a song, you will need to have a basic idea of how the song should sound. This tune should be the essence of the song and will be what you build everything else off of. One starting point would be the singable melody. This is the basic line of music, usually thought of as the part of a song. This is a tune which you can easily write lyrics to and build off of."
"Another method would be to start with a chord progression. This is a series of chords which will give the overall feel of the song. This may be a better place to start if you don't have a very good idea of the melody or are having trouble coming up with one."
And the lecture went on as Luna explained how to compose music in intricate detail to Haruka as she jotted all the notes down and asked questions if there was something she didn't understood like the types of musical formation.
And the bond they have had strengthened whether Luna liked it or not. Umbra couldn't help but smile from the shadows as he watched his Eve finally making human contact with others.
Tomorrow
Luna sighed as class finally ended. Her song was finally finished and she was content with it, "Lacrima," she blinked when Ryūya's voice came into her mind, "how are you doing with the project?" He asked. That was odd. Was he worried about her? She couldn't help but wonder that to herself.
"I'm actually done with it. I just need to record the instrumentals and I'm done." She said, packing all of her things as he whistled.
"I expected you to finish longer because of the double courses you're taking, but you surprised me yet again Lacrima." He said, smiling at her as she tilted her head while looking at her music sheet, "If you'd like, I can get some musicians to help you record it." He suggested.
Luna looked a bit conflicted, "I know Shining said you had to do it alone, but for the recording set, you'll need musicians to actually finish the whole thing." He said.
"I know, it's just that," Luna started, "I can play all instruments easily but I've never worked with other people. I don't have the best people skills." She confessed. Ryūya looked at her before scoffing.
"Come on. If you want to work in this business, you'll also need to communicate with others." He said, offering his hand to her, "I'll lead you to them." He offered.
Luna looked at his hand before changing her gaze to her music sheet. She slowly nodded her head, "Alright then. Lead the way."
Recording Studio 4
"Yo, Hyūga-san. What'cha need?" A man of average height with short, messy, dirty blonde hair with dark roots and brown eyes asked. He wore wear bright colored clothes that consist of a yellow varsity jacket and green shorts.
Ryūya pointed at the teen beside him, "She needs to record the instrumentals if that's okay with you, Hide." He explained.
Another man with spiky yellow-blonde hair with dark red streaks and brown eyes came into view from the recording room. He wore a black shirt beneath a pale green vest and a green tie around his neck. He had black pants that reached his shin and same colored socks and boots which was white and black.
He whistled at her, "Wow, aren't you the one who's taking both courses? And yet you finished the whole thing all by yourself? You're practically the first person to finish the whole song and you're doing double the work." He praised her.
Luna just stayed quiet, "You can leave her to us, Hyūga-san. We'll finish it in about an hour or so." Another voice came in.
He had dark, greenish hair which ends at his chest and dark red eyes. He wore a black shirt with high collars and long sleeves that reached up his wrists. He also wore dark violet trousers, black boots and a fingerless glove on his left hand. On his left ear was a ringed earring.
"Thanks, Mizuki." He looked at Luna who seemed fidgety. Or at least her eyes were telling him that. Otherwise, she looked normal, "Just call me if you need some help, alright? Or you can ask Hide, our audio engineer." He pointed to the man with bright colored clothing as he waved his hand to her.
Luna nodded her head, "Thanks, sensei." She said to him as he smiled before leaving her alone in the studio. She looked at the rest of them, "My name is Luna Lacrima. I'll be cooperating with you for the time being. A pleasure to meet you." She bowed slightly as it was tradition for Japanese people to bow to each other.
Hide waved her off, "No problem. My name is Kanzaki Hide. I'm the audio engineer in this studio. This guy here is Yukimura Mizuki. He plays the guitar." He pointed to the man beside him.
Hide continued the introduction of the drummer who was the one with orange hair with them, "And this guy here is Zenkichi Ken. The drummer. Over there is our other guitarist, Suzuki Yahiko." He pointed to the one on the other side. The man had black spiky hair and blue eyes. He wore a black jacket with skull-motif buttons and sequenced details on pockets. He kept it unzipped and the tag on the zipper also has a small skull.
Underneath he wore a steel gray shirt with skull prints. He wore black cropped trousers and black buckled boots with red soles. He also wore a black motorcycle glovelet on his left hand.
"And beside him is our keyboardist, Tanaka Shuu." He pointed to a handsome young man with slightly curled, blond hair as well as light ocean blue eyes. He had black studs on both of his ears.
He was also seen with his MP3 player attached to a wire that which was wrapped around his neck and with the earphones in his ears. He wore a light blue sweater over a dark blue shirt with dark pants and boots. He was still playing the keyboard for fun and practice.
Hide activated the microphone to let Yahiko and Shu hear them, "Hey, Shu, Yahiko. We have a job to do!" He said as the man inside just closed his eyes before standing with his black and red guitar hanging off of his shoulder.
He said something to Shu but it was ignored as Yahiko pulled out his earphones to let them know they had a job to do.
He opened the door to the master room with the other man who yawned, "So? Where's the sheets?" He asked. Luna each have them the sheets as they skimmed and scanned the whole composition. Ken whistled.
"W-wow... These are good. I can feel my emotions already burning with passion for freedom. And I haven't played the thing yet." The drummer said as Mizuki nodded his head, eyes slightly wide.
"The guitars here are also strong. A single chord played at each bar. It feels as if you want to be freed by something..." The man said as he looked at Luna who shrugged.
"And these special affects too... So much solitude, Lacrima-san." Hide said to her.
She just smiled sadly, "I'm not good with romance songs. Mostly because I haven't experience them. I write songs based on my experience, that's why it's easy to write them." She explained.
Yahiko looked at her before changing his gaze to the sheets once more, "So does that means you only experienced sad things in life then?" Shu asked her bluntly as everyone, except for Yahiko to glare at him to make him shut up.
Luna said nothing, not wanting to remember her past as Hide fidgeted in his seat due to the atmosphere, "A-alright then! Now let's start recording shall we?" He said as he tried to make the atmosphere lighter.
"I got the basic melody down, but it says here you need a third guitarist which we don't have." Mizuki said as Luna shrugged once more.
"I can be the third guitarist." She offered.
"You can play?" Yahiko asked, interested due to the fact that a woman can play a guitar.
Luna nodded her head, "I can play any instrument, but I favorite are the drums and the piano." She said before suddenly she was hugged by Ken by the shoulder.
"I like you already, Luna! The drums are awesome!" He said as the rest of the band, except for Hide who was laughing, sighed.
"Come on guys, let get the recording done with. Luna, you can play Guitar 1. Mizuki, you play Guitar 2 and Yahiko Guitar 3." Hide said to the guitarists as they all nodded.
"Shu, make sure you have the correct sound for this. It's a violin choir. You can leave the special effects to me." He continued as the keyboardist yawned in response. He took the yawn as a yes.
"And Ken, remember to soften your accents during half of the intro and the verses. You can go wild for the rest." He said as the drummer have an Ok sign to him.
"Alright. Make sure each instrument has the right pitch!" Hide said as everyone went inside the room to tune their instrument. Luna took a white guitar as she carefully tune it to make it sound better.
The sixth string was an E, good. That sounded perfect. She went onto the fifth one. An A. The fourth. She tuned it to a D. The third was an F, she tuned it down to a G. The second string was a B and the first was an E. Perfect.
Everyone in the band gave a signed that meant they were ready. Hide nodded his head as he activated the recording.
As the keyboard played the effect, the drums's bass played quietly. Slowly, the tempo began to pick it's pace before the guitars joined in. Everyone widened their eyes when they heard Luna played the guitar.
Her playing was a melody. The intense feeling they were experiencing. Even Hide had his eyes widened by her powerful music. The way she strummed the guitar had so many emotions, and it was the perfect fit for her.
It was like an angel descending from the heavens. And they were accompanying her. They couldn't make mistakes. No, they just couldn't.
All of their hidden emotions. The song was the key to unlock the hidden door inside their hearts. And those emotions were the ones that were overflowing their blood veins. They used those feelings to play with the Angel.
They couldn't afford to make any mistakes. They wanted to feel the adrenaline inside of them. To embrace the song whole. To feel the fire within themselves burn with such passion.
Hide couldn't believe his ears as tears fell from his eyes and flowed down his cheeks. An angel... He thought as he listened to them play the composition. Just who was she? This angel of solitude?
Later
"Thank you for your time with the song." Luna thanked them as they wiped off their tears from their eyes.
"It's our job, Lacima-san. But if you're going back here someday, would you mind not playing something so sad?" Hide asked her as the girl just tilted her head in confusion.
"That depends on my experience. But I thank you all once more. If you'll excuse me." She said before leaving the room, only to pause when she saw Ryūya at the door frame.
"Sorry." She said before leaving completely, leaving the band and Ryūya all to themselves. The actor then looked at his acquaintances to see small pile of tissues were in their hands.
"You too huh?" He said to them.
Ken chuckled, "I've heard rumors that there's a student whose playing is so sad, they can even make the happiest song so tragic. I never thought it was actually her, though." He said.
Mizuki nodded, "Indeed. The song she wrote had this certain feeling of desperation. Desperation for what is something that I don't know." He said.
Yahiko picked up her music sheet as he gave it to Ryūya, "This is her work. She called it Nightmare. She already finished with her lyrics and we managed to practice it twice with her singing. But the impact of her singing was even worse than her playing..." He admitted, causing Ryūya to widened his eyes.
Yahiko was a man of few words, and he had a wall to hide himself. He rarely shows his emotions to anyone else, including his closest friends. To think the singing of a teenaged girl was the one that made him break his mask.
The actor then took the paper from him as he read the melody and the lyrics of the sheet, "So please set me free. Now you have the key 'cuz I can't take the pain no more." He muttered quietly.
"Those lyrics are strong. They're filled with emotions that even I can't describe. They're just... Sad." Shu explained, or tried to explain.
Hide then said, "She told us that she based her compositions out of her own experiences. She only sees the dark side of the world. Something must've happened to her if it affects her music to this degree."
Ryūya gripped the paper tighter. As her teacher, he was worried for her mental health. It was the first composition she made and yet it was... Melancholic. He wondered just what could've happened to her during her childhood to experience such pain.
And that's a wrap for this chappie! Hope you guys enjoy that, if so leave a favorite, follow or review or do them all. So thank you everYbody for reading and as always, I will see you, in the nexr chapter... BYE BYE
Man I'd always wanted to say that!
