Side Chapter 1: Second Violin, First Chair

At Cherryton, there are a number of clubs referred to as "invisible clubs." These are the groups that nobody tends to notice for a number of reasons, and among these one of the oddest cases is the Cherryton Symphony Orchestra. This invisible club is unusual because of how outside of the school itself, it was actually relatively well known. The orchestra had gone to various music competitions and bad made regional finals almost every time, and even scored first a few times. The reason why they were so easy to miss on school grounds was because they primarily played the musical accompaniments for the Drama Club performances.

Cherryton was a well funded school, but even they couldn't have a specially designed performance hall with a large orchestra pit in front of the stage, so the orchestra would play from an auxiliary sound stage and be played over the speakers. As such, nobody ever paid them any attention. This was understandably frustrating to the orchestra. However, even among this invisible club was an even more invisible boy. Iida, the second violin first chair.

Iida was a Jack Russel Terrier with mottled brown and white fur. His face had a distinctive brown blotch over his right eye in the shape of a bean. Every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday immediately after class he would head to the orchestra room and practice with his fellow musicians. For the musically uninitiated, an orchestra get divided into parts based on instrument, called a section, and each section into individual chairs, which is sort of the hierarchy of skill in the section. First chair would receive any solos the section has, and would be recognized as the best player in the section. However, some sections are further divided into first and second sections, violins being the clearest example of this. Whereas the first violins would play the melody of the song, the most distinctive sounding part of the song that most people would think of when humming the piece, second violins would play the harmonizing parts.

In the Cherryton Symphony Orchestra, there was only one second violin, Iida, so he was the default first chair. Not that it mattered much, second violins never got solos. It was a practice like any other, with Iida playing the harmony to the first violin's melody, when something interesting finally happened to him. They were in the middle of a particularly slow and somber piece and Iida was bored out of his mind.

Okay, now four more measures of c flat half notes at legato speed. One-two three-four. And again, and again—

Suddenly the conductor, the club manager and music teacher Mrs. Shimica, who was a middle aged falcon, called out.

"Quieter, second violin! Play mezzo piano!"

Iida sighed but did, lowering his volume until it was barely perceptible. They continued, and Mrs Shimica would occasionally say things like,

"Very good, cellos."

"Like that, flutes."

"Faster please, percussion, it's one-two-three-four."

"Second violin, speed up! You're dragging!"

"Good job, percussion."

Once the song was finished she addressed them all.

"Very good everyone. Keep practicing on your own, and that should be ready soon. Now, be sure to practice the piece that I put on your stands for tomorrow. I think you'll all enjoy it."

Iida yawned and began collecting his things. When he had first joined the orchestra, he had been excited to play. Now he just did it because his parents wanted him to. They'd been the ones who made him take lessons ever since he was seven. He really didn't like letting people know he played the violin, because then he would have to explain that honestly he wasn't very good so he only played the boring parts of the music. Everyone else was chatting among themselves as they split off to enjoy their afternoon, and Iida overheard some first violins talking.

"Sheesh, does that second violinist ever practice? He messes up constantly!"

The animal who replied was the second chair, a female hyena called Lin.

"I know, but there's a reason he's a second violin. Imagine how terrible it would be if he wasn't just playing repeating whole notes. Anyway, do you want to go get some tea? I'm always so thirsty after rehearsal."

Iida frowned and his ears pulled back a bit.

Ah dang it, I always thought Lin was cute! Why'd she have to say something like that.

The conductor stopped him before he could leave.

"Iida, a word please?"

He followed her to the side of the room and waited as she spoke.

"You've been… struggling to perform well as of late. So I was wondering…."

If I've been having problems? Yeah! I hate coming to practice now! I'm so bored!

"Would you please promise to practice more so as not to cause the rest of the group to suffer? Our sound quality comes from cohesion, and you're throwing that off. Please try a bit harder."

Iida forced a smile and inclined his head. She dismissed him and he left with his school bag. Upon returning to his room, he saw two of his roommates sitting around playing a game. The first one, Shiro the Doberman, gave him a characteristically goofy smile.

"What's good, Mr. Bean!"

The other boy, Vince the german shepherd, smirked.

"Beeeeeeans! Whatcha been up to?"

Iida sighed and dropped his stuff off at his cubby.

"You know, the usual. Same old same old."

Vince shook his head.

"Dude, when are you going to tell us where you go after class?"

Iida shrugged and sat on his bed.

"It's not important, so why bother."

Shiro leaned towards Vince.

"He's probably creeping on girls. Trying to work up the nerve to talk to one."

Iida huffed and threw a sock at Shiro.

"I talk to loads of girls! Not my fault they prefer tall guys."

Vince chuckled.

"All your bikini posters and pervy pictures probably don't help."

"I do not have pervy pictures. And… I just like sports magazines!"

He surreptitiously moved the curtain over his bed to block one of the said wall hangings. A centerfold of a lady wolf in a less than covering swimsuit. The two other boys returned to their game laughing as Iida closed the blinds. He pulled out the new music and idly glanced over it. He did a double take when he saw something unusual on the second page. There, on measure seventy, was a large, bold word. Solo. He had a solo! And it was a cool one! Immediately he threw open the curtain and raced out of the room and towards the orchestra room to retrieve his violin. He finally had a reason to practice.

The next day Iida was feeling something he hadn't felt in a while. He was genuinely excited to go to orchestra practice. He could barely stop himself from fidgeting with nervous energy as he thought about it at lunch. His roommates were all talking amongst themselves when Vince addressed him.

"Yo, Beany. We're all going to go off campus for fries and to hit the arcade after school today, you in?"

Iida shook his head.

"No, sorry. I have stuff to do."

His two other roommates, Fletcher the dingo and Iwata the Caucasian Mountain Dog, glanced at each other and whispered something. Shiro sighed.

"Dude, what exactly do you do after class every day but Wednesday? You always vanish for a little over an hour and then come back."

Iida shrugged.

"You wouldn't be interested in it. Trust me."

The other boys gave up and returned to their conversations. Iida was fit to burst when his final class for the day ended. He walked as fast as his short legs could carry him to the practice room and got ready. Finally, their conductor arrived and took her place at the center.

"Alright everyone, let's tune up. Strings, can I get an 'A'?"

Once they had tuned they all set out the new piece and began. For the first page, it was a typically boring second violin arrangement. He pretty much just played repetitive phrases to help keep their speed steady. Finally, they reached the solo. Iida took a breath and began to play.

Forte, and a key change. Now there's three sharps. This is in third position, so that—

He heard the conductor rapping her baton on her stand. He hadn't noticed, but the first chair of the first violins, a male goat named Koda, had been playing too. Iida gave the conductor a confused look. She adjusted her music and said,

"Sorry, I forgot to let you know that I've decided to just have Koda play the solo. You'll play the harmony with the other violinists."

Stifled laughter and whispered jokes were exchanged as everyone stared at him. Iida couldn't believe it. He had practiced this solo so hard, and she gave it to someone else! Why was whatever he played not good enough! Not once had he been complimented about anything he did! Always just comments about how terrible he played. Iida had had enough. With a jolt he stood from his seat and walked out. Mrs Shimika stared at him in stunned silence before calling out to him.

"Where are you going?!"

"I'm leaving!"

"But practice just started?"

Iida clenched his jaw before whirling around and snarling.

"I quit! I hate this stupid orchestra! I hate coming to practice! I hate how you all say I suck! I QUIT!"

And with that, he stormed out. As he packed his violin back up and stormed out, the other members of the orchestra erupted into whispers. As the doors closed behind him, Iida let out a shaky breath. He had really just done that. How many times had he fantasized about storming out of there, but this time he finally did it! Part of him felt embarrassed about his outburst, but the rest of him was still crowing about finally giving them all a piece of his mind. He checked his watch and ran towards his room. Hopefully he could still catch his roommates before they left.

He stuck his violin under his bed and changed into street clothes before running towards the main building. He was just in time to catch his roommates leaving the main office with their passes in hand.

"Guys! Wait for me! I'm coming with you!"

They all looked at him and cheered, slapping his shoulders as he darted past them for his own pass. One short train ride later and they were walking through the city center towards their favorite arcade. Once there, they stopped at the neighboring fast food restaurant and got five orders of fries and sodas. The arcade itself was massive, with games of all types lining its aisles and a large area with tables perfect for eating their fries at. The other three canines had already finished eating and had left Iida and Vince alone at the table so they could play some games. By now the thrill of his explosive outburst at his teacher had faded and he felt frustrated and empty. Vince and slid over to sit beside him.

"Hey, are you okay, bro?"

Iida sighed and absently swirled his drink with his straw.

"I dunno. I'm fine I guess."

"Well you look all limp and sad, like this french fry right here."

He picked up one of Iida's fries and showed him. Sure enough it was soggy. Iida shrugged and muttered.

"I kinda feel like that fry right now."

Vince frowned and leaned over so as to be closer to eye level with his friend.

"Did something happen? Something to do with whatever you do after class?"

"...I don't really want to talk about it."

Vince scratched his head before wrapping his arm around the smaller dog's shoulders and pulling him into a half hug.

"That's okay. I don't need to know about what you're going through to be there for you. Homies stick with their homies, no matter what. And we're all here for you homie. Got that?"

Iida rolled his eyes and shoved him off, grinning all the while.

"Oh shut it, you're almost as bad as Shiro!"

"Hey! I am at least twice as handsome as Shiro is! And three times as smart!"

"Whatever, peanut brain. Let's go play some games. Maybe we can play some dance dance evolution and throw up all these fries."

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Bean."

The five boys had a fun rest of the afternoon before taking the train back to campus in time for dinner. Iida was generally in better spirits by now, having been able spent some quality time with his friends. As they were walking towards the cafeteria, he saw Mrs Shimika walking towards him. He excused himself, not wanting his roommates to hear this.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a sec. Need to hit the bathroom."

Shiro gave him a thumbs up and the other boys continued towards their dinner. Iida sighed, a cold pit growing in his stomach. Was he in trouble? He had seriously mouthed off to a teacher after all. He nervously came to a stop before her and looked down at his shoes.

"Mrs. Shimika."

The avian kept her wings folded behind her back and gazed down at him cooly.

"Iida… could I have a word with you?"

Iida nodded and followed her to the orchestra building. Iida stood awkwardly in the doorway as the older female began shuffling through some papers. Finally, she spoke.

"Do you really hate the orchestra?"

Iida gulped and kept his eyes down.

"Well…."

"There's no need to lie, you won't get in trouble."

Iida paused before taking a deep breath.

"Honestly… a little. I used to enjoy coming to practice and playing the pieces, but now I spend the whole time I'm here bored and wishing I wasn't here. I've wanted to quit for a while, but I didn't know how."

Mrs Shimika nodded and gazed sadly down at her music.

"I fear I bear the blame for that. I neglected to encourage you in any way, I only ever offered criticism without the construction. And I failed to intervene when the other members treated you poorly. You have every right to be unhappy, and I apologize for that."

Iida looked back up. This was not how he had expected this to go. She continued.

"I noticed a drastic drop in your performance these past few months, but I didn't come to you to try to fix it one on one. I should have seen how exasperated and bored you were and offered you something to keep you engaged. As such, I want to offer you something."

She walked over to him and held out a folder with all the sheet music he had left behind.

"Come back to the orchestra, please. We can't play without a second violin, and I believe our other members realized that today when you left. The music was a disaster without the foundation you provide. In return, I promise to make this club more engaging for you. If you can prove to me that you are up to it, the solo in the piece we were playing today is yours again. And this won't be the only time you play more interesting music. Is that agreeable?"

Iida stared at the folder before accepting it.

"Yeah, it is. Thanks."

She nodded and turned to leave. Iida called after her.

"Mrs Shimika?"

She looked over her shoulder at him. Iida bowed towards her.

"I apologize for my outburst. It was disrespectful and rude. Please forgive me."

She gave him a wry smile.

"Only if you can forgive me."

The next time the orchestra met to practice, everyone began to whisper when they noticed Iida. Mrs Shimika took to the stand and began their warm up. Finally, they began to play.

Okay, repeating phrases of ascending eight notes. One-and two-and three-and four-and.

She nodded.

"Excellent phrasing, second violin. Brass, more oomph! This is a triumphant piece! Be triumphant!"

That night, as Iida was lying on his bed reading something on his phone, Vince swung his head down from the bunk above his.

"Hey, Iida. You look like you're feeling better."

Iida smiled.

"I'm feeling better, that's probably why."

"Cool beans. Oh, b-t-dubs, Fletcher stole your bikini poster."

"That son of a—!"