A bespectacled girl with fairly short hair ran up to us as we walked past the front gate of the school, unnoticed by the crowds around us operating and funding various stalls. It was not unlike the ones we had at our school, which were still running.

Slightly out of breath, she started speaking.

'Hello boys. You're Iliev-san, right?'

She pointed at me and I nodded.

'Jess is fine.'

She continued regardless.

'Welcome to our school. I'm Manebe Nodoka, though if you wish, Nodoka-san is fine, likewise. I am who has been responding to your e-mails and composed the letter you replied to a few months ago. So, if you don't mind, then follow me inside. You shouldn't get bothered if you're with me. I'll find you a place to stay until your performance and practice. After that, you'll be free to attend our festivities, accompanied by me, or return to your own.'

I looked at the others. We'd probably use our own as an excuse and head somewhere to celebrate our first - hopefully successful - performances.

'You should note that in a few minutes the other band from your school will be performing. You may come to see them perform if you wish. Also, please arrive backstage at least twenty minutes before your performance. You should come on in a bit less than an hour, so that gives you just enough time to see the other band perform, go to your room, leave your bags and tune up, and return to the hall.'

'Twenty?' asked Jiro, with perhaps just a bit too much of an air of confrontation.

'Yes, twenty. We don't want to keep the audience waiting, and if the act before you finishes early, then you'll have to start early. So twenty minutes is only a guarantee that you'll perform when you need to. This isn't because we don't trust you; it's mandatory for all performers.'

'I see,' replied Jiro, more timidly.

We followed her into the building, through the threshold of which did not halt the endless tide of colourful stalls selling food, charms and whatnot.

She led us through corridors which looked unsettlingly like our own. We got stared at a lot as we walked down them, and obvious whispers and outstretched fingers did nothing to tarnish my strangely replenished determination.

I looked to my left, and Jiro looked as if he was struggling to hide his joy at this slightly overwhelming female attention.

It's probably what going to an all-boys' school does to a guy.

We eventually reached an office. Yasu assured he and Hayate would be in the audience an hour later, bade us and Nodoka goodbye, and set off back through the school.

Nodoka signaled for us to wait outside and went inside.

I felt strangely vulnerable without her, as a goldfish would in a tank full of sharks. Even if the girls walking past weren't talking about us, I'd catch a whisper every so often that was, and that alone made the minute we were out there seem like an eternity in front of a poised firing squad.

Nodoka soon came out with a teacher trailing behind her. She sported glasses and long, brown hair, though was only a fraction taller than Nodoka, which meant that I was looking down at her. Which was never a comfortable situation to be in when the person you're looking down on is of a higher authority than you.

Nodoka introduced her.

'Boys, this is Sawako-sensei, please address her as such.'

She looked at me dead in the eyes. I'd never blushed in my life but if I was in the habit of doing so, I'd have done so fiercely right then and there.

'I'm going to leave you in her hands now. Good luck with your performance!' And with that, she left.

'Hello everyone. As said before, I'm Sawako-sensei. I teach music here and I'm really looking forward to see you guys perform. So, let's go see that band then.'

She led us down a few corridors to the hall. She showed us the backstage entrance, where we'd be entering from later.

We circled round to the general entrance and we took our seats on the sparsely populated back row, trying not to be noticed by our heavily unbalanced crowd of peers.

Sawako - sorry, Sawako-sensei told us she'd be back when they'd finished and departed the hall.

And sure enough, the guys we'd talked to about a room a few months back were already on stage. I hadn't spoken to them since that day, unless you count hasty greetings in passing a proper talk. It seemed that they were introducing themselves, but as I listened more carefully, the friendly guy I'd spoken to, mic in hand and bearing no instrument, was speaking about... how his club was going to get disbanded?!

He went on to explain that the classroom that they were using as a clubroom was wanted for use by the school, and seeing as they'd be leaving next year, it would be the end of their ensemble. He then referenced... us?!

He explained how everyone should keep the soul of music alive and not disregard it and how our band, FreakWave, was a prime example of this. He told the audience that we'd be performing later (he'd obviously not spotted us yet as we'd all dipped our heads to avoid him doing so) and ended his speech with a line that would stick with me forever.

'Melodies thrive in the hearts of the young. So play and stay youthful, yeah?'

And that was taken as a cue by their drummer to count them in.

His energetic clicks were contrasted by the melancholic chords that followed. An ascending bassline soon joined in as did the vocals, which were as drawn out and pensive as the chords which prefaced them. The song continued as such, captivating the audience - including us - into total silence and attention.

The song slowly turned into a build up, at which point the pianist took the lead and played more and more powerful chords as the drummer did faster and faster rhythms. This sublimely long bridge eventually exploded into noise, the guitarist strumming out an amazingly fast instrumental, which in my opinion, didn't last long enough - it was at that point of superiority where I'd feel like that no matter how long it lasted.

This faded back down into the original wistful chord sequence, before ending.

What a good fucking song.

The silence once halted did was shattered by a standing ovation, cheers splitting the hall. Heads turned as I and the guys joined in with this high acclaim.

I felt a tap on my shoulder as I was still clapping.

I turned to see Sawako, who beckoned for us to follow her out of the hall.

'You boys enjoy that?' she asked, grinning.

We nodded.

'So, where to put you now?'

She trailed off and remained speechless for a second, before a smile that could only be described as outright devilish crept up on her face.

I felt the eyes of those around me widen - as did mine - at this unexpected display of dubiousness. By a teacher, no less.

It evaporated no slower than it had materialised.

'Follow me, boys.'

She set off back in the direction we had originally walked with Nodoka.

And we followed, slightly bewildered by the drop in her seemingly composed stature.

We reached a stairwell, the exact same model of which we had in our school, complete with the stairs down to the basement door, next to the entrance and Sawako led us up it.

I noticed that it began with small golden statuettes of a tortoise and a hare resting upon the banister, a small decoration which our school lacked.

As according to the story, the hare fell asleep as we neared the first floor. The tortoise soldiered on up the staircase, its statuette repeated in various places up the staircase, leading to the second floor.

Which we'd never bothered to go up to before. Until now, in a seemingly parallel reality.

As expected, the tortoise held its head high at the top of the stairwell. It reminded me of Apollo at home, who seemed to be a lot lazier than this swift specimen - she preferred basking under her lamp and eating whatever happened to be obstructing her path.

The second floor consisted of a small landing leading to three doors. The one to our right was could clearly be distinguished as roof access due to the amount of light flooding through it, despite it being a cloudy day.

Sawako led us through the door to our left, letting us all enter an L shaped room. It bore no decoration and was largely unfurnished. The bottom third of the walls were made of the same wood as the floor, the rest painted a monotone cream. A large chalkboard hovered on the wall to our left. Facing it a couple meters away was a small plain bench, upon which were situated four identical blue bags.

Looking at them, I asked Sawako: 'Are you sure we can be in here? It looks like its already in use...'

She chuckled mysteriously before replying. 'Yes, it's fine. I'll walk up here once you boys are finished, so meet me here.'

Beside the bench stood a whiteboard, filled up with some obnoxiously large kanji. Behind the bench lay an even plainer piano and its stool.

In the corner of the room lay a small cupboard, next to which was something curious. A table with 6 chairs sorrounding it. The furniture was generic enough, but the expensive-looking china laid out for four places suggested that this dull space was loved nonetheless. We walked over to it. The cups still bore drops of what smelled like tea - absolutely not something I was fond of - and crumbs littered the matching plates.

'Looks like whoever was here last ate well,' remarked Ryo.

'They sure did,' grinned Sawako. Her smile was offputting now.

As we stood around the table, the part that made the room an L made itself visible, though only populated by a sink, the mirror above it and a door.

We got to work - got our guitars our their cases and tuned. Touji, as any drummer would, made it hard to do so by practicing his drumming on the table.

We pushed past his incessant slamming and tuned nevertheless. Sawako had apparently disappeared meanwhile.

Once done, we hitched our coats up onto the seats so they could warm up a bit and threw our guitar cases in the corner next to the chalkboard.

Except Jiro, who of course had to have a more solid plastic guitar case.

He propped it up on the wall more gently than I'd ever seen him treat anything before.

We looked around the tired little room, then the time, and decided that it was about time we get a move on.

We walked back down the stairs, my fingers brushing against the tortoise as had many students before me, and headed down.

We reached the hall with exactly enough time to spare as Nodoka had instructed.

We walked into the backstage area, a dark passage behind the hall. Crewmembers dressed in all black were crouched down messing with some cables backstage and a few of their heads turned as we entered, before looking back. It was evident that they had already been notified of our presence. We walked past them when suddenly, one stood up quickly and walked over.

'Are you all tuned?'

'Yes,' I replied.

'Are you sure?'

'We're sure.'

'Alright. Please walk around that corner over there,' she pointed in the direction where we were walking, 'and wait until you are called upon stage. Remember to stick to your time slot.'

I nodded. 'We will.'

'Good luck then,' and she crouched back down.

We continued walking and turned the corner. I pivoted one one foot just before turning it and swung my guitar around as I did out of nerves, nearly slamming it into a group of girls waiting just around the corner, who I hadn't spotted due to the dim lighting as I turned. I lurched back to avoid hitting them.

'Ah, shit, my bad,' I blurted out in plain English, before correcting myself and apologizing profusely in proper Japanese.

They turned around, which led me to notice the abstract outfits they were wearing.

There were three girls there, the one closest to me - the one I had nearly hit with the head of my guitar as I swung it round the corner - was wearing an old-fashioned white shirt with ruffles, and a dark reddish knee-length petticoat. She had just-below neck length brown hair styled into bangs, and held into place with two red hairclips.

The other two wore similar archaic one-piece dresses in black, though the one who had hair of a similar length and colour as the first girls' held into place with a headband's dress was hitched up on her shoulders, displaying yet more ruffles.

The other had longer, flowing blonde hair - which wasn't all too common here in Japan - and her dress covered her arms, though the line where her dress met her chest displayed even. more. fucking. ruffles.

Seriously, it looked like they'd just stepped out of an old-timey detective movie, or better yet, a terrible rendition of one.

Although this type of maid-style was strangely popular in Japan.

It... suited them though? The three were... cute enough already, but these ridiculous costumes sort of emphasised it in a way. Strange.

The first girl responded to my explicit outburst. I hoped she didn't understand English well.

'Hello!'

Then she stopped. I think she realised of what sex we were.

'So you're the other boys act?!' she asked, her voice cracking horribly as she did so. She sounded like a prolific smoker.

'Uhh... yeah, we are.'

I was taken aback at her enthusiasm. Here I was, shitting myself at the prospect of performing to an audience full of girls, and the seemingly most excited one was interrogating me.

'Wow! What kind of music are you performing? You know we're a band too? We're up next! We're gonna perform a song that we wrote, all by ourselves! So, what's your guys' names? I'm Yui, and behind me are Mugi,' she pointed at the blonde girl,' and Rit-chan!' and she pointed at the other girl behind her.

The one called Mugi smiled and corrected her friend. 'You shouldn't introduce us to strangers like that, Yui.'

Yui blushed and looked down, though still smiling.

'I'm Kotobuki Tsumugi, though as you heard, my friends just call me Mugi. And that's Tainaka Ritsu, and as you heard, only Yui - or Hirasawa Yui - calls her Rit-chan.'

'So don't get used to it,' retorted Ritsu, or Rit-chan, or whatever.

'Ah...' I replied nonchalantly, still lost for words at their enthusiasm.

We stared at each other for a second, before I realised that I had to say something to avoid this encounter becoming awkward.

'So uhm... what's up with those outfits you're wearing?'

I realised what I had asked may have come across as confrontational, so I corrected myself, unintentionally interrupting the start of the excited girl's second spiel.

'Not that they're bad or anything, just... out of place, I suppose?'

'You just met a group of girls and you're already questioning them on their outfits? Wow, if this is what going to an all-male school does to a guy...' Ritsu trailed off.

'That's not what I was-'

'Sawa-chan gave them to us!' her elevated friend interrupted.

I think I could feel cogs turning in my head as what she said rang a faint bell.

'Sawako-sensei?' I murmured.

'You know her?!' Mu - sorry, Tsumugi asked animatedly.

'Yeah, she showed us around earlier.'

Saying 'us' reminded me that the guys were still standing behind me.

I swiveled around and introduced them.

'That's Jiro, Touji, and Ryo,' I stated, pointing to them each as I said their names. They waved and gave quiet greetings, muffled by the announcement that whatever the chorus club was had finished their performance. We all flattened ourselves against the wall as they walked offstage.

'I'm Jesse, but Jess is fine.'

Suddenly, Nodoka's head popped up from the top of the stairs separating our two groups from the stage.

'Yui, Ritsu, Mugi, come on up. And hello again boys, it's good to see you on schedule.'

'Hi, Nodoka-san,' I greeted her, to be replied to with a brief wave.

Yui span around. 'You know Nodoka too?!'

'Pretty much...'

'Yui, could you get a move on?' ushered Nodoka softly.

'Sorry, Nodoka.' She giggled. 'Good luck, boys.' She gasped. 'Climb the stairs and watch us perform!'

'Oh, I cou-' I began to decline.

'It's fine, the curtain extends to a point where you won't be seen by the audience,' Nodoka assured us.

'Well... sure.' They started climbing the stairs, and I felt the need to say something, though I couldn't quite work out what it was. I relayed our conversation, and then it hit me.

'Good luck, girls!' I shouted as they climbed the stairs, staring at the wall as I did to avoid seeing something I shouldn't.

They only looked back and giggled.

After some setting up, the announcer proclaimed the arrival of the light music club, and the curtain rose. It led me to start wondering how a music club could only have three members, though I saw the answer to that question as soon as I climbed up the stairs.

The answer was in the form of another girl with long, straight black hair, wearing yet another outdated outfit, with a black skirt that fell so widely around her that it looked unnatural. She stood taller than the others and was even wearing a maid's cap, though quite logically, she looked mortified to be doing so in front of an audience, in front of which she was standing center stage. She clutched a brown bass guitar, though wielded it left-handedly.

I'd considered doing so myself when I first started, seeing as I was too left handed, but thought against it, seeing as I wouldn't be able to use most other basses. And anyways, I'd already gotten accustomed to using things the right-handed way, such as a mouse and keyboard, so I might as well have kept on getting used to living in a right handed world.

The one called Tsumugi was situated behind a keyboard on a stand to the right of the bassist, and 'Rit-chan' behind a yellow drum kit, drum sticks poised to strike.

Yui stood to the bassist's left, on our side of the stage with a red guitar strapped to her, though disregarded it as she spoke to the trembling girl in center stage, still with that horribly raspy voice. The only thing I made out was the mystery girl's name: Mio-chan, so Mio. The other members said something to her as well, before the stage broke into silence and the only noise was the hushed ramblings of the audience.

The drummer took it as a cue and counted them in.

And holy shit, did they put on a show.

Yui started them off by strumming out a simple chord pattern, one so straightforward it led me to think that surely someone had thought of something so uncomplicated yet so catchy before.

The other three girls clapped along to the beat of her strumming, encouraging the audience to do the same. I subconsciously tapped my foot on the hard wooden steps with them as they did.

They others started playing before long, leaving the audience to hold the rhythm.

An energetic chord and drum line supported the guitar well, whilst the bassist - Mio - plucked out a fast-paced bassline, one which did not reflect how uncomfortable she looked.

Surprisingly, she was the one who started singing.

Her voice was breathtaking.

She had somehow avoided how she obviously felt interfering with her performance - true professionalism. Her vocals were as upbeat as the plucky guitarist next to her, who had started singing as the song progressed into a bridge.

Despite her hoarse back up vocals, which made me smile (at least she was enthusiastic), the girls were obviously in a world of their own as they played, one where each note stood out more than the last - and the audience - and I, I have to admit - lapped it up.

Energetic choruses came and went into a satisfyingly drawn out finale.

I forgot about myself, the stairs below me and our upcoming performance as the song ended. If I'd ever heard a song that encapsulated optimism, that was it.

...

So what the fuck was ours good for? Sure, we tried to make it as punchy as we could, but it wasn't melancholically pleasing like our upperclassmen's was nor was it uplifting like the one everyone'd just enjoyed.

We wouldn't be remembered as the courageous boys who, against all odds, performed in an unlikely venue and smashed it.

We'd be a stepping stone for the greats.

...

Not if I had anything I could do about it. I'd perform. The audience who were cheering now would EAT their FUCKING HEARTS OUT once we'd finished. Because they'd want more.

This forceful determination spun me around to look at my bandmates, standing on the step below me.

'Make this one good guys. Powerful. I want aggressive, yeah? We need power if we're gonna top that. Let's not go home wishing we'd done more.'

'Well said,' agreed Touji, before whipping his head around to look at the stage, at whatever had produced a loud thump on it. This drove me to do the same and witness an unpleasant sight.

Mio. On the floor. On all fours. In a very suggestive position. The horrified expression on her face told me that she did not, in fact, want to flash the entire audience.

I just hoped she was wearing something underneath that massive dress, though I think the camera flashes from the audience told me that she wasn't.

What a fucking horrible situation to be in.

And the disrespect from the audience as well - one minute appreciative of the captivating show the girls'd put on, the next, they were nothing more than a passing high. It pissed me off.

Noticing that she'd gotten up, I looked back again at my bandmates, not wanting her to think that we'd seen that unfortunate situation.

Mio, as expected, screamed and ran off stage with her head down, disregarding us and the band who'd accumulated at the bottom of the stairs.

The other three passed us, carrying whatever instruments were left to carry - Tsumugi with her keyboard under one hand and its stand in the other. She was stronger than she looked.

I thought about saying something as they passed, but could think of nothing that would avoid what had just happened tactfully, so I remained silent.

Though I received yet another raspy 'Good Luck!' by Yui as she passed us.

The curtain was now fully down and our time was here. Nodoka signaled for us to prepare ourselves and we walked onstage. I plugged my bass in where Mio had hers and stood in her position. Jiro stood to my left and Ryo my right. Touji made himself comfy behind the drum kit.

I noticed as we prepared, that the audience seemed to be very loud. Probably talking about what had just happened.

A fresh wave of determination washed over me. We'd make them forget about it. Like a wrench to the forehead.

Though it didn't last long, because as we were announced, I noticed I was the only band member with a microphone in front of him.

I also noticed the girls' upper heads sticking out from the top of the stairs.

Why would they want to watch us?

But then that gave me the answer to my microphone dilemma. Yui had taken hers offstage with her. Which meant that that was why I was the only one with one in front of me.

Which meant that I was the one who had to introduce our band to the audience.

Not Ryo, who already had one planned out.

Me.

And the curtain rose indifferently.

...

As I stared at the audience stupidly, I realised that the blinding lamps directed at us seemed to have been producing a heat of their own - I was sweating unnaturally high amounts in the dead of winter.

A harsh whisper from behind me distracted me from it.

'Speak!'

I glanced at Ryo, who nodded at me, and then back to the audience.

'Hello, everyone. I really don't have much to say, but I would like to thank our brother band for commending us before.'

I coincidentally saw Yasu and Hayate in the front row, who nodded in the same manner that Ryo had.

Sawako kept wearing that devilish grin at the back of the audience. Though I only spotted her through misfortune.

'We're FreakWave. I don't remember how we got that name, but I do know we're here to put on a show. So uh... enjoy.'

I jerked my head at Ryo and he walked over, took the microphone stand, and placed it in front of his position. Its amplifier was on his side of the stage and my one was on the other, so swapping positions as would be logical wasn't an option.

After that awkward display, Touji immediately beat his drumsticks into a count of four and we launched into song.

That deity that had helped us at our last performance was absent now. I was fully conscious and had to calculate each note. As the song progressed, my fretboard grew wetter with sweat, which I kept on pumping out as we got louder.

My speech about a forceful performance had thankfully drilled itself into the playing of my comrades. I felt the ground rumble beneath me as we grew louder. We launched into the final chorus louder than ever, each note emphasised, too fast to go wrong.

Our instrument's rhythms melded into one amazing sound, we were the song we were playing. I felt it reverberate through me before it was sent off into the audience.

...

The silence once we finished stridently was blocked out by a ringing in my ears.

And through my misty eyes, blurred with sweat, I could still see that some of our tumultuous crowd were standing. Only a few, but the girls had none. They had erupted as soon as the song ended and I indulged in every second of it.

I unplugged my bass and strode over to Ryo's microphone.

'Thank you, everyone! We've enjoyed ourselves here, and we hope you have too!'

Which only reinstated their uproarious clapping.

The sweat didn't bother me as we walked back down those stairs, each step drowned out by my restless heart.

I noted that the girls had disappeared.

We walked back out into the corridor and looked at each other.

And started laughing uncontrollably. We'd done it.