A couple of days had passed since Emi joined the club, now my second week at Sakuragaoka had started. We spent the first few days of the week just drinking tea, while talking about trying to find a drummer for the club. Today was Wednesday and I was a bit late going to the clubroom since I had lost my bento box, but in the end I didn't find it and I decided to look for it after our meeting. I opened the door of the clubroom.

"Sorry for being late, I lost my bento but I'm going to look for it later..." My tone slowed as I looked into the room.

Rei was in the back making tea and Emi was laying on her back on the couch while scrolling through her phone. Although something quickly caught my attention... Both of them were wearing... maid outfits?

I sighed while walking into the room "What... what are you two wearing?"

"Oh! Well, since I was serving tea, Sawako-Sensei said this would be appropriate. Like a uniform, you know? And anyways I look pretty cute, right?" Rei said while doing a spin and striking a pose.

"Very..." I looked at her, unimpressed. I changed my attention to Emi, who quickly noticed my gaze upon her.

A smirk appeared on her face, anticipating my question. "I just thought it was funny."

"You really shouldn't be wearing those at school, you know? Just change into your school unifor-" Before I could continue, I heard someone else enter the room.

"Oh, Yumi, great timing, I found one that I think is your size," Yamanaka-sensei said. I looked behind me to see her holding a hanger with the outfit she was talking about.

I frantically waved my hands against what sensei was saying. "M-Me?! Nonononono, I'm not going to wear one of those."

"Aw come on! It'll be fun!" Rei looked at me with eyes that just said 'pleaseeee!'

"I already said no." Her pleading couldn't convince me.

Emi briefly looked away from her phone to frown at me. "Yumiiii, just put the outfit on, what's the issue?"

"I don't think we should wear that kind of stuff at school," I said, still refusing to put on the outfit.

Yamanaka-sensei hung her head low. "It was pretty hard to find this, you know?"

"Come on Yumi!" everyone started saying around me.

My annoyance grew and grew until—

"Ok, fine!" I grabbed the hanger from sensei's hands and walked out of the room towards the small music room beside it.

A few minutes later I returned to the clubroom. I walked in and everyone looked at me.

I looked down sheepishly at my clothes. "Hm... I kinda hate to admit it... but I do look pretty good in this." I mimicked Rei from before and posed towards the rest of the club.

Before anyone could comment on my new look, the sound of the door opening made everyone look towards the entrance.

Manabe-sensei entered the room carrying the box I had lost during the day. "Doujima-san, you left your bento at the classroom, so I brou—" her voice came to a halt when she saw us.

The calm and composed smile she had disappeared in a second, the light from one of the windows to her right hitting her glasses and hiding her eyes behind the lenses.

Her face remained expressionless as she looked directly at Yamanaka-sensei. "Sawako-san, may I have a word with you in private?" An attempt at a smile appeared on her face, looking more menacing than comforting.

Yamanaka remained still, a clear look of fear on her face. "G-Girls, don't let her take me, I'm begging you…" she whispered frantically at us as Manabe-sensei approached her.

"It'll be just a few minutes," Manabe-sensei said as she set her hand on Yamanka's shoulder. Yamanaka looked at us distressed, but before any of us had the courage to say anything Manabe-sensei grabbed Yamanaka by the wrist and dragged her out, closing the door behind them.

We stood in complete silence, looking at the closed door. A few seconds passed, then quiet voices could be hear from outside the room, but a few moments later those voices, or I should say THE voice, became louder and the scolding was revealed to us. "—And even after all these years you continue doing the same—" I wasn't able to hear the end of the sentence since Emi had walked behind me and covered my ears. I looked up at her and she shook her head, I guess not wanting me to hear whatever they were saying.

A few minutes passed and Emi uncovered my ears. There weren't any voices, and now an earie silence filled the room. The door opened and Yamanaka... well... Sawako-sensei entered the room, her eyes devoid of any life, her skin paler than the paint covering the walls. Seemingly struggling to even talk she opened her mouth: "Girls... please take off those clothes... and change back to your regular school uniform..." She then walked over to the couch and collapsed on it.

Manabe-sensei reentered the room, and then walked over to me. "Here, take this." She handed me my bento, and then walked back to the entrance. "Well girls, enjoy the club and remember to change back to your uniforms!" Manabe-sensei closed the door and went off.

...

We were wearing our uniforms once again and sitting at the table; each of us had a tea cup in front of us and a package of cookies was opened in the middle of the table. Sawako-sensei's lifeless-looking body was still on the couch.

Emi looked over to Sawako-sensei on the couch. "Man, Nodoka-sensei really left Sawa-chan completely wrecked."

"Sawa-chan?" I asked while taking a sip from my teacup.

Emi smirked. "I heard some students call her that and I thought it was funny." She then grabbed a handful of cookies and placed them beside her teacup.

Rei placed her hand on chin and looked at me. "Anyways, with Sawa-chan out of the conversation for now, what are gonna do about our missing member?"

"You are going to call her that too? I-I mean, yeah... We have to find a fourth member quick! In a few days the inscriptions for clubs are going to close, and we are gonna be left out of it," I said, also placing my hand on my chin.

Emi leaned back and looked at us unimpressed. "You two really have no plans to get new people?"

I looked back at her. "Not a single one... We were lucky to get you..." I sighed.

"Yeah... and I mostly joined cause dad convinced me and I HAD to join a club because of the reglement." Emi sipped her tea.

"Ouch..." Rei laid her face on the table.

...

A couple minutes of nothing but silence broken sometimes by chewing or sipping passed.

"Wait a minute... are we the dumbest girls in this high school?!" I said, standing up from my chair.

Emi looked at me a bit surprised. "Uh... maybe... but what do you mean?"

I cleared my throat: "Ahem... We are THE LIGHT MUSIC CLUB!"

"And?" Emi's surprised look left her face.

Rei seemingly had the same realization as me. "We should make a live show!"

I went quickly to her side and gave her a big hug. "Exactly! That's it! If we play something that sounds awesome at least one person is surely going to join, right?!"

Rei and I began jumping while hugging but that was quickly stopped by Emi.

"Sure sure... a live show would work... But can just a bassist and a single guitarist make a good enough show to lure someone into the club?" She had a point, but I was quick to find a mistake in her words.

I imitated Emi and smirked at her. "Two guitarists, actually."

"You haven't taught me a single thing about guitars yet," Emi frowned.

"'Cause we had to find a way to get members first, but now, the way to get members is by playing music, so we can start your lessons right now!" I looked around the room to find my guitar case. "Hm... although with my plans... you should practice with an electric one..." I looked over at Sawako-sensei. I poked her face, she didn't react, I lifted her arm and let it go, she didn't react, I grabbed and shook her, she still didn't react.

With the situation evaluated I knew there was just one option now. "Rei, bring me one of the cookies on the table." Rei rushed to the table and gave me a cookie.

"I hope this works." I went over again to sensei and hovering my hand below her nose, I snapped the cookie in half and waited. A few groans were heard from sensei, and in a moment she jolted back to life. As soon as she was up again, I put my hands on her shoulders.

"Are you going to blackmail me?" sensei asked.

A bit surprised by the question, I quickly brushed it off. "Sensei, we need you to get us a guitar for Emi, an acoustic one."

Sensei had a clear face of annoyance. "Whaaat? I gotta look for that?"

"Yeah, you are the music teacher, you should know where this stuff is you know?" Rei reasoned with sensei, who was still hesitant at our request.

"Ugh... ok, fine... just... have me a cup of tea for when I come back ok?" Sensei stretched and walked out of the clubroom.

"Now, we wait." I went back to sit at the table at the back of the room.

Emi sat in the chair in front of me. She looked at me with a slight frown on her face. "So... what am I gonna even play?"

"Easy, you'll be just strumming the back melody." I leaned on my chair trying to show off my absolutely genius plan.

"Uh... strumming?" Emi really seemed unimpressed with my plan.

"Just strumming the string... sweeping your hand across the guitar, it's easy!"

"How easy?" Emi still questioned me.

"Even you could do it!" Her frown intensified. "I mean that even a beginner can do it." Her expression did not change.

A couple seconds passed in silence. Emi looked at me with some really piercing eyes.

"Alright, if you say I can, you are probably right, you are the one that knows about guitars!" She flashed the biggest smile I've seen her have. Honestly, I still couldn't figure out this girl.

...

Rei had fallen asleep at the table, Emi was on her phone, and I was just staring at the entrance door of the clubroom. We had been waiting for about fifteen minutes already, but finally the door opened and Sawako-sensei entered the room.

Basically throwing the poor acoustic guitar on the couch she triumphantly took a seat beside the sleeping Rei. Sensei looked at Rei for a few seconds before snapping her finger right beside Rei's ears, quickly waking her up. She looked around, still pretty disoriented.

Looking at her annoyed, sensei started complaining. "Come oooon! Sasaki, all I asked from you was a nice cup of tea."

Rei frowned at sensei and then stood up, walking to a small table set up beside the door of the storage room. Maintaining direct eye contact with sensei, Rei made a cup of tea, and brought it to sensei. Rei went back to her seat, and as quickly as she woke up she slumped back on the table, falling asleep again.

With that little act over, I went to the couch to check out the guitar...

Oh...

This school has a pretty good budget; there's lot's of clubs fully equipped, also many activities throughout the year... but the guitars... oh man. The neck of the guitar seemed to be connected to the body with cheap glue, not to mention the neck itself was pretty warped. The strings were probably older than me; just touching the metal ones for a bit left the tip of my fingers covered in rust, which was so old that it was blue.

Noticing my face of absolute horror, Emi stopped browsing through her phone and walked over to me. "What's wrong with the guitar?"

"J-Just look at it! Everything is wrong with this corpse: the strings, the tuning, the body of the guitar itself, everything! Just looking at this poor thing makes me sad..." I stared dejectedly down at the guitar laying on the couch.

Emi crouched to inspect the guitar closer. "So... does this mean I can't practice with it?"

"Mhm... Don't touch that thing, you could get some chronic disease from it or something." I placed my hand on her shoulder, slowly shaking my head.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Emi's face showed uncharacteristic concern.

"Hm..." I placed my hand on my chin and started to think. "...You know? I might know a place where we could get a guitar for you."

Making a cross with her hands, Emi said: "Disclaimer, I don't have any cash to spare."

"It's okay, we won't need money for this." I smiled confidently.

"Really?! Nice!" Emi now looked enthusiastic at my words.

"But we'll have to beg... a lot." My confidence disappeared as I thought about my plan more thoroughly. Emi's enthusiasm also disappeared at my revelation.

Yawning, Rei walked over to us. "So... are you planning to go to Akiyama's store?" She clearly had deduced my plan.

"Yeah, she's gotta have a spare guitar around there, you think?" I went to grab my school bag.

It was around 5 PM, so the store was still open since it usually closes at 7. Rei and Emi also grabbed their bags, ready to leave with me.

Sawako-sensei looked back from her seat while drinking her tea. "You girls are leaving? Weren't you going to practice?"

"We were, but that guitar should be considered a biohazard, sorry sensei, byeeeee!" The rest of the club and I left the room, leaving sensei behind.

...

The streets were quiet as we calmly walking down towards Akiyama's.

"So... you two... how long 'ave you known each other?" Emi put herself in front and started walking backwards while looking at us.

I smirked at the question. "Ohhhh, so... You want some backstory on your fellow club members?"

"Mhm, to kill time while we walk to the music store." She continued walking in front of Rei and me.

"It's not that interesting," Rei said, breaking her silence. "Also, start walking like normal again... You'll bump into someone if you continue like that."

Emi went back to walking beside us, and I prepared to begin the story. "Soooo, basically, me and Rei met in middle school."

"Uh... and? You can't just say that... Come on, there has to be more." Emi was completely disappointed.

"Alright alright... so, about four? No, three years ago me and Rei started middle school. Of course we didn't know each other yet but we were in the same class during our first year. Rei was always really really quiet, although not a 'shy' kind of quiet, she just didn't really talk. Most of the time she would be sleeping or staring at nothing."

"School is boring," Rei muttered while I talked.

"During those years I mostly spent time at school reading, or playing around, but Rei always caught my attention. It was mostly her hair; I just thought it was pretty, and I still do. So, one random day, I just decided to go talk to her. I tried to come up with something that we could both discuss but Rei didn't really answer, but after I while of my fumbling I noticed that she started smiling."

Probably remembering those years, Rei smiled just like that time. "You are fun."

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Thanks... But anyways, after that one time, I spent more and more time with her, sometimes she would respond, sometimes I just said stuff and she listened to me. Time passed and we didn't just spend time together during recess or lunch break, we walked back home together, sometimes we would hang out during the weekend, or we would go to each other's houses, and during one of those visits she noticed a very special thing in my room, my guitar. Rei of course asked me if I knew how to play it, so I played a bit. Seemingly impressed, I started talking with her about guitars, music, and that kind of stuff, and in just a few minutes I convinced her to start playing too! She tried with my guitar, but she didn't like it since it was too complicated, but she still wanted to learn to play an instrument, so after a while of thinking I proposed that she learn bass, and explained that it had only four strings instead of the usual six of a guitar. Some days after, we went to a store to check out some basses and some months later she got a bass, and having her bass, it just took another bit of talking to get her pumped about opening the music club at Sakuragaoka, so we both enrolled here for that reason." I had to stop for a big gulp of air.

Finishing with my extensive narration, I noticed we had reached Ms. Akiyama's store. Emi took a quick glance at the two floor, brick building connected to more buildings across the block "So... this is the place?"

"Uh huh, Rei and me have basically become regulars here," I said, walking up to the entrance. "Uh?!" I tried to open the door as always, but it was locked.

"It's never closed on a Wednesday," Rei said while turning her head to me.

I looked closer at the door, and noticed a small note stuck to it. 'I'm very sorry, but the store will be closed for some weeks for personal reasons.' A small drawing of Ms. Akiyama bowing was beside the message.

Emi looked bored and annoyed. "So... uh, what now?"

I was honestly dumbfounded at this... In the many years I've visited this store, it had never been closed on a random week day like this. "Uh… just... ugh... Let's worry about this tomorrow, alright?" I was tired of all the walking, and this had just killed my enthusiasm.

...

After saying our goodbyes, everyone went their different ways. Today was a hectic day to be honest... But at least we got a plan! After a bit of organizing we are going to be ready for our show, and that will definitely get us some members!