Author's Notes
- Hey all! I hope you all had a lovely time since we last met. I'll save my bickering words for the end of the chapter. Until then, I hope you have a nice read and don't forget to leave a review of what you think! Thanks and see you later!
Symphony of Hearts!
Chapter 4 – Rhythm Guitarist Ahoy!
I walked into the music store with the four girls that accompanied me. We examined the many guitars that hung on a rack and the other appliances in the store.
We gained the attention of the cashier in the store, a young man with black hair and brown eyes. He looked at us and once we all turned towards him, he waved with a smile.
"Welcome to Music for the Finer Arts! How may I help you today?"
He narrowed his eyes at us before letting out a gasp.
"Ah, it's you again, Nakano-san," the cashier said with a smile as he stood behind the counter. "What can I help you find this week?"
"Nothing in particular, Ozaki-san," Azusa replied with a bow. "But… we were wondering if we could take a look at the bulletin board in the back."
"Of course you may!" he responded with a bright smile. "But, just to warn you, there's someone in the recording booth as we speak."
"We won't be of any disturbance," I answered him.
"Very well, if you come this way please, I'll show you who's on the bulletin board this week."
We followed the man past the counter and into the back of the store, where we were lead down a hallway littered with posters of bands on the walls. At the end of the hallway, a door that I presumed led to the recording booth stood, with a large bulletin board in front of it.
"What type of musician are you looking for?" Ozaki-san asked as he gestured towards the board. Sticky notes and pictures formed most of the items on the board. "We have a keyboardist from northern Osaka, a bassist from Kyōto, and a few others."
"A rhythm guitarist," Ui politely answered him.
"Oh, really? You're just in luck!" he happily said. "The person in the recording booth right now is a rhythm guitarist! And I do believe he's around your age group – considering he was wearing a uniform similar to yours."
Ozaki-san pointed at me and I looked down at my uniform.
"Like mine…" I repeated.
"I assume that he's currently not in a band at the moment, but I believe that he isn't looking to be in one either. That's only because he never posts his name on the board," Ozaki-san frowned. "But rest assured, you can always convince him to join you. He isn't the type of person to get mad if someone intrudes while he's playing, but instead he'll welcome you."
"Well… what do you think, Ui?" Jun asked.
"Whoever this boy is… he's our only choice right now…" Ui said as she turned towards the door. "Just beyond this door… lies a potential candidate for our rhythm guitarist."
Ozaki-san cleared his throat and we all turned towards him.
"Ah, Nakano-san, I forgot to tell you. We have the new model for the Fender Mustang. It just came in this week and I'm sure you'd want to come see it."
"Sure! I'd love to!" Azusa smiled.
"You go here a lot, Azusa?" Mio-senpai asked.
"Every so often, but it's only because I need to buy new strings and I want to check out the new stuff they have."
"We also have a new bass guitar, but I'm afraid that it's for lefties, so we don't get much attraction for it," Ozaki-san added.
"Did you… did you just say it's for lefties?" Mio-senpai asked, her attention turning towards the young man.
"Yup! It's a left-handed bass guitar!"
"We must go!" Mio-senpai said as she walked back down the hallway. "Come on! There's a left-handed bass guitar!"
Azusa and Ozaki-san followed after Mio-senpai and they disappeared out of site as they turned the corner.
I turned towards Jun and Ui as they looked at the door in front of them.
"Alright!" Jun shouted as she placed her hands on the doorknob and twisted the handle. Before she could push the door open, Ui grabbed her arm. "Eh? Ui?"
"Le-let's think about this first, Jun-chan!" Ui said.
"What's there to think about, Ui? The rhythm guitarist you've been searching for is just behind this door! Seize the day!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" I sighed as I pinched the top of my nose. "Jun's right, Ui. This is an opportunity at chance right here."
"Bu-but you heard what Ozaki-san said! He isn't looking for a band to play in at the moment!"
"He also said that we may be able to convince him."
"Just go for it!" Jun shouted once more.
"Jun-chan, wait!" Ui pleaded.
Without hesitation, Jun opened the door and we walked inside the recording booth. It was a medium-sized room. There were chairs and a control panel for the booth, with a thin glass standing in between the room and the actual booth.
Inside the booth stood a boy with black, slicked-back hair and narrowed gray eyes. His attention was fixated onto the guitar in his hands – a Fender Stratocaster in royal blue. I already recognized who was behind the glass – Kurisu Otomo.
"Kurisu… Kurisu-senpai!?" I felt my jaw drop. "What the hell's he doing here!?"
"No way…" Jun gasped.
"I can't believe it…" Ui muttered.
"God damn…" he muttered into the microphone before him as he adjusted his guitar. "You can play it, but you can't sing it…"
"I don't believe Kurisu-senpai has noticed us…" Ui sighed.
"Idiot…" I shook my head.
"You can do this…" he said to himself as he looked down at his guitar.
With that, Kurisu-senpai began strumming on his guitar with his left hand, putting his right hand figners on the E, A, and B chords. Although it sounded as an unfamiliar tune at first, I could soon recognize the riff after a shrill tone.
I heard footsteps behind us and turned around to find Azusa and Mio-senpai walking into the room. They raised eyebrows at me before their eyes widened at the sight beyond the thin glass.
"Is that…" Mio-senpai gestured towards Kurisu-senpai.
"Yeah…" I scratched the back of my head.
"He's… he's playing the chords to Fuwa Fuwa Time…" Azusa remarked.
Before I knew it, Kurisu-senpai opened his mouth and leaned in towards the microphone. His eyes widened and he pulled back, continuing on playing the guitar instead of singing. The second verse riff passed and in came the solo – a high pitched screech from his guitar roared and his fingers played a solo that was far from Fuwa Fuwa Time.
"What was that?" I asked.
"I have no idea…" Azusa muttered. "But it was quite something…"
The final verse played through and Kurisu-senpai finished. He looked up and panted, and that was when he found the five of us watching him.
"Wh-what…" he stuttered into the mic.
"Whoo!" Jun cheered. "Great job, senpai!"
All around me, the girls clapped for him. I smiled and called for him myself, seeing a slight blush grow on Kurisu-senpai's face. He walked towards the door and opened it, walking out into the room to meet us.
"What are you guys… what are you guys doing here?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"We were looking for a rhythm guitarist on the bulletin board…" I sighed.
"Azusa-chan led us here," Ui said.
"I never knew you used the recording booth here," Azusa spoke up.
"I use it every so often... maybe once a month? It's only so I don't get rusty at the guitar," he answered her. Kurisu-senpai walked towards the chairs and I saw a guitar case lying on the floor. He put his Stratocaster into the bag, but before he could zip it up, Ui's voice stopped him.
"Is that a Fender Stratocaster '65 Reissue? And in royal blue?"
"Why, yes, Hirasawa-san, it is!" he said as he turned around with a bright smile on his face. "You seem like you know your guitars."
"I do!" she nodded in response.
"Wow… this band idea was probably more serious than I thought…" he muttered as he scratched the back of his head, zipping up his guitar case and slinging it over is left shoulder.
"What was that little solo you did?" Mio-senpai asked him.
"It was actually something from an American band – Boys Like Girls," he said. "Although the name of their band is… well, their songs are top notch in my opinion. I took the solo from On Top of the World."
"I've heard of them before," Mio-senpai said. "But I've never heard that song at all."
"The only song I know with that title is the one by Imagine Dragons," Jun spoke up.
"Yeah…" he rubbed the back of his head. "It's one of their most underrated songs, in my opinion."
"I remember that band…" Ui said. "I like the collaboration they did with Taylor Swift – Two Is Better Than One… it really made my heart feel warm and tingly inside."
"You understand English lyrics, Ui?" I asked.
"Mmhhmm…" she nodded her head. "I've been practicing a little…"
"A Japanese band from Osaka who can has both English and Japanese songs…" Jun muttered. "I can already picture the headlines! We'll be a global sensation! Or at least, with Ui's vocals, we will!"
"Well… we need a rhythm guitarist to top it off…" I smirked as I turned towards Kurisu-senpai, who flinched as his reaction to me.
"Since you've caught me red-handed…" he sighed. "I guess I have no choice but to join your band…"
"Yes!" I clenched my hand into a fist. "We've got ourselves a rhythm guitarist!"
"Why didn't you just say yes to Satoshi in the first place?" Jun asked as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Um… stuff… you don't want to know…" he muttered before his eyes lit up. "But! To make up for it, I'll do whatever I can to benefit this band in any way possible! I mean it! Whatever I can."
"If you can find us a place to perform, that'd be helpful," I sarcastically remarked.
"Consider it done!" he gave me a thumbs up.
"I have a question, Satoshi…" Azusa poked my arm. "What's the name of your band?"
"The… the name?" I gulped. "We never really thought of a name yet…"
"I was wondering the same," Kurisu-senpai said.
"You've never really called it anything other than 'a band'," Mio-senpai nodded.
"That's true…" Jun rubbed her chin.
Ui looked at me, a small blush forming on her cheeks.
"I have a name…"
"Eh? What would it be, Ui?" I asked her.
She looked at me and her smile widened.
"OyasUmI."
Symphony of Hearts!
Author's Notes
- Well there you have it! Satoshi and Ui have officially started a band! What lies next in the adventure ahead of them?
- OyasUmI. I bet you're wondering what that's supposed to mean. Well, as said in the description – 'the power of a simple goodnight'. Oyasumi means goodnight in Japanese. But then there's the capitalized U and I. Why's that? Ui – U and I. Oui is also French for yes. Then there's Oui, Ai Kotoba – a song that's yet to be performed by the new band. Hopefully you understood what I mean by that. In short terms, OyasUmI is supposed to mean 'Yes, goodnight'.
- Usually, the workers at the music store would be afraid of Houkago Tea Time, mostly due to the fact that they try to swindle their way through discounts.
- Here we go again with Mio's fascination with left-handed basses.
- On Top of the World is one of the best songs I've heard from Boys Like Girls. The solo Kurisu performs is from the chorus of the song, so give it a listen! It's a pretty good song and I'm sure most of you will like it.
- Kurisu was originally supposed to sing, but he's too scared of opening up his voice. Just kidding. It's against rules to post lyrics to an already existing song that is not in the public domain. People still do it, and I'm not going to take any chances.
- That's all I have for now and I hope you all enjoyed! I'll be seeing you all later. Peace!