Chapter Four
Haruna stared into the bathroom mirror. It was steamed up from all of the steam from the shower. She raised her hand and wiped the glass with her hand. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her reflection looked back at her, in light sadness. There was a knock at the door.
"Haruna," called Mami. "Are you done in the shower? I'm bursting to use the toilet."
Haruna sighed.
"Sure," she said. "Give me a minute."
She tore her eyes from her reflection and turned off the shower. She unlocked the door and opened it slowly.
"I'm sorry," she said.
She exited the bathroom. Mami raced inside and closed the door with a snap. Haruna slowly walked into her bedroom and closed the door gently behind her.
The studio is dark. Dark silhouettes of their instruments can be seen in the shadows of the dark room. In the distance, voices could be heard. They get loudly as they approach the studio. The door was opened and a beam of yellow light fell upon their instruments. The lights burst into life and the room was filled with bright white light.
On their stands, are their instruments. Mami's Fender Stratocaster, Tomomi's blue Fender Squier and Haruna's Skull Squier. Rina's drum kit sits at the back of the room. The girls approached their instruments and prepared themselves to play.
"What song are we doing first?" asked Rina. She tapped her cymbals and her drums lightly.
"Let's start with something slow," said Mami. "How about Namida no regret?"
They nodded it unison. Rina stood up and went to electric Yamaha keyboard next to her drumkit.
She began to play the first few notes of the song. The others waited for their cue to begin playing. Haruna followed the timing and began to sing. They began to play the song. But Haruna...she didn't feel like playing, she lost heart half-way through the song and gave up.
"I"m sorry guys," she said.
She put down her guitar and exited the studio.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Mami.
"I'd leave her for a while," said Rina. "She just needs some time."
They stopped playing and watched Haruna leaving the studio. They put down their instruments and sat down on the amplifiers.
"Is it because of those boys?" asked Mami.
Rina nodded.
Haruna walked out of the studio to a large, raised flower bed. She sat down on it and buried her head in her hands. She then looked up and around at the environment around her. She saw a young couple. They were holding hands and laughing. The girl moved against her boyfriend and he put his arm around her. Across the street she saw an elderly couple. It looked like they had been together for their whole lives.
The doors opened again. The girls filed out. Rina was leading followed by Mami and Tomomi bringing up the rear. The girls approached Haruna. Tomomi was lagging behind. She wasn't looking where she was going and plowed straight into a large African lady.
"Watch it chunky!" screamed Tomomi as she fell onto the floor.
The woman was so large that she knocked Tomomi clean off her feet. Tomomi crashed to the floor.
"Oh no!" said Tomomi when she looked up and saw this beefy woman standing over her. "I'm so sorry."
The woman extended her hand out to Tomomi. She took it and the woman pulled her up.
"That's okay," said the woman in a light Aussie accent. "I've always been a big girl."
She pulled Tomomi to her feet. Tomomi dusted herself down.
"You know," said the woman. "You're very cute."
Tomomi went red.
"I hear that a lot," she said. "But it never gets old."
The woman chuckled.
"Say," she said. "You want to go have something to eat?"
Tomomi nodded.
"Sure," replied Tomomi. She looked at the others. "Can I bring my friends too?"
The woman looked at them.
"Of course," she said. "Why not?"
"Great," she said. "Just give me one minute."
She raced over to her the girls.
"Hey," she said. "My friend over there is inviting us to eat lunch with her."
Tomomi pointed to the African woman who was waiting for them.
"Erm..." said Mami hesitantly. "Sure. Give us a minute."
It was around lunchtime. The McDonald's was crowded. The girls sat at a large table in the corner. They were all hungry and chewed heartily at their food. Haruna however, was eating absent mindedly. Tomomi and the African lady were talking a lot, the others...just listened.
"What's your name?" asked Tomomi.
"My name is Karen," she said. "How about yours?"
"Tomomi," she replied.
The woman nodded.
"That's a cute name," she said.
Tomomi smiled at her.
"I know what you do," said Karen. "You girls are famous."
They nodded at her.
"You like our music?" asked Mami.
"Of course," said Karen. "Your music is very famous."
The girls smiled at her.
"What about you?" asked Rina. "What do you do?"
"I'm a doorman," said Karen. "Well...a doorwoman. At a nightclub in Roppongi."
"Which nightclub?" asked Mami.
"You know what," she said. "I don't remember. All of the nightclubs there look the same. Same drunken idiots trying to score with girls that are half their age."
"I'm guessing you don't like your job," said Tomomi.
"You catch on fast girl," said Karen.
There was a silence.
"No," said Karen. "I'd like to be a teacher."
"You could," said Tomomi encouragingly.
Karen chuckled.
"Yeah, sure," said Karen. "I'd probably scare the kids away."
"Aww, don't say that," said Tomomi. "I'm sure you would be a great teacher."
Karen smiled at Tomomi. Karen's cellphone rung. She sighed and looked at it.
"I'm sorry," she said.
She silenced her cellphone.
"I have to go now," said Karen. "But I'd like to see you again."
"Of course," said Tomomi. "I'd like to see you again too."
Tomomi wrote down her cellphone number and slid it towards Karen. Karen took it and placed it into her pocket.
"I'll call you," she said.
"I'll look forward to it," said Tomomi.
Karen smiled at her. She stood up and made to leave the restaurant. The girls watched her leaving.
"Wow," said Tomomi happily. "I got a date!"
"With a girl," said Rina.
"So?" asked Tomomi.
"So I think I know why cute boys don't like you," said Rina in a condesending tone.
It was later that night. The house was silent. Rina and Mami were sleeping peacefully. However, Tomomi and Haruna were still awake for opposite reasons. Tomomi was awake because she was excited. She had just received a message from Karen. A date had been arranged for Saturday night. However, it was the opposite for Haruna. She was laying in her bed, but she was unable to sleep. She was crying silently.
Her hand was wrapped in a bandage. Her bedroom mirror was smashed on her bedside cabinet. There were large shards of glass scattered on the floor. She'd punched in anger and opened a large wound on her knuckles. The bleeding had stopped but the bandage was covered in a considerable amount of blood. She cried hard, but silently. Her pillow was soaked from where she had been crying.
The night passed and it turned to day. Sunlight passed through the crack in Haruna's curtains in her bedroom. Haruna was sleeping deeply. Her breathing was light and slow. There was gentle knock on her door.
"Haru," said a voice softly. It was Rina. "Are you awake."
Haruna ignored her and continued to sleep.
Rina knocked softly and carefully opened the door. The door caught the broken glass on the floor. Rina looked down at it. Her eyes fell on the broken glass on the floor. She looked up at the broken mirror and then towards Haruna. Her dry, red eyes and the bandage on her knuckles. Rina gave her a pained look.
"Oh Haruna," she said silently.
"Is she ready?" asked Mami impatiently. "Shall we go now?"
Rina closed Haruna's door to ajar, so that they couldn't see inside.
"I think we can just stay here and rest today," said Rina. "Haruna...isn't feeling well."
Mami and Tomomi nodded in understanding. They turned away and went into the lounge. Rina re-entered Haruna's bedroom and closed the door behind her.