You know what they say, Same shit, different day.
I felt slightly better, and by slightly better, I mean less depressed. Though, half of the student body would ironically say the same sort of thing, so whatever.
I sent Yuri and Natsuki a text during first period.
"I'm going to skip the literature club today."
There was no reply from either, but they both read it.
Perhaps just avoiding the club for one day would help stave my mind off of Sayori.
It mostly didn't, go figure, but I needed some way to occupy myself after school. The thought lingered throughout the day before dismissal, and I settled on practicing in the band room.
I was in the school's jazz band class since freshman year, but hadn't really mentioned it to anybody outside of the class.
After leaving seventh period, I sat in the main lobby. I remember Monika mentioning that she practices piano before heading to the club, so I didn't wanna ruin her mood by bumping into her and explaining that I'm pretty much ditching.
After about 45 minutes, I made my way to the band room. As I placed my hand on the door, I took notice of the music coming from inside. It was coming from a single piano.
Dammit, I was sure that the literature club would've started by now.
I peered through the small window in the door. Surely enough, I saw Monika, playing on the grand piano that was in the corner of the band room. What peaked my interest more was the fact that she was singing along with the music.
Damn, on top of debate club, literature club, and student council, this girl is good at everything.
It didn't sound like any song that I've ever heard of, maybe she wrote it herself?
Maybe I should just go to the literature club. I don't want to put a damper on Monika's mood, especially while she's this happy while playing her music.
Maybe I should get over myself.
Maybe I should forget about Sa-
As I got lost in the music, it abruptly stopped.
Did Monika stop playing?
Well, if she was done, then I'm safe of enter. It'll be quick. I'll just tell her that I haven't written a poem today. Or that I have a playing test due tonight. Yeah, a playing test. That's a good enough excuse.
Well, here goes nothing.
I opened the door and walked to the drum set, shuffling my feet. It was on the opposite wall of the piano, so maybe Monika won't even notic-
"Anon?"
Shit.
"What are you doing here?"
I noticed that we are the only ones in the band room. And she was still sitting in front of the piano, not packing up her stuff.
"Oh, hi Monika," I struggled, "I'm just here to, uh-"
"Did you come to pick me up and bring me to the club? That's so sweet of you~"
"Did I What?" I replied, slightly embarrassed.
She took notice of how I was blushing.
"Ahaha~I'm just joking."
I never really interpreted Monika as someone know makes jokes, even just simple ones like that.
W̶a̶i̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶i̶n̶u̶t̶e̶,̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶l̶i̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶m̶e̶?̶
"So, What brings you here Anon? Yuri and Natsuki told me that you weren't feeling well."
"Well, I never said I was sick. Ahehe.. I just came here to practice drums."
What was my reason again?
"A playing test! Yeah I have a playing test that I have to submit tonight. It's super important"
Way to go me, you're a terrible liar.
Monika smiled at me, and it wasn't a typical Monika smile. It looked kinda reassuring.
"Alright~ I'm fine with you coming here. Everyone needs a day off right?"
"Hehe.. yeah."
Why the hell was I feeling so nervous all of a sudden? I've talked to Monika before, let alone everyone else in the club.
Without continuing the conversation, I waltzed over to the drum set.
I felt kinda puzzled as to why Monika didn't bring up Sayori, acting as if it's a normal day.
Wait, why am I even wondering this? It's like I'm trying to elicit sympathy from everyone around me without even saying anything. I suppose that just a casual conversation like that was all I needed to calm my nerves.
I fished my drum sticks out of my bag while sitting in the chair, with my phone in my lap and my foot on the pedal.
I looked over at Monika, and her hands were gracefully moving along the keys, playing a different song than the one I heard before entering.
That's a shame, I really wanted to hear more of what she was working on.
So I guess she's sticking around the band room all night. I almost asked her about Yuri and Natsuki, but then I remembered a general student-made rule about clubs. If the president doesn't show up for half an hour, then the other members can go home.
I sighed with drumsticks in hand, thinking of what song to play along with.
Maybe I'll pick something from an anime. What about Gundam Thunderbolt?
Yeah, that's a good one, it has plenty of jazz in it and any of the tracks could cover my playing test fib.
I plugged in my earbuds and picked a track to play along with.
I decided to make sure of something real quick.
"Hey, do you mind if I play something else?"
"Of course, it won't distract me."
Glad that's cleared up. I pressed play, preparing to move my sticks with the drums in the song. I tapped the cymbal, then rolled. The tense grip in my hands loosened as I hit each part of the drums, drowning out the sound of Monika's playing with my own, coupled with the guide of the music from the phone.
I could feel my movements progress and follow naturally, in sync with almost every part of the song with only a few errors.
I hadn't touched my phone, but I heard the track get louder.
I looked up from the drumset at Monika again, and she was still playing, but her melody was almost an exact match of what I was hearing on the phone. She looked back at me and winked.
Were we having a duet?
This went on for only a few minutes, yet it felt much longer.
Just then, the song cut off. Turns out that my phone battery died. I guess that's what happens when I use it all day.
"Dammit!"
I stopped playing, and Monika followed suit, but not before completing the phrase that she was in the middle of.
"How did you? -"
"Oh, you were playing Groovy Duel, right? Sorry, I just happen to know it, so I thought it would be appropriate to play along, Ahaha~"
I guess she was right to play along, after all, it was a written duet piece between drums and piano.
I slightly chuckled with her.
Wait, Monika watches Gundam?
Wait, Monika watches anime?!
After that pleasant duet, the rest of practice was relatively normal, with the two of us playing different pieces, neither of us saying anything else. I quickly went home within the hour, completed my homework, and went to bed early. I guess playing music did help with my sadness over Sayori, but it left me curious about Monika. Never did I really talk to her, even in the past week.
That was maybe the only day that I spent a decent amount of time with her.
What am I saying?
This isn't some kind of romantic thing. I'm just trying to find the closest woman I can't to replace Sayori as my best friend. Monika is out of my league. She doesn't deserve someone like me. Look what happened the last time I tried to secure a girlfriend.
I need to go to sleep.