My eyes hurt… They felt like they were on fire, so I tried covering them as best as I could…
"Uhm…?" I started to open my eyes and looked around…
M-My room? Yeah… My room brightly lit with the light that came from the uncovered sides of the window… My room? I grabbed my phone beside my bed…
10… 10 AM?! I-I'm late, wait…. Worse! I… I felt fear, real fear, my worst nightmare…
I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL… Wait… My room? WHY AM I EVEN IN MY ROOM? D-Didn't I fall on the couch last night?! Wait, I didn't go to school? I grabbed my phone again and checked my notifications… 20+ Missed calls and messages from Rei… I looked over at my nightstand and noticed a small note.
"Your dad found you on the couch when he got up for work so he left you at your bed, your bento is in the fridge so you don't have to cook your lunch today, I guess it's okay for you to skip school today but let's not let this happen again ok?"
Hm, I got off easy… But… What now? The guitar won't be ready until two more days… Maybe the best course of action is just reuniting with the club… The first out of school reunion!
"..." Nothing, she hasn't picked up.
"Y-Yumi?" Rei's voice was pretty quiet.
"Yup, um, sorry for not going today"
"T-This isn't like… The bes-" Rei's voice was quickly cut off before she could even finish her sentence "Sasaki-san!"
"M-Manabe-sensei I-I" Rei once again was interrupted by the teacher "Didn't I tell you just now to keep your phone in your backpack?!" Rei tried to argue with Manabe-sensei "But I… Uh" But nothing came from her argument and the teacher's voice came back "Ok, that's it, please give me your phone, you will have to go and pick it up at the teacher's room and we'll have a talk" Rei's voice came back "B-But…" and then her voice quickly raised up "W-Wait! N-Nonono c-come o-" And then the call was cut off…
R-Right… By now we are supposed to be in class… I'll… Hm… I'll get her something nice as an apology… But most importantly, class ends at 3:45 and considering I didn't go today Rei and Emi will not go to the club… So, I should go to the entrance and wait for the two.. There's a few hours until I gotta go… I'll set an alarm and have some sleep.
…
A cold breeze woke me up a little bit more. I've been standing in front of the school gate for so long that I'm practically falling asleep standing up, but finally… The school bell rang, any in a few minutes Rei and hopefully Emi would come out.
"Hey!" I waved at Rei, she seemed to notice me, instantly frowning, oh… she's probably pissed off at me…
Rei stopped right in front of me, looking at me in the eyes "Yo…" Yeah, I could feel her anger.
"Uh… Hehe… Um… So… H-How was today?"
"Fine, I couldn't use my phone for half of the day, but Emi was kind enough to come talk to me" The anger seemed to start to dissipate somehow.
"Nice, nice… Uh, where is Emi by the way?" I looked around but she didn't seem to be around here nor coming out of the entrance.
"I think she went home already" Rei shrugged.
"W-What? But I've been here even before the bell rang? She couldn't have gone home"
She shrugged again "Maybe she sneaked out or something"
"But, she couldn't I mean she jum-"
Fear… Such a strong emotion, our fight or flight instinct works all in our sense of fear… At this moment… Fear was what filled me.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I jumped as soon as I felt something on my back, I was so concentrated on thinking and talking with Rei that I let all my guard down and I was attacked. I turned around just to see Emi laughing at my reaction. "W-What the hell?!"
Rei looking pleased bowed to Emi "Thanks, that was enough pay back for my phone"
"Pay back? But you were the one that picked up in the middle of the class and just didn't end the call!" I tried to argue at Rei's logic
"Uh…" Rei looked nervously at Emi. "We're sorry" Both said bowing
"It's fine, it's fine… Sooooooo, you two are free right? We might as well still do a club reunion today right?" I also wanted to give them the news about the guitar but that was a surprise.
"Sure" Rei didn't even think of her answer.
"I have some free time… I think…" said Emi while shrugging.
"Great! Follow me!" I started leading them to the road. "So, where are we going?" Emi said as we got farther away from the school. I looked back and winked at her "Suuuuuuuurprise!"
"Are we going to the MAX e Burger on the way home?" R-Rei…
…
"..." I stopped and looked at her in silence for a few seconds, before showing my sadness at her comment… "Don't ruin my surprises…"
"It isn't really a surprise… We go there kind of regularly" Rei didn't look very impressed with my plan. "Yeah but Emi doesn't! This is her first time going with us"
"Uh… I also go there, you know?…" Emi said, raising her hand.
"W-Well… This is different, now you are going with your high school friends! C-Come on, can you girls act a bit more excited?... Please?" I pleaded as my wonderful and very cool and exciting plan crumbled in front of my eyes…
Rei still looked unimpressed but tried to give her biggest most brilliant smile possible "i can't wait to know where are going Yuuumiiii" She said in the most monotone voice possible… Well, at least she was trying to be nice, in her own way.
Emi suddenly broke the bit of optimism I had gained "I have no cash by the way"
"I'll pay… Just… Don't go crazy alright?" I said to Emi.
Emi smirked at me "I don't promise anything" I looked at her with fear of the damage that was going to strike my poor wallet "I'm just joking, I'll just get… Hmm, I'll see there"
We continued talking and walking on the way to the fast food place. My surprise turned out to not surprise anyone… But that doesn't really matter, either way I'm spending time with my friends. Even after spending a week with them in the club, even if it's not official yet, this is just awesome…
"Yumiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" A hand was waving in front of my face.
"W-What? I started to look around since I seemingly just dozed off… Oh… We are arrived
"Come on, let's go in! I'm pretty hungry, you know?" Emi was waiting in front of me
I started to walk with her towards the restaurant "Right right"
…
"You reaaaaaaaaaally are hungry huh?" Emi said while I walked to the table where Rei and her were.
I took a seat beside Rei who was quietly sipping her drink. "Not really but the cashier… Her eyes… So, sparkly… It's like magic, it started with 'would you like to upgrade your fries' and I ended up with extra large fries, a sundae, extra large drink and onion rings… You can have uh, the burger if you want Emi…" Emi took a look at the monstrosity besides her own burger.
"The hell is that?" She looked at the many, many, many… Many layers of meat, very few layers of lettuce, tomatoes?... Maybe those tomatoes were actually more meat… "I-It's… The special burger…" The disappointment in my voice was evident…
Emi politely declined my offer waving her hands. "I'll just eat what I ordered… Thanks…"
Emi took her order from my tray and started eating, I just stared at what I ended up ordering…
"Rei..?" I looked at Rei pleading silently. "No" Her voice, stoic as ever. "B-But" I put my hands together upgrading my plea but it wasn't enough. "I said no" She looked at me with a serious expression "You will eat that, and you will face the consequences of your actions"
Defeated, I looked again at my tray… I guess I have no other option… I took the burger… Slowly moving it towards my mouth… And I took a bite…
…
…!
"Hm… I gotta be honest… This is pretty good!" Rei and Emi both looked at me a bit shocked.
Emi stopped all her eating and just looked at me "So you are actually going to eat it?..."
"Yeah… I bought it… I gotta eat it" I continued munching on my burger as I talked. "Although, these sides are too much for me alone…" I looked at Emi who's shock had dissipated and was back to sipping her drink. "Reeeeiii, want the sundae?" My offer seemed to peak her interest.
"What flavor?" She looked with a side eye.
I checked the cup of ice cream. "Vainilla"
Rei thought about it a bit. "Give me the cup" She went and took the cup of ice cream directly from my hands.
"Well uh… Anyways, I almost forgot, I got another surprise for both of you!" Right, I almost forgot but I made these two come here for a reason.
"Another one?" Rei looked at me while she enjoyed the ice cream.
"Yu-up! You'll love it, trust me, well… Ahem, I got us… The acoustic guitar!" I raised my arms in celebration as I revealed the surprise.
…Both looked at me… Surprised? I wouldn't call it that, they were weirded out? No not that, they just looked at me weird.
"Hoooow? We went to the music store yesterday and it was closed… Where else could you have gotten the guitar?" Emi questioned me while raising an eyebrow.
"T-That's… My ahem, little secret" Was the only thing I could say, since I did not intend to tell them about the dumb stunt I pulled last night.
They didn't look convinced…
"Where did you get it, Yumi?" Rei looked at me with clear suspicion in her eyes.
I guess I can say that part. "Akiyama-san will get us one"
"Huh!? But the store was closed yesterday, how did you talk to her?" Rei got closer at me while staring.
"Uh… You k-know, mom told me to go buy some things during the evening, and on the way to the store I bumped into her… And she told me that she would get us a guitar!" Hm… I'm getting better at lying… Which… I'm not sure if it is actually a good thing…
"Oh, alright… Well, is the guitar at the store?" Rei went back to sitting like normal.
I shaked my head "Oh nonono, she will have it around in… Two days I think, so we'll have to wait till then"
"So… What are we doing during club hours these days while we wait?..." Emi said while leaning on the table.
We all started thinking… That was a good question. Before this, we spent time thinking about ways to get people to the club, but now we have a plan for that… Emi could start practicing on my guitar… But I'm not sure if that would be effective… Hm… Well, if we are going to get a drummer… We'll need a drum set, maybe the club has one in the storage room at the back of the clubroom. We haven't checked there yet since we didn't really need to, but know it would be a good time for that.
"Maybe we should check the clubroom's storage room for a drum set. We are looking for a drummer after all, she'll need a drum set. And I don't think we should expect her to bring one of her own, you know?"
"Uh… Don't you remember the guitars from the school? If there is a drum set… It'll probably just be, you know, disgusting?…" Emi did have a point there…
"But… Hm… Well, think about it, those guitars were the old guitars that were being used by the entire school for who knows how many years. Buuuuuut, this drum set we are looking for would be the light music club's drum set. A drum set used by people who really really cared about music, and surely also took care of their instruments, so it's probably nicely stored there… And also, drum sets are just too expensive for us…" Yeah, I care for my guitar like my own child, so their drum set has to be in good shape…
Rei put her ice cream down "So… Tomorrow we focus on finding a drum set?"
I nodded in response, I stood up, stretched a bit and checked my phone "Well, how about we somewhere else? it's just 4:17…"
As soon as Emi heard what it was she quickly stood up. "W-Woah, I forgot! I have something important to do! Sorry… Gotta go, thanks for paying Yumi, see ya tomorrow you two! " She said while grabbing her things off the table and running out the restaurant.
"...She really seemed in a hurry…" Rei looked at Emi out of the window.
"She did… I wonder what it was… Well, we can ask about that tomorrow. Wanna go somewhere else?"
Rei stood up from her seat " Sure, how about we go to the arcade?"
"You know I suck at arcade games…"
Rei smirked at me "I know, I just want an ego boost"
"I'll help you with that then…" A small smile appeared on my face as we walked out of the restaurant.
…
We were halfway to the arcade, the small stores, uniform houses and parks started to disappear as we got more into the city. More and more cars were passing by on the road beside us, as well as more and more people. The city was not my favorite place to be honest, busy streets, lots of noise aren't really my vibe. The peaceful residential part is what I like, but for some reason Rei seemed to enjoy it… She likes to come around here, usually to the arcade, or the library, she watches the people walk by with some sort of excitement or just stands around watching the lights as the day comes to an end. I really don't see the appeal, especially for someone like Rei, I mean, I guess it can look pretty sometimes, but that doesn't eliminate all the other annoying aspects of this place.
We kept walking and walking in silence until.
"So… What do you think about… You know, Emi?" Rei said not looking at me while we walked.
I was a bit surprised by the question "Uh, what do you mean exactly?"
She still kept her eyes on the road "Oh, uh, nothing bad, just… Do you feel she fits into the club?"
"...What do you think?" I said, since this kind of question wasn't really Rei-like.
"I like her, she's funny… It's just that she doesn't seem that much into… You know, music…" Rei looked down, since she noticed that I was not very happy with her questions.
"Hm… You are right I guess… But she did join on her own, I even asked her and she didn't want to, so she ended up changing her mind" Yeah, the day she joined I asked if she was interested but she declined… I wonder what made her change her mind…
Rei thought a bit with her eyes closed and then said "Well, she hasn't even been able to play an instrument at all, so maybe she will like that. I myself wasn't fully convinced until I tried playing one of the basses the had in that one music store"
Remembering the story I said yesterday I responded "I thought my talking was the thing that had convinced you!"
"You did fifty percent the bass did the rest" Rei smirked
I chuckled a bit "So then I'm not really that charming?"
"Compared to my bass… I better not say it" She also chuckled a bit.
We looked at eachother and after a bit we just laughed together as we reached the entrance of the arcade. We stepped inside and here comes one of the things I don't like about the city… This noise… A combination of laughter, little kids screaming, the music from all the games at max volume… I try to be a cheerful girl, but this really just brings me down… I wouldn't be able to handle this alone, but since Rei is here it isn't that bad.
"What do you play?" I said while I looked around the place.
Rei also scanned the area and then smirked "That one… A classic" She pointed at the game she had chosen.
A classic huh?... A racing game, two big cabins with a steering wheel, pedals and all, waited for us as we walked there. Rei seemed excited clutching her arcade membership card in her hand.
We stepped into the cabins… Rei passed her card by the scanner twice… The car select screen appeared… Rei quickly chose her favorite, a green and red race car, one of those you see at professional events. Since I never know what to choose I just closed my eyes and moved the steering wheel randomly and pressed the pedal to select a car. I ended with basically a sedan… Surprisingly similar to the one my parents own… Why would a racing game have such a common car?.
As soon as we had chosen our cars the stage select screen appeared. Rei, confident as ever, looked at me and randomly selected a stage… These games really make a hidden side of Rei appear… She's almost like a different girl…
The countdown of the race started, I focused on my screen… Maybe, for once, I would win…
…
I lost… 9th place, I suck at these games… Rei seemed happy with a very wide smile on her face. She maintained it when she looked at me.
"Another one" Rei said, smiling.
"Sure, sure" I got out of the cabin
After that we played more and more two player games, and like usual, I lost and lost and lost.
We chose the last game to play to see if I could even get one win today…
…
"Once again, I rise as the winner," She said, looking at me in the eyes.
"How do you do it? We've come here for years and I haven't gone even once" I said defeated
Her wide smile changed into a smirk. "I think that's more impressive than me winning"
"I… Y-You are… Kinda right" I chuckled a bit nervously and then checked my phone. "Oh, it's 7? Time passed by too fast…"
"Really? Hm… We should get going… Um… Could you pay… For a taxi" Rei said while stretching
We started to walk towards the exit "Uh… We can go in the bus, you know? After lunch I don't have enough money to pay for one anyways"
Rei sighed "Sure…"
…
We walked to the bus stop… No one else was at the stop, but the street was still pretty busy.
"So… About Emi, I'm sure that as soon as we get her the guitar… She'll fall in love with it as much as we did…" I said to Rei, just to try and give her some security about that situation…
"I hope so… I still wanna hangout with her in the club…" Rei smiled a bit.
The bus finally came to the stop… We took the bus and we were on our way home.
I said goodbye to Rei and we walked to our homes. I started to wonder… I also enjoyed spending time with Emi… I hope she ends up liking playing the guitar…