Alya laid down on her bed in her dorm room. Classes were looking to be fun as she was mainly trying to squeeze in as many journalism classes as possible into her schedule. She had already signed up for the newspaper club they had on campus. Even made a couple study buddy friends in her Intro to Communications course.
But right now, Alya was too tired to bother to walk to the cafeteria to eat. She looked up, her two roommates elsewhere at the moment. She sat up, grabbing a cup of noodles and a water bottle to make dinner.
Adrien had taken the same flight as Alya to help her move into her dorm, buying her the essentials such as a mini fridge and microwave for her dorm while pre-ordering ones for his dorm in Georgia. According to Nora and Luka, microwaves and mini-fridges were a must next to caffeination to fit inside said mini-fridge.
Adrien had left the Sunday before her school started, Adrien's school starting the following week.
She pulled out a cold can of tea as the timer dinged, taking a sip as she set her cup out to soften the noodles. Before they left, Nino had shown her canned tea, something he drank to get by at work.
Nino was still working at the recording studio in Paris, Jagged back from his honeymoon and bursting with inspiration. Nino's school would start in the middle of September.
She snuggled herself under her blanket from Marinette, a final parting gift from the designer. Marinette had made everyone a blanket in specific colors, embroidering Afterschool Tea Time Logo. She apparently even made ones for Ivan and Marc.
Marinette would start school the same time as Adrien, and was still interning under Gabriel Agreste, now working in the designing division after a year of being the errand girl. Her alterations and input on the Stone wedding had really earned her points with some of the sub designers at Gabriel's, even earning her Jagged Stone as her personal client.
Alya sat in silence as she ate her noodles, wondering if Adrien was free to call. Or maybe she could bother Juleka. The girl had taken up a pizza job over the summer, so she wouldn't need to be at work until late anyway. Unless maybe 1 am was too early to call.
She tossed the remaining sodium water into the trash along with her cup, grabbing her guitar tucked beside her bed.
She hadn't really seen any advertisements for bands at the university. Maybe near the theater they might have something. But she kept playing the songs she remembered.
"That sounds beautiful."
Alya stopped her playing to see her roommates with take-out from the cafeteria. Their names were Jess and Aeon, two sisters that had grown up in New York.
Aeon was definitely the friendlier of the two, Jess sitting down on the lower bunk while Aeon sat next to Alya.
"I was wondering when we would get to see you play. You have a lot of items referencing a music group you were in before coming here."
Alya looked around, the ATT on the blanket, picture frame, and sticker on her guitar case earning a point for Aeon.
"Yeah, I was in the Light Music Club in high school, we wrote original songs, had cute outfits, and performed for our school every Christmas."
"That sounds like fun. What did the song sound like?"
The girl seemed to forget her dinner entirely as she leaned closer to Alya. Alya obliged her request and began playing the song she knew best.
"When I look at you, my heart always goes doki-doki, This shaking feeling is fluffy-fluffy, like a marshmallow…" Alya started, only to be interrupted by Jess's snorting.
"Sorry, fluffy fluffy?"
"I think it's cute, but what is doki-doki?" Aeon looked back to Alya.
"It's like a heartbeat sound, my friend said they say doki when their heart beats in affection in anime."
"I see, so when you see this person, your heart beats in affection?"
"Yeah, it's kind of cheesy, but our lyricist liked writing cute songs."
"I think it is definitely cute. Don't you think so Jess?"
"I guess, if cute is what you're going for."
"What kind of music do you like then?" asked Alya. It wouldn't hurt to get to know her roommate better.
"A little bit of everything. Nothing really in particular."
Talking to Jess was like talking to a brick wall.
"Jess will go to any concert in town if mother lets her. We want to go to one of those big music festivals where they have a whole bunch of bands playing," elaborated Aeon.
"I've been to one of those!"
"You have," Jess raised an eyebrow, mildly interested in the conversation now.
"Yeah, it was called Summer Rock Fest, there were a bunch of bands playing like Clara Nightingale, Jagged Stone, and some band called Praying Mantis."
"You saw Praying Mantis!"
Jess was fully invested now.
"My friends and teacher liked them. But I listened to the cd and they are actually really cool."
"Really cool? They are insanely cool. They're one of the first few Japanese bands to travel internationally. I always try to see them in concert when they're here."
"We should all go together next time," said Aeon.
"That would be fun, I would love to see how they do American concerts here."
"It'll probably be the same, ya know."
Alya shrugged, "I don't know, my concert experiences usually led backstage, but that's cause we knew the band or something."
"What bands do you know," asked Jess, sitting on the edge of her bed, her dinner finished?
"Um, well, there's Jagged Stone, but that's cause Penny went to school with our teacher, so we know Penny's high school band, and then a college band called Kitty Section. I think Vivica and Xavier are still trying the band thing because Luka is working with Wayzz now. And there was the original light music club, but they're not playing anymore."
"I know Jagged Stone, but no one else sounds familiar," said Aeon.
"Weird world, his wife and your teacher are friends," added Jess.
Alya shrugged, long since stopping to try to understand the logic of Light Music Clubs.
"Know any songs by him," asked Jess, pulling out a classical guitar. She started playing one of the songs Alya knew she heard him play before.
"Just the one where he proposed."
"You should teach her Jess, and I can join in on the synths. It'll be like a little mini girl band."
Aeon jumped up, running to her desk.
"Synths?"
"Electronic board that makes music," explained Jess as she moved to sit by Alya.
"So now you know your chords right?"
"A little, my friend was teaching me basics but I mostly learned what I had to for our songs."
"Alright, let me just pull up the music for your then, just in case."
Aeon sat on Jess's bed with a metal plate as long as her lap. It looked like a small version of the equipment in the recording studio.
"Now this is a C chord," began Jess Alya copying along. Aeon bounced in her seat, exchanged her synth for her food as she watched her sister teach their roommate.
Alya smiled as she followed Jess's instruction, the familiar warmth of music filling their room.
Adrien was trying hard not to bounce in his seat, excited for his first day of class. He had settled into his dorm the previous week, and joined in school games for the freshmen that lasted all weekend. His father had requested private housing off campus, and a bodyguard for the first year while Adrien got his American driver's license. He still kept the microwave and mini-fridge he bought in his room.
He had been bombarded with messages from the Light Music Club that morning in their online group chat they made. He and Marinette were both starting school today. Everyone had wished them well, Nino sending a picture of Jagged and Penny wishing them well too.
Adrien opened the messaging app on his tablet to read over his messages again, smiling when he came to one of Marinette sending him a sticker of a cat giving a thumbs up.
"Is this seat taken," asked a boy with glasses, carrying an extra large backpack.
"N-no," stammered Adrien as he hurriedly slammed his tablet down. First impressions were everything, and being one of the guys who was obsessed with his high school friends and high school sweetheart wasn't going to fly in college.
The boy nodded, taking the seat and setting down his backpack.
"I'm Max Kante," the boy introduced as he extended his hand.
"Adrien Agreste."
"Agreste? French then?"
"Yeah, I'm here for nano-engineering, you?"
"Micro-robotics, but I could see why you would want to invest into nano-engineering seeing as that is the current trajectory of technology."
"Yeah, are our backpacks supposed to be that big?"
"Not necessarily. I find it better to be prepared, especially on the first day."
Max pulled out a tablet, plugging it into a keyboard, opening a new document to take notes.
Adrien looked guilty at his tablet.
"Are you going to take notes," Max asked?
"Yeah," murmured Adrien, pulling out his tablet. He hurriedly tried to close the app.
"Are those your friends?"
Adrien froze, hesitant to speak, "Yeah, my high school friends from my hometown. Me and … another friend started school today."
"I guess this 'other friend' is significant to you?"
Adrien gaped.
"You are very easy to read." Max closed the notes tab, pulling up a similar chat room.
"My friends from my high school robotics club were messaging me this morning as well. We all decided on different schools all over the world."
Adrien sighed with relief, "yeah, my friends are from our Light Music Club. One of them is my girlfriend so the long distance is hard."
Max nodded, "I didn't do the relationship thing in high school, but another one of my friends did, and is still dating his significant other as well but at least their schools are within an hour of each other. I wish you and your significant other luck."
"And you with your friends."
The boys nodded, Adrien starting to set up his tablet for notes.
"But Max, you still have me."
Both paled at the new voice, Adrien slowly looking around at the large backpack.
"Did your backpack just talk?"
Max didn't say anything. Instead, the top zipper opened up to reveal a round robot.
"You have a robot!"
"Shh!" Max covered his mouth, the other students looking at them for a moment before going back to chatting.
Max hesitantly took his hand off Adrien's mouth, the robot looking between Max and Adrien.
"I made him in the robotics club. He's still a work in progress."
"He looks amazing, the engineering on that must be crazy."
"It was an endeavor, but very rewarding. I don't want the teacher's to think I'm cheating by bringing him to class. And leaving him in the dorms is unsafe."
Adrien nodded, clearly wanting to meet the robot better but the teacher just entered the classroom. The robot shut the bag, Adrien and Max returning to their tablets.
Adrien glanced between the bag and Max, wanting to invite Max to lunch to learn more, but not sure if it would be intruding.
He felt a tap on his arm, glancing over to see Max listening to the lecture with one sentence written on his notes.
"Are you free at noon for lunch?"
Adrien tried hard to keep from bouncing in his seat, Max smiling as he was pleased with Adrien's reaction.
"Yes."
Nino was on Marinette duty today for two reasons. One, he was still in the local vicinity with enough free time to do what he needed to do. And two, today Juleka was starting her last year of high school and Caline had agreed to zoom call them for the performance at lunch time. And Marinette was already knee deep in school work and her internship to remember basic meal times unless it was scheduled with someone else.
The first call he had gotten that morning had been from Adrien, saying Marinette had skipped lunch due to classes and had a granola bar for breakfast, her first real meal of the day being the dinner they shared over a video call the night before. And even that was takeaway.
The second call had been from Juleka, who had taken a picture of her and the Juniors on the first day of school, and reminding them all about the lunch performance. Marinette had commented she was thankful that she had free time to watch the performance with all the projects and internship work she was trying to get ahead on. Juleka then reminded her to eat lunch at least then, which Marinette gave a thumbs up.
He had gotten a private text from Juleka and Alya (why she was up at 1 in the morning New York time was beyond him) to make sure Marinette ate.
Lastly were the Dupain-Chengs, who overloaded him on food to make sure Marinette was well fed for lunch and dinner.
The friends had exchanged college schedules as soon as they knew them, so they would know when calls or meets would be alright. So Nino stood in front of the fashion building(he wasn't sure the name, but a good lot of Marinette's classes were there for her double major of Design and Business) with a feast of food stuffed in several bags as he waited for her class to end.
Students startled trickling out of the building, Marinette in sight with a frazzled look to her. He wasn't certain if her hair was decorated with chopsticks or two pens holding her bun together.
"Marinette!"
Marinette snapped around to look where the voice came from, smiling when she saw Nino. She ran as fast as she could with two overstuffed bags.
"Please tell me that's-"
"Food from loving parents who worry about your health."
"I know, I know. You know Mr. Agreste, first impressions are everything, so I've been trying to get in the good graces with my teachers and new manager. The fashion students are a bit pretentious, but the business students are nice."
"Glad to hear. Come on, let's set up a spot where we can eat and watch the show."
"Oh, did Juleka like the outfits? I wasn't able to do much, but I thought it would be cool for them to have something matching."
Marinette had made them vests to wear with abbreviation LMC on the collars. Ivan's and Marc's were to be worn open while Juleka's was form fitting, including a cute bow in the back. Juleka wasn't certain if they would keep "Afterschool Tea Time" as the band name for her senior year, so the abbreviation of Light Music Club would have to do.
"Yeah, Marc sent a picture of them setting up. Jagged wants a set for him and Penny now."
Nino passed some of the bags to Marinette while he fished out his phone to show her the picture.
Juleka was testing her guitar while Ivan was playing drums in the back. Theater tech students were setting up the stage around them.
"Oh, they came out perfect. And the picture is great for my portfolio."
"I think with all our pictures and work at Gabriel's you have enough for your portfolio."
"An artist must always strive to improve, so your portfolio is always updating. That's what Mr. Agreste said. Plus it's nice to see how far I've come."
Nino smiled, setting their food down on a picnic table.
"You definitely have grown with your designs since you started, so maybe Mr. Agreste isn't totally wrong. Just don't be a workaholic. And remember the little people."
He patted down on her bun so she lost the few inches of height it added.
"I don't think you'll give me a chance to forget I'm the little person."
Nino just smirked as they sat down, Marinette digging into the bags.
"How much time until the show starts," she asked as she pulled out a croissant sandwich?
Nino checked his phone, a few more minutes until lunch started for the high school.
"We have a little bit."
Marinette nodded, taking a large bite of her sandwich.
"So, how's work going? Do you see Jagged a lot?"
"Going good, and learning a lot. They keep records of all songs stored there, so I made copies of ours to try mixing when I'm on break. Usually I work the front counter, but Jagged's been coming in on an inspiration binge and let's me sit in so I can learn the controls."
"That's nice of him. And you're enjoying it?"
Nino nodded, trying to smile with his mouth full of a sandwich.
Marinette smiled, "I'm glad."
They were interrupted by a ringing, Caline starting the group call.
Nino pulled out his phone to accept and share the screen with Marinette, Marinette declining on her end.
"This is how this works right," Caline was squinting at the phone, hurriedly taken away by Juleka.
"THERE"S OUR GIRL! Where's Ivan? And is Marc with you," asked Alya. She looked to be sitting on the sofa with another girl, both dressed in pajamas.
"Yeah, is everyone with you, I want to say hi," said Adrien from a small dining area in his apartment and dressed to go work out after the performance.
"Yeah, hold on," Juleka passed the phone back to Caline, calling for Ivan and Marc.
"How's college with you all? I haven't heard anything all summer."
"It's great! I made a friend with a micro engineer and his robot. We have most of our classes and he's great at video games," said Adrien.
"This is my roommate Aeon, and she really wanted to hear the show" introduced Alya.
"Hello, it is nice to finally meet you all," greeted the girl with a cheery wave.
"Our other roommate wanted to sleep in but wishes them luck."
"Nino kidnapped me for lunch," said Marinette, her and Nino waving at the camera.
"Because you need breaks Mari, it's not healthy to skip meals," scolded Adrien.
Marinette scowled, Nino rubbing her hair playfully.
"Which is why her parents loaded me up with all essential food for the day," said Nino, Adrien looking relieved.
"Here's our stars," announced Ms. Bustier, turning the camera to face Juleka, Ivan and Marc in their vests. Juleka wore the vest on top of one of her older Light Music Club outfits. Her bangs were pinned back by the hair clip Marinette had made her.
"Hey everyone," greeted Juleka with a wave, the boys waving as well. They could hear the bell signaling the start of lunch over the phone.
"Five more minutes until show time," announced Caline.
"You guys are going to do great," cheered Adrien.
"Don't worry if you mess up in the beginning, nothing could really be worse than Marinette freezing for the first few minutes for our first performance," said Nino, earning the lid of his cap a whack from Marinette.
"Just don't worry about the people," Added Marinette.
"And be sure to have fun," said Alya, Aeon agreeing with a vigorous head nod.
"We will," answered Ivan.
"They've been practicing really hard, and several students seemed interested when we passed out flyers this morning," added Marc.
"Thanks everyone, it means a lot to me that you could be here," finished Juleka, slightly blushing.
"Anything for our Julekat," teased Alya with a wink.
"We're ready for you," called out one of the theater techs from off screen.
The group smiled at each other, no one quite certain what to say next.
"We'll see you after the concert," asked Marinette?
"Of course," answered Juleka, her and Ivan heading towards the stage.
Caline hurried with the phone out from behind the stage to a decent spot in the audience behind the lunch table. She held up the phone so they could see Juleka as she adjusted her guitar. She looked to the crowd, her eyes wide before she focused on Caline in the back. Her face softened, her focus on one group of people.
"Hello everyone! We're the Light Music Club. I'm Juleka Couffaine and this is our drummer, Ivan Bruel. We have one more member, our lyrist, Marc Anciel. We hope you'll enjoy our performance and consider joining our club."
Juleka looked back to Ivan, who nodded before starting the beat, Juleka quickly following along. The students were already getting excited, some even standing. Nino could feel the bench move, Marinette bouncing in her seat while eating her sandwich.
It's deep deep, deep in my heart
In the sanctuary where nothing echoed
heat heat, it caught on fire, so I can't return
It's shock shock, a shock that I send you
Saying, "Hey, let's go everywhere together"
rock rock, the storm and tsunami of sound lure each other
A dropped pick, a broken stick
Aren't problems at all
We're within the same sound, and that's actually a miracle
We'll sing, we'll sing as long as we feel like it
No matter how quiet it is, it's our single song in the world
I want to live with all my might
So much that I won't regret it even if I die today
Release, passionate
This is a PRECIOUS Heart Beat of ours
We'll sing
Non sweet, sweet, your true nature is more comfortable
Than sweet words, right? Touch of mind, yeah
wit wit, it'd be fun to tell me, always and forever
Non stop stop, because my newborn feelings
Are hurrying faster than light
rock rock, I've got to catch them with sound and tell them to you
A running rhythm, a crazed tuning
Are all within my assumption
I'm choosing the same dream, and that's the power for tomorrow
We'll shout, we'll shout even if we're on an away stage
Because no matter how scared we are, we're not alone
Even if it's unfinished, I don't mind
I really want to play it
Reach, truthfulness
We were finally able to meet, this is our TREASURE Heart Beat
We want to know…to live…to love
The countless prayers-
Make them heard, make them into wings, Can Fly High
We'll sing, we'll sing as long as we feel like it
No matter how quiet it is, it's our single song in the world
I want to live with all my might
So much that I won't regret it even if I die today
Release, passionate
This is a PRECIOUS Heart Beat of ours
We'll sing, TREASURE Heart Beat
Listen!
The crowd cheered when they finished, Juleka still looking towards Ms. Bustier. The seniors cheered over the phone, Nino realizing they probably looked weird for doing so, but he couldn't bring it in his heart to care. Their little Juniors were growing up.
Juleka fiddled with the tea set Adrien left the Light Music Club. After school Ivan, Marc, Nathanael and herself had gathered in the club room. Nathanael was there mostly for emotional support and for him and Marc to work on pitching their comic to local magazines and publishers. They smiled as they watched their club president panic.
"What if we don't get new members," she asked the group.
"Then we'll do the best with just us," answered Ivan, steadying Juleka's hand when she tried to pour him tea.
"But it's been, like, two years since someone new joined, well, not including you, but still. And we only had two members. What if it actually sucked?"
"As an audience member, it didn't suck. If all else fails, you could bother the Music Clubs for leftover members," advised Nathanael.
Juleka nodded, setting herself and the teapot down.
"I just don't want to fail them," she finally admitted, looking down at her hands folded in her lap.
"I don't think there is a way to fail them. They know you are doing your best," encouraged Marc.
"As Alya said, we just need to have fun. New club members or just us four and Mylene, let's just make it a fun year," said Ivan.
Juleka looked up, the boys around the room smiling at her.
"Right. Maybe I could go pass out some more flyers then."
She stood to leave, abandoning her tea.
"I'll help," offered Ivan.
Juleka grabbed the remaining papers, heading to the door with Ivan. She barely heard some mumbling outside the door when it slammed open, the door handle creating a hole in the wall.
A young girl with brown hair split into pigtails stood at the door along with Kagami Tsurgi.
"Kagami," Juleka raised an eyebrow, the former fencer/kendo club member looking nervous and uncomfortable.
"And me," cheered the other girl, jumping into a pose, her musician case nearly hitting Kagami. "I'd like to join the Light Music Club! My name is Manon Chamack and I'm a freshman. I learned bass from my former babysitter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
Juleka looked to the boys, Marc and Nathanael's eyes widening. Apparently they knew this person.
"And um," Kagami spoke up, "I would like to join the Light Music Club too. I was very inspired by the friendship you made in this club, and I would like to try making better friends too." The girl attempted an awkward smile before remembering, "And I can also play piano."
The current members looked at each other, smiling. A new bassist from Marinette with the enthusiasm of Alya and a reserved and awkward piano player. Definitely a recipe for fun.
Juleka looked back at the duo, both looking at the club eagerly.
"Welcome to the Light Music Club!"
And that's it for this story. Just the epilogue to go!
Thank you for following the Light Music Club's journey until this far.
