I patiently play with my fingers awaiting an answer from Tachibana. Not long after, I witness the doorway slide to the left as the short, petite girl steps out. "They've approved your request."
"Great."
"The room is this way, follow me." We came to the location of the abandoned club. There, a polished, black piano sat untouched with signs of negligence. I caress its keys and lid, feeling the care that went into the creation of the instrument.
"It's in pretty good condition… Not bad at all. "
"I'm glad you think so." I take a seat to test the keys and sounds. As I hoped, it functioned just as good as it looked.
"I'll be going now. Try not to be disruptive."
"I won't. Thanks again."
My fingers descend to press down on the piano's keys. I hold down each key one by one without any meaning or rhythm trying to get used to them again. Slowly but surely, my random tapping manifests into a somewhat coherent tune.
Plin plin plin
Plin plin plin
Plin plin plin plin plin plin plin
My instinctive feelings possess my thumbs and pinkies…
Plin Plin Plin…
Plin Plin Plin…
My ears lead my emotions, it transports it somewhere, somewhere filled with dread and tranquility. Straight ahead are barren trees with no greens in sight, the sun lightly peeks behind the gray clouds as white flakes leisurely sink from the sky.
Plin…
I remembered the song! Good thing I got to keep my memories after coming here. My hearing shatters away from my trance when I hear the skidding of the classroom door. Must be Tachibana, guess I was being too loud… "Sorry about that." A pair of widened, red eyes make contact with mine. A face shaped like it just witnessed an unorthodox event freezes my own. I then realized it was one of the band members from that Dead Girl's Monster group.
"...Hi."
"T-that… that was… pretty sad."
"Mm? What was? Please don't say I suck…"
"Oh! No! No, that's not what I meant. I was talking about the melody. It was just sooo depressing. Your playing was really solid, though."
"Thanks." She steps in the room.
"My bad for suddenly barging in like that, I'm Iwasawa." She presents me with her hand.
"Goto."
"I just couldn't help but to stop and listen, that was truly amazing."
"Wow, thank you, I didn't think I was anything special."
"You are! At least, I think so!"
"Misami! Where'd you go?" Someone's voice echoed through the hallway.
"Ah! Hisako, over here!" An intimidating looking girl carrying a guitar on a strap pops up.
"There you are! What are you doing here?"
"I was just talking to someone, sorry for leaving all of a sudden."
Hisako glances at me, "Is that guy the one who was playing just now?"
"Yep! Wasn't it wonderful!?"
"He was alright, I guess."
"Aaaw, don't be like that! Don't mind her, she's pretty hard headed when it comes to giving praise."
"Oh yeah?" She ruffles her hair, "You're pretty hard headed yourself. Well, when it comes to music, anyway."
"Of course I am! What's not to love about it, right?" She throws me a cheerful smile.
"Y-yeah, for sure."
Hisako pokes Iwasawa on the forehead, "Oof."
"It's getting late, we should head out soon."
"You're right." She turns to me, "Hey, why don't you come to one of our rehearsal sessions. Seeing as we play different instruments, maybe we can gain a new perspective. What do you think?"
"A rehearsal session? I listened to some of your music the other day when I was passing by you guys' room. You play just like professionals."
"We very much appreciate your praise, right Hisako?"
"Yeah, yeah." She huffs.
Hisako snatches her shoulder and starts to drag her away. "I'll see you tomorrow Goto, don't forget!"
"Yeah, I'll be there. See you."
The next day, I met up with the girls as promised and listened to one of their songs all the way to the end. Who would've thought these loud and intense instruments could create such a symphonic masterpiece together or separated, it amazes me everytime. It's like learning to tame a beast, it takes patience and dedication to achieve, and these guys for sure showed me what their hard work is capable of.
"So what did you think?" Iwasawa waits for my answer as I process what I just heard.
"Terrific. That was really catchy, and the beat is memorable. I honestly can't get it out of my head."
"Ha! Did you hear that!? Now we'll definitely play this at our next concert!"
"You guys do concerts? Where?"
"Yep! At the main hall, usually at night."
"Huh, that's cool. You guys are definitely professionals."
"That's what we aim to be and more!" She points at me with an enthusiastic wink.
"Alright rock stars, time to clean up, it's getting late." Hisako announces.
"I'm tired…" The girl with lavender hair tries to stretch her exhaustion away.
"Does that mean you're skipping dinner? Can I have your ticket?" A girl dawning honey colored hair asks.
"What? No way! Maybe I can stay up for a little longer."
I feel bad just sitting around… "Want me to help out?"
Hisako smirks at my question. "Hey, more people less time so go ahead."
"Hm." I move to pick up the cords, my hands shake from the nervousness and paranoia of accidentally breaking something, but alas, I manage to at least not scratch anything.
"You guys can leave, I'll finish up."
"Alright, see ya!" The two shorties exit the stage. Iwasawa, Hisako and I were the only ones left in the room.
Hisako taps my shoulder. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem." Iwawawa grabs a chair, turns it and rests her chin on the headrest while waiting for Hisako to finish packing.
"Um, before we leave, I wanna ask something if it's okay with you."
"Huh? Sure, what is it?"
"Are you two from the afterlife battlefront? I heard about them."
"Yeah, we are, are you interested in joining?"
"Ah, no, I was just curious."
"Mmm, I guess you can't join anyways."
"...Wait, why not?"
"Well…" She gets serious all of a sudden and steps closer.
"Do you have any memories of your previous life?"
"...I, uuuh." Her aura stuns my words. Her serious expression cracks and a wild giggle escapes from her.
"Sorry! I was just messing with you."
"Hisako, don't make fun of him!"
"Hahaha, my bad, my bad, I couldn't pass up the opportunity."
I tapped my thigh out of dread, Hisako was still laughing. "I mean… Yeah, I do…" That's when her happy burst breaks.
"...What?"
"This is the afterlife, right? That's what Tachibana told me."
"Tachibana? Who's that? Wait! More importantly! Are you saying that you do remember?"
"Yeah…"
"Huh, so you are human! That's kind of a relief for us actually. Oh, but you said you didn't wanna join…"
"Erg…"
"Meh, we can still play together, so it won't matter either way!" Iwasawa's bright smile never seems to dim.
"But either way, since you don't wanna join, make sure Yuri doesn't find out, cause the moment she hears you're human, she won't stop nagging until she convinces you. Although... I guess she's become way more lax these days… but still, just a little warning if you happen to run into her."
"Is Yuri the leader of the battlefront?"
"Yep, in all her scary glory. I know she sounds intimidating by the way I described her, but she's surprisingly level-headed and capable. I've really come to respect her for it."
"Oooh, Hisako, is that admiration I'm sensing?" Iwasawa gives her a playful grin.
"Yeeaah, please don't tell her that, the embarrassment is kicking in." Iwasawa giggled at her flusterness. Another question surfaces in my mind.
"What's the battlefront for? What do you all do?"
"Get revenge on God."
"Huh? Stop joking."
"It's the truth and simple as that. Yuri created the battlefront as a way for us to stand up to em. Every member has their own reason for fighting, but we pretty much share the same goal. Rebellion and revenge. Revenge for the lives he thrusted upon us." Hisako looked up, "Although, we aren't as invested in this whole revenge thing as the rest of the front."
"How are you gonna find God? That sounds virtually impossible."
"We're still figuring that part out. In the meantime, we have these operations to help us keep on 'living' in this world. If we get too comfortable, we vanish. Basically, you can disappear from this world once you've fulfilled your desires and discarded your regrets." Tachibana mentioned something similar. The more I learned about this place, the more curious I got.
"That sounds kinda scary."
"Yeah, I guess so, but you don't have to worry about that, so long as you don't get lost in the bliss, you'll get to stay."
"You make it sound so eerie…"
Hisako chuckled. "Anyhow, we really should get going." She picks up her bag. "See you, Goto."
"Bye, Goto!" Iwasawa motions a bubbly wave.
"Yeah, see you two."
Leaving for my room, I kept thinking about what Hisako told me. About the battlefront, God, disappearing, they're all spine-chilling concepts to me, but at the same time, I had the unbearable urge to know, to see if it was really possible to find God.
The following day after classes had ended, I headed for the piano room. I admit, today I couldn't concentrate on the lessons in the slightest, partly because I was scared of what might happen if I participated and got too engrossed in them, and mostly due to me trying to figure out what my next move was gonna be.
I was playing something from muscle memory as I was thinking about the intricacies of this setting. From what I know so far, people with regrets come here to rid of them, everything from the buildings to the students have been created specifically to simulate a school environment, that program, Angel Player, is capable of materializing anything you can imagine just by coding something in it, which means this world works just like some sort of video game or virtual reality, a virtual reality that can be modded, essentially.
Wait, that's it! Angel Player! Angel Player is the key! It's the only thing capable of altering this world's properties, and the only thing capable of providing somewhat of a chance towards finding more answers. Though, I don't really know where to go from there…
I feel a tap on my shoulder. "Hi Goto!"
"Yo, what's up." I didn't even notice her coming in…
"What are you playing today? That was really interesting. The tune felt kinda… I don't know… robotic?"
"Haha, yeah, I was just fiddling with the keys. Nothing too serious."
"For fiddling with keys, it sure sounded dynamic."
"Heh, what a description, but thanks." She grabs a seat near a window. That's when I noticed a bunch of students going somewhere.
"Hey, where are they all going?"
"It's cause of summer break. I heard the NPCs just disappear until it's over."
"Oh, you call them NPCs…? Wait, they disappear? Why?"
"Mmm, I don't know. I guess that's just how things work here."
"Huh…" So they vanish whenever they're required to leave school. Whoever designed this place really thought of everything. But wait, if the students disappear during breaks, that means this world is just this school. Seems the creator never bothered to create anything unnecessary.
Hmmmm… Out of bounds… Out of bounds… The sky… is unreachable by normal means… Out of bounds… I wonder if…
"You don't mind if I look over my notes, do you?" Iwasawa's voice snaps me back to reality.
"Uh, no I don't mind, but won't I distract you?"
"Not at all. My thoughts really flow when I hear you play, so it's easier for me to write stuff down."
"That so? I'm glad you think I'm that good."
"You are! There's no need to doubt yourself."
"I appreciate it. And I also feel the same way when I hear you guys play. So the feeling's mutual."
"Why don't we keep up this relationship then." Iwasawa lets out a carefree giggle.
"Hehe."
For the rest of the evening, Iwasawa and I didn't say much, there was no need to. Our music did most of the talking. It helped me ease my mind from all that thinking. I never had this sort of experience with anyone else, it was enchanting and beautiful at the same time. We didn't even notice how much time had passed, cause after a while, Hisako came to remind us that there were only twenty four hours in a day, and suggested we get some rest if we wanted to properly function tomorrow.
