Hachi's sister drove them to the concert hall by 6pm, just as they had planned. They arrived to find the hall already swarming with TRAPNEST fans. Hachi made a beeline for the merchandise booth, before looking back at Nana and Shion.
"I'd like to buy brochures and other things," she said. "How about you two?"
Nana shook her head. "I'll go sit after I'm done with my cigarette." she said. "You can show me your brochure later."
"I don't want anything, but I'll stay with you Ha- Nana-san." Shion said. It seemed to distract Hachi from Nana's decision. Hachi cast one more look at Nana, her face full of sympathy before Nana disappeared. They began their wait in line, and the constant chatter and excited squeals began to chip away at Shion's mind. She was sure if this kept up, there was no way she'd also be able to sit through a concert that was going to be ten times louder than this. Luckily, they were now next in line and Hachi bought the things she wanted with no time wasted.
"Shall we go and find our seats?" Hachi said, clutching her brochure.
"Yes please." Shion said, relieved.
Their tickets were for the front row - something that Hachi had been ecstatic about ever since she'd come back to her hometown. Shion, who had never been to a concert before aside from the live show she had performed at, didn't have another experience to compare it to, but nevertheless she was glad she wasn't surrounded by rabid fans. At least being in the front meant she didn't feel as trapped.
"How much do you know about TRAPNEST, Shion-chan?" Hachi asked her. "You don't listen to their music, do you?"
"Not really." she replied. "But they're pretty popular at the record shop I work at so we get asked about their band a lot. I had to educate myself on them pretty early on." She looked at Hachi's brochure, which helpfully had a picture of the band on the front.
"Serizawa Reira is the lead singer. Her voice is beautiful." Shion said. "Fujieda Naoki is their drummer. Ichinose Takumi is the bassist, and Honjo Ren is their guitarist."
"Takumi is my favourite!" Hachi said. "He's so cool!" She spent the next twenty minutes describing how she hoped that she would be able to meet him through Nana's connection to Ren, and then she and Takumi would fall in love.
"He's kind of scary-looking." Shion said when she had finished. Takumi's face was twisted in a scowl and it didn't completely look like it was just for the photo.
"But he has this mysterious aura to him~" Hachi sighed happily. "I'm sure he's very kind."
The lights of the hall dimmed, signalling that it was almost time to start. Nana still hadn't joined them.
"She's going to miss the start." Hachi said, downcast. "Where are you Nana?" The chatter in the hall faded to silence, and everyone in the room was focused on the stage. Any second now.
The stage lights flashed on, and they heard footsteps. Hachi was still frantically looking around for Nana, and then, just as they saw their missing friend slip into her seat, Honjo Ren walked out on stage.
•─────⋅雨⋅─────•
The noise began to get to Shion forty-five minutes into the concert. She quietly slipped out of the hall without Hachi or Nana noticing and found a seat out in the lobby. It was far quieter now that only the staff were out there, restocking the merchandise for after the concert. According to Hachi, the concert was about two hours, which meant she could have a fifteen minute break and then go back in for another hour.
Or I could just stay here until it finishes. Her head was pounding. The only rock music she'd listened to before was BLAST. She'd spent years training to be a classical violinist and that meant she had only ever found it necessary to listen to classical music for leisure. Now, here she was - completely out of her depth - with the goal of becoming a worthy rival of the very band she had come here to see. She wondered if it was something she would be able to see through to the end. She cared about the music BLAST made - of course she did. But she would be lying if she said the music was why she had decided to join the band.
"I need some fresh air." she muttered, heading for the door. The sun was beginning to set now, and the evening air was warm. Summer would soon be arriving. She didn't know how long she stood outside, but when she finally returned to her seat in the concert hall, the sun had almost set.
"Shion-chan!" Hachi looked relieved to see her. "You missed so much! This is the encore." Shion bowed her head in apology. TRAPNEST were playing one of their quieter songs - the same one that customer had asked to find on the first day of her job.
Travel to the moon
Kimi wa nemuri, yume wo toku
While you sleep, a dream untangles.
Dare mo inai, hoshi no hikari
There's no one else here, while we play with the starlight
Ayatsuri nagara
There's no one else here, while we play with the starlight
Tsuyoku naru tame,
The two of us together can definitely get back
Wasureta egao
Kitto futari nara, torimodosu
the smile we forgot and become strong again.
•─────⋅雨⋅─────•
They joined Hachi's family for dinner when they returned home and afterwards retired for the night. Nana was still in the shower when Hachi checked her phone so she showed it to Shion instead when she saw the text. "Look at this, Shion-chan! What will I do?!"
Ren may call your cell phone. I'm counting on you.
Yasu.
"That's… surprising." Shion said.
"What if he's already tried to call~~!?" the other girl panicked. "I need to tell Nana!" Without another word she left the room. Ren might try to contact Nana? I wonder what she'll do.
As is so happened, Nana was not content to wait for Ren to call her. After getting a full explanation from Yasu, which only seemed to make her more aggravated, Nana used Hachi's phone to call Ren, making plans to meet him at his hotel. She left abruptly, and it was another hour before Hachi would calm down enough to go to bed.
"I wonder how it's going." she said. "Do you think she'll come back tonight?"
"I don't know." Shion said.
The two of them bid each other good-night. Shion woke up to the sound of the bedroom door opening just as sunlight began streaming in through the curtains. There, Nana stood. She pressed a finger to her lips when she noticed Shion was awake, and tiptoed to her futon. Shion let sleep take her again, knowing that Hachi would ask enough questions for both of them in the morning.
•─────⋅雨⋅─────•
Nana didn't answer any questions until after breakfast.
"Hey Hachiko." she began. "I have something to ask you."
"Of course! What is it?"
"If you do what I ask, I'll get you a treat." Nana said. "What do you want?"
"Takumi's autograph." Hachi said, without missing a beat. Even Shion raised an eyebrow at that.
"No problem." Nana said. "I'll ask Ren for you."
Shion covered her ears as Hachi squealed in delight. Her love for Takumi really knew no bounds.
"You're that happy over a single autograph?" Nana said.
"It's not that!" Hachi said, tears in her eyes. "It went back to normal between you and Ren, right?"
"Well… not really like before." Nana said, her face getting a little red. "You see, we don't have a telephone here, even if I intend on buying a cell phone soon. Until then, if anything pops up, Ren will call your phone instead."
"So all I have to do is receive the calls and tell you?" Hachi asked.
Nana nodded. "Exactly. Ren gave me his cell phone address so send him yours, okay?"
"That's great for you, ne Nana?"
"Of course not!" Nana fired back, blushing. "I wanted to make things clear… that I intended on ending all of this. Why am I letting myself do things like this….? I'm not handling it at all."
•─────⋅雨⋅─────•
The train took them back to Tokyo that evening. Before they left, Shion had sent a text to Nobu on a whim, wondering what he had been up to.
"Nothing much." he had replied. "Just mahjong with the other two. Shin's kicking our ass. How was the concert?"
"Loud." she said. "I'm glad we're coming back this evening."
She had expected that would be the end of it, but there was a surprise waiting for them outside their apartment.
"Nobu? Shin?" Nana said. "What're you doing here?"
"Shion told me when you were coming back." Nobu said. "So we came to hang out."
"Well you can go home." Nana said flatly. "I'm too tired to entertain you."
"Nana!" Clearly he hadn't been expecting that reaction. "We even brought beer."
For a moment Nana smiled. "Hachiko can you grab that?"
Hachi took the shopping bag from Shin and then Nana continued. "Thanks for the beer. Now go home." Nobu must have seen there was no negotiating this time so he just pouted.
"Fine. We'll go. I guess we'll see you at band practice tomorrow anyway." He was about to turn around when he remembered something. "Oh and Shion." he pulled out a magazine from the shopping bag Hachi was still carrying and handed it to her. "There was a segment in here about violins I thought you might be interested in."
On the front of the cover was a man holding a strange looking violin. On the front of the cover it read: The Rise of Electric Violins. She clutched the magazine to her chest. "Thank you, Nobu."
"N-no problem. See you all tomorrow then."
Inside, Hachi got to work making them something to eat, and Nana sat at her usual spot at the table, smoking. Shion joined her, turning to the article in the magazine about electric violins.
The popularity of electric violins in Japan has been increasing over the past twenty years, since Western music began to incorporate its unique sound into the industry. Most notably, the Western artist Frank Zappa hired two electric violinists in the 1970s as part of one of his albums. In 1975, Zappa released an entire album that included rock violin.
While that popularity is not as widespread across Japan just yet, there has been an increase of electric violin sales across the country. It might seem as though these electric violinists do not belong to any notable bands in the country, but it seems likely that will change over the next couple of years as more bands rise to fame.
There are many advantages to using an electric violin over an acoustic violin if it is meant for playing non-classical music.
Electric violins offer far more freedom when performing, as the violinist does not need to worry about trying to get the sound picked up by an external instrument microphone. Instead, the violin plugs in to an amp, and the violinist is free to focus on their playing. It also eliminates the chance of producing unpleasant feedback, which is never nice to listen to when you're attending a concert. The technical improvements are only the beginning. Electric violins can use a large variety of effects that offer more sound diversity and nuance to anything you play.
Shion stopped reading, her mind reeling. She had no idea that electric violins even existed. She flipped the magazine shut and stared at the cover, back at the man who was playing the strangest violin she had ever seen. It wasn't even shaped like a regular violin - rather, it looked like a guitar! Underneath the article itself were quote prices of electric violins, ranging from budget violins for beginners, to more expensive violins for professionals. The article made a lot of sense. Back when she'd performed with BLAST at the punk night show, she'd felt a lot of pressure to stay close to the instrument microphone. Not only that, but she was terrified that Augustine - her mother's expensive violin - would get damaged if she continued to play at such rowdy venues. That was the last thing she wanted to happen. That being said, Augustine was a violin made for professional playing, and her tone was excellent. If Shion was going to swap her for an electric violin, she'd need a good quality one - and those weren't cheap. Her eyes flicked over the violin that was 'for professionals' and her jaw dropped. It was almost 650,000 yen! That definitely wasn't going to happen!
"Good read?" Nana said. Shion looked up to see her friend was watching her with an amused expression.
"Yes." she said. "I'm just… working something out." The mid-range electric violins were slightly cheaper, but where on earth would she get 330,000 yen?! She only just got by on rent with the job she had. If she wanted any hope of getting that kind of money, she'd need to get another job - and a well paying one.
•─────⋅雨⋅─────•
After she finished work at the record shop the next day, she decided to take a look in the music shop across the road, hoping she might find they sold electric violins. Nobu didn't have work that day so she was on her own until band practice that evening. When she asked the shop's attendant about it, he redirected her to another shop twenty minutes away that had just created an entire exhibit devoted to electric violins of all sorts. She sent a text to Nobu explaining she might be a bit late to practice, and made her way through the city, following the directions she had been given.
She was not disappointed. On display were electric violins of all shapes and colours. The sign in the window invited her to come and try playing one of them. The shop only had a few people milling about, and none of them seemed interested in the violins, something that seemed to be upsetting the manager.
"No other shops in the city have nearly as large a selection of violins as this one," he sulked to who she assumed was an employee. "So why is no one interested?"
"Violin isn't a very popular choice of instrument in modern music, boss." The employee was busy restringing an acoustic guitar, but turned around to tend the counter when he heard Shion enter the shop. He eyed her violin case on her back. "Although, maybe your luck is just about to turn around." He nodded at her and the manager's eyes widened in delight.
"Are you perhaps looking for an electric violin, dear customer?"
"Um, yes?" she said. "Although I'm just looking. I don't have the money yet."
"That's no problem at all!" The manager sprung to life, ushering her towards the back of the shop. He selected an electric violin and got to work plugging it into a small amp. When he was finished he offered the instrument to her. Unlike the violin she had seen on the front cover of the magazine, this one was more simplistic. It was glossy black, and didn't resemble a violin at all. There were no curves - in fact, it looked more like an octagon that had been stretched out. It glimmered dangerously under the lights and she found herself taking it from the manager.
"I'm sure you're a very talented player." The manager enthused. "Give it a try! Oh, but you'll need to use your own bow. You probably already know how much rosin it takes to get a new one ready to use."
She felt a bit embarrassed but she did as she was told, getting her bow out of her violin case and resting the new violin on her shoulder. The new shape felt strange, but she was sure it was something she could get used to with time. Now it was time to play.
She chose rose, the first song by BLAST she had ever heard. As she played, she got used to the amp beside her, projecting her sound loudly throughout the shop. The manager must have already set up an effect because she sounded distorted - it was exactly the sort of nuance that would make her playing for BLAST better. The manager burst into applause when she played the final note.
"You were exactly the sort of person I was hoping to attract here!" he said. "Do you play in a band?"
She nodded. "BLAST." It didn't surprise her that the name didn't seem to ring a bell. "We've just started playing in Tokyo, but the plan is to rival TRAPNEST."
He beamed at her. "That's the spirit."
She handed the violin back to him. "I really enjoyed playing it. How much is this one?"
The manager didn't blink. "350,000 yen. But," he added. "I'll give you a discount if you play outside the shop a few times a week after you've bought it. Having an actual violinist outside might persuade people to have a look." He wanted her to busk? It was a mildly uncomfortable idea, but if it gave her a discount…
"How much is the discount?" she asked.
"We could make it… how about 20,000 yen?"
She stared at him. "Seriously? 20,000 yen?"
"20,000 yen."
She smiled at him shyly. "I suppose I'd better get another job."
•─────⋅雨⋅─────•
