Chapter 4: The first great practice
After serving the women drinks, Shinji sat down on the sofa next to Rei and Asuka. Misato was back in the kitchen mixing.
Eyeing Shinji, Asuka queried: "Hey Shinji, what kind of music do you like?"
"Oh. Classical, of course. How about you?"
"ROCK, BABY! Rock all the way!"
Oh.
Asuka looked over at Rei, who had retired to the sofa and made herself a statue for the last two hours.
"Rei, what kind of music do you listen to?"
"Caribbean funk. Space music. The drum solos of Buddy Rich, and, most especially-"
"Oh…that's interesting," Asuka interjected.
What the hell were her fellow band members listening to?
"Asuka."
It was Shinji.
"Yea?"
"Perhaps we'd be best off combining styles from our diverse backgrounds, instead of sticking to one genre, or arguing about which one to use."
"Silly Shinji. Rock is the only genre that truly matters."
"I beg to differ," Rei said, speaking for both Shinji and herself.
"Space music is one of the most sophisticated genres available, combining mystic, otherworldly sounds with the familiar, solid instrumental sounds, which churn the emotions of an individual to induce a surge of ecstasy. It's quite pleasure-inducing."
"More like pain inducing," Asuka scoffed. "Who'd want to play outer-space music, anyway?"
"Pioneering musicians. David galebroth whobroth, Eemie Heemie, John wil-"
"Okay, shut up."
Shinji suddenly felt bad for Rei.
"Asuka, be nice," he said.
"Look, Baka, if you and the rest of the band are gonna desecrate the band with so-called pioneer's music, you're gonna do it over my dead body. My dead body. MY DEAD BODY."
Shinji tried to imagine Asuka with a dead body. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
All things considered, at least she was still hot.
With a look of concern, Rei said, "I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the sake of this band, but that is entirely unnecessary."
Asuka groaned. "I'm not sacrificing myself! I'm sacrificing all of YOU! You think I meant MY dead BODY literally?"
Shinji flinched. They'd all nearly been sacrificed already for the dark motivations of SEELE and NERV, and, with a chance to start all over, they were being dragged into the same old cycle?
"Asuka, I know you think that you deserve to be leader and the center stage of this band, but in a band, things never work that way. Everyone counts on each other to put the music out in the best possible way. If you're the leader, you should understand best of all that the leader depends on the members as much as they depend on him. Uh, her."
"Yea? What about that old guy, John Mayer? He didn't need a backup band!"
"Asuka, you don't have to look down on your fellow members all the time," Misato said from the doorway. "They're here to help me form MY band, and as a matter of fact, so are you."
Asuka glared at her.
"Hey, Misato. I didn't know you were a part of our conversation."
"I'm a part of every conversation," Misato said sweetly, holding up a wireless earpiece.
All three went white in the face. SPYWARE? In THEIR HOUSE?
"IT IS my house, after all," Misato said triumphantly. "There are microphones so tiny in every nook of this place, that'd you'd have to be Sherlock Holmes to find them all."
Shinji fainted. Rei stared and stared. Asuka became even redder than she ordinarily was.
"Fine then. I quit. Who wants to play a stupid guitar, anyway."
Asuka stormed up the stairs.
Two minutes later, Shinji came to, looked around, and ran upstairs after her.
Rei and Misato looked at each other with looks of amusement.
"Hey, Rei, would you like to see my new instrument?"
Rei nodded.
Misato walked over to the corner of the basement where Asuka had performed her rendition of Shakespeare's: "Angry woman."
Misato pointed at the corner. "Take a look at this."
Lifting the cloth covering, she revealed a glossy, black-red, brand-new DW drumset.
Rei's mouth gaped open. A DW drumset?? How much had Misato spent on this?
"All savings from the past two months," Misato boasted, reading Rei's mind. "I knew it was impossible to make a drum-set from wood-shavings, so I went to the music store and got you one. You know, when I buy clothes, I only get the best, 'cause I want them to last. And I want you to last, Rei-I want you to be the best forever."
Misato's eyes became misty.
"I want you-and this drum- to become………………………………
………………………………..
*drumroll*………………..
…………………………………. LEGEND!"
As it turned out, legend was everything Misato expected it to be. After her sudden flash of name-dubbing inspiration, Misato ran to the tool-box and pulled out a spray-can. Rei was on it even before Misato got back to the corner. And Misato was fast. Pressing the button on the canister, Misato inscribed the name of her newly discovered protégé. Rei rubbed her palms against the soft, wooden drum-sticks, caressing them with great passion.
Finally. THIS had been her dream. Her unspoken desire since youth immemorial. Her one and only purpose. She let her soul lead her into the land of music, the land from which all great musicians will never return. Crash! BADABANG! *BUM BUM* tshhh BUM tshh BUM BUM… Anyone could tell that Rei was in her element. She needed no prodding, no instruction, no accompaniment. The sounds of the birds outside, Asuka assaulting Shinji upstairs, Misato drooling, and the Air Conditioner humming all drowned in a black hole of silence beyond the thunderous flood of percussion sounds Rei hammered out in a rush of inexplicable, indescribable music. Not crashes, not bangs. Individual *BOOM*s and *ratatas* blended in a whirlpool that was as chaotic as it was beautiful. The world paused and observed. Even Shinji and Asuka fell silent. Misato fell to the floor. She wasn't even holding a can of beer.
When Rei finished, the windows had come off their hinges. But no one in the house seemed to care. Misato, wiping blood from the back of her head, walked up to Rei and shook her hand fervently, continuously.
Asuka had forgotten her own personal gripes against Shinji, and even Shinji wasn't too worried about his safety at the moment. Their own perceptions of music, of time, of space, of life, of death, and of…the BAND…had been shattered. Rei was the all time reigning drum goddess. Period.
"Okay, we've got to take advantage of this. Now. Rei, take the drums. Wait, you're already on it. Shinji, the BASS! Asuka, LEAD GUITAR! I'll pretend to play the guitar and jump up and down while I sing! Quick, before Rei runs out of gas! GO, GO, GO!"
I thought she was the drum goddess, Shinji thought wryly.
Misato ran to a shelf and pushed a button. The whole room turned dark.
"We need mystic inspiration," Misato explained.
"Recorder on," a feminine computer-like voice said.
"1, 2, 3, 4…Take it away, Rei!"
After serving the women drinks, Shinji sat down on the sofa next to Rei and Asuka. Misato was back in the kitchen mixing.
Eyeing Shinji, Asuka queried: "Hey Shinji, what kind of music do you like?"
"Oh. Classical, of course. How about you?"
"ROCK, BABY! Rock all the way!"
Oh.
Asuka looked over at Rei, who had retired to the sofa and made herself a statue for the last two hours.
"Rei, what kind of music do you listen to?"
"Caribbean funk. Space music. The drum solos of Buddy Rich, and, most especially-"
"Oh…that's interesting," Asuka interjected.
What the hell were her fellow band members listening to?
"Asuka."
It was Shinji.
"Yea?"
"Perhaps we'd be best off combining styles from our diverse backgrounds, instead of sticking to one genre, or arguing about which one to use."
"Silly Shinji. Rock is the only genre that truly matters."
"I beg to differ," Rei said, speaking for both Shinji and herself.
"Space music is one of the most sophisticated genres available, combining mystic, otherworldly sounds with the familiar, solid instrumental sounds, which churn the emotions of an individual to induce a surge of ecstasy. It's quite pleasure-inducing."
"More like pain inducing," Asuka scoffed. "Who'd want to play outer-space music, anyway?"
"Pioneering musicians. David galebroth whobroth, Eemie Heemie, John wil-"
"Okay, shut up."
Shinji suddenly felt bad for Rei.
"Asuka, be nice," he said.
"Look, Baka, if you and the rest of the band are gonna desecrate the band with so-called pioneer's music, you're gonna do it over my dead body. My dead body. MY DEAD BODY."
Shinji tried to imagine Asuka with a dead body. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
All things considered, at least she was still hot.
With a look of concern, Rei said, "I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the sake of this band, but that is entirely unnecessary."
Asuka groaned. "I'm not sacrificing myself! I'm sacrificing all of YOU! You think I meant MY dead BODY literally?"
Shinji flinched. They'd all nearly been sacrificed already for the dark motivations of SEELE and NERV, and, with a chance to start all over, they were being dragged into the same old cycle?
"Asuka, I know you think that you deserve to be leader and the center stage of this band, but in a band, things never work that way. Everyone counts on each other to put the music out in the best possible way. If you're the leader, you should understand best of all that the leader depends on the members as much as they depend on him. Uh, her."
"Yea? What about that old guy, John Mayer? He didn't need a backup band!"
"Asuka, you don't have to look down on your fellow members all the time," Misato said from the doorway. "They're here to help me form MY band, and as a matter of fact, so are you."
Asuka glared at her.
"Hey, Misato. I didn't know you were a part of our conversation."
"I'm a part of every conversation," Misato said sweetly, holding up a wireless earpiece.
All three went white in the face. SPYWARE? In THEIR HOUSE?
"IT IS my house, after all," Misato said triumphantly. "There are microphones so tiny in every nook of this place, that'd you'd have to be Sherlock Holmes to find them all."
Shinji fainted. Rei stared and stared. Asuka became even redder than she ordinarily was.
"Fine then. I quit. Who wants to play a stupid guitar, anyway."
Asuka stormed up the stairs.
Two minutes later, Shinji came to, looked around, and ran upstairs after her.
Rei and Misato looked at each other with looks of amusement.
"Hey, Rei, would you like to see my new instrument?"
Rei nodded.
Misato walked over to the corner of the basement where Asuka had performed her rendition of Shakespeare's: "Angry woman."
Misato pointed at the corner. "Take a look at this."
Lifting the cloth covering, she revealed a glossy, black-red, brand-new DW drumset.
Rei's mouth gaped open. A DW drumset?? How much had Misato spent on this?
"All savings from the past two months," Misato boasted, reading Rei's mind. "I knew it was impossible to make a drum-set from wood-shavings, so I went to the music store and got you one. You know, when I buy clothes, I only get the best, 'cause I want them to last. And I want you to last, Rei-I want you to be the best forever."
Misato's eyes became misty.
"I want you-and this drum- to become………………………………
………………………………..
*drumroll*………………..
…………………………………. LEGEND!"
As it turned out, legend was everything Misato expected it to be. After her sudden flash of name-dubbing inspiration, Misato ran to the tool-box and pulled out a spray-can. Rei was on it even before Misato got back to the corner. And Misato was fast. Pressing the button on the canister, Misato inscribed the name of her newly discovered protégé. Rei rubbed her palms against the soft, wooden drum-sticks, caressing them with great passion.
Finally. THIS had been her dream. Her unspoken desire since youth immemorial. Her one and only purpose. She let her soul lead her into the land of music, the land from which all great musicians will never return. Crash! BADABANG! *BUM BUM* tshhh BUM tshh BUM BUM… Anyone could tell that Rei was in her element. She needed no prodding, no instruction, no accompaniment. The sounds of the birds outside, Asuka assaulting Shinji upstairs, Misato drooling, and the Air Conditioner humming all drowned in a black hole of silence beyond the thunderous flood of percussion sounds Rei hammered out in a rush of inexplicable, indescribable music. Not crashes, not bangs. Individual *BOOM*s and *ratatas* blended in a whirlpool that was as chaotic as it was beautiful. The world paused and observed. Even Shinji and Asuka fell silent. Misato fell to the floor. She wasn't even holding a can of beer.
When Rei finished, the windows had come off their hinges. But no one in the house seemed to care. Misato, wiping blood from the back of her head, walked up to Rei and shook her hand fervently, continuously.
Asuka had forgotten her own personal gripes against Shinji, and even Shinji wasn't too worried about his safety at the moment. Their own perceptions of music, of time, of space, of life, of death, and of…the BAND…had been shattered. Rei was the all time reigning drum goddess. Period.
"Okay, we've got to take advantage of this. Now. Rei, take the drums. Wait, you're already on it. Shinji, the BASS! Asuka, LEAD GUITAR! I'll pretend to play the guitar and jump up and down while I sing! Quick, before Rei runs out of gas! GO, GO, GO!"
I thought she was the drum goddess, Shinji thought wryly.
Misato ran to a shelf and pushed a button. The whole room turned dark.
"We need mystic inspiration," Misato explained.
"Recorder on," a feminine computer-like voice said.
"1, 2, 3, 4…Take it away, Rei!"