Sayonara Piano Sonata Vol 2 Chapter 5

I was packing my luggage in front of the fan, my body drenched in sweat, when I received a phone call.

"Nao, which is better—blue or purple?"

Chiaki threw that random question at me all of a sudden. Through the phone, I could hear music from playing in the background. Blue or purple? What's going on? Also, where are they calling from?

"You see, Mafuyu and I are currently buying our swimsuits. I've already decided on pink."

"Ah. You guys are at the mall?"

"Yup yup. And since it's already the summer holidays, there's a lot of people here. It's so packed."

So Mafuyu really went out with Chiaki to buy swimsuits together? I was quite surprised.

"And Mafuyu just can't decide. Nao, you pick one."

"Why me?"

"Because Mafuyu says she doesn't know how to swim! So the swimsuit she's buying will be purely for looks, so Nao has to be the one to choose!"

"I don't know what the heck's going on in your brain. Pick a color yourself!"

"Ah— Forget it. Right, I'll take a photo of her trying on the swimsuit with my phone and mail it to you."

"— Y-You can't!" came the voice of Mafuyu from behind. It sounded like she was close to tears.

And with that, the call was disconnected. What the heck was that?

I repeatedly flipped the phone in my hands—I was actually waiting for that mail for quite some time, so much that I had nearly forgotten to resume packing. A picture of Mafuyu in a swimsuit huh...... will she really mail it? No no no. What the heck am I thinking? Mafuyu would definitely reject that.

But thanks to Chiaki, I remembered something—I went over to my drawers and dug out my swimming trunks, then slipped it into a corner of my backpack. Will we even have time to swim when we're there?

The beach? Everyone will be in their swimwear, right? Suddenly, I began to roll about on my bed for no reason. It was only then that I finally began to understand what my cla.s.smates were feeling when they created such a stir back then. It'd be just the four of us there—just the four of us, at the beach, and we'd be staying in a villa. How should I put it? It just feels incredibly awesome.

I quickly returned to normal and sat up on my bed. Our live performance is less than two weeks away. Practice should be our topmost priority.

In any case, tomorrow's the day.

"Nao, how do I heat up the water for bathing?"

"Didn't I just teach you not too long ago?"

"Nao, I don't know where my underwear is."

"How the heck would I know where you put it!?"

On the night of the same day, I tried making Tetsurou do some housework by himself. It would just be for three days and two nights, but it would turn out to be a real headache for me if he couldn't take care of himself with no one else home.

"Hey, it's still not too late. Are you really not bringing me along? I'd be of great help. My specialty is helping girls rub suntan lotion on their backs."

"You can start by rubbing the medicinal lotion on your stinking athlete's foot!"

"Nao, you're way too naive. That's not athlete's foot. It's ringworm."

"Shut up! And don't get close to me."

Tetsurou curled himself up while squatting down in a corner of the room and mumbled things like "I don't remember bringing up a child like that......" I left him alone and returned to my room on the second floor. I checked the changed strings on my ba.s.s one last time. I have to be up early tomorrow, so I should go take a quick shower and head to sleep.

We were supposed to gather at Nagas.h.i.+ma's Musical Instrument Store—the store Kagurazaka-senpai worked at—the next day. It was a considerable distance away from the shopping street the closest train station was at. The music store was kind of old, and was located in a narrow three-story building that looked as if it would collapse if an earthquake hit. Recently, there had been quite a few regular patrons coming down here; late at night, the store became a place for musicians gather and hang around.

When Chiaki and I reached the store at nine, there was a large white-colored SUV parked in front of the store. Kagurazaka-senpai was just about to lift the drums into the boot. As for Mafuyu, she was sitting in the backseat, with her body sticking out of the car, watching Senpai load the instruments. However, when Mafuyu caught sight of me, she squeezed herself back inside.

"Morning! Hey you two, mind helping me carry the amplifiers?"

Senpai's forehead was covered with huge drops of sweat. That's quite a huge SUV we have here. Even with all the instruments piled up in the car, there was still some s.p.a.ce left.

"Urm...... who's gonna drive? Can't be Senpai, right?"

I asked that as I helped carry the amplifiers. I had had an uneasy feeling inside of me ever since hearing about heading to the beach by car. Is it possible that Senpai actually owns a driving license?

"Hmm? We have our very own driver! He'll be picking us up on the way back as well."

"Huh?" Could it actually be the unlucky store owner?

Just then, some rumbling sounds came from inside the store, and a Marshall amplifier, about as tall as me, suddenly appeared before my eyes. The person carrying it out of the store was a very tall man, probably in his twenties. There was a sharp gaze coming from behind his messy hair and bangs—I could even feel his gaze through his sungla.s.ses. The relatively high bridge of his nose made him exceptionally striking.

"Hiros.h.i.+, I'll load the amplifiers. Go get the three guitars and place them beneath the seats."

"Alrighty."

The guy named Hiros.h.i.+ gave a wry smile after hearing Senpai's instructions.

"Eh? Eh!" When she saw that person's face, Chiaki suddenly let go of the ba.s.s amplifier she was helping me carry. I barely managed to move the huge amplifier into the boot. What the h.e.l.l, that's really dangerous!

"Hamasaka Hiros.h.i.+? A-Are you the real deal? Whoa!"

"Nah, I'm just your average driver for today." That Hiros.h.i.+ guy removed his gla.s.ses and showed her a smile. Urm, who exactly is he?

"Chiaki, is he a friend of yours?"

"Nao, you don't know him?"

"Urm...... I'm sorry. I'm not too familiar with j.a.panese musicians."

"You don't really have to apologize to me in such a strange manner." Hiros.h.i.+ laughed loudly and continued, "It's fine if you don't know me, as I'm from an underground band. In any case, you definitely won't be able to forget who I am—even if you tried to—once the live performance is over."

That made me feel even worse, so much that I curled myself up on my seat.

I was finally able to make heads and tails of things after piecing together the words of the rather emotional Chiaki, and the casual introduction from Senpai. It seemed Hiros.h.i.+ was the lead singer in a band called Melancholy Chameleon. He had released alb.u.ms via an indie record label, and seemed to be involved in behind-the-scenes stuff like song recordings. Altogether, it meant he was a professional musician. He was also the one who invited us to be the guest performers, and it turned out the villa we were using was being loaned to us by him too. I could barely lift my head up when I learnt all that.

"How did you get stuck being our driver?"

Chiaki stuck her head in the s.p.a.ce between the driver and co-driver seat and asked. The last row of seats was collapsed to make s.p.a.ce for our luggage, and as a result, Chiaki, Mafuyu and I were all sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the second row.

"Obviously because I lost a bet against Kyouko. The original condition stated I would have to lend you guys the villa for three days and two nights, which I thought was too good an offer. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have offered to drive you all to the villa as well."

Ah, indeed...... so that's how it was huh?

"What did Senpai bet then?" Chiaki directed her question to Senpai, who was sitting in the co-driver seat.

"I told him I would offer myself to him for three days and two nights."

""Senpai!""

Chiaki and I yelled at the same time.

"Please treasure yourself more!"

Chiaki grabbed Senpai by her two arms and shook her gently.

"But it's impossible for me to lose to a person like Hiros.h.i.+. Thinking back, I shouldn't have agreed to just three days and two nights—instead, I should've signed a two-year contract with him."

"Don't be silly. That villa doesn't belong to me alone. I co-funded it with a group of people."

"How exactly did you guys carry out the bet?" I tried asking her for the details, as I was really interested in knowing why the heck she had so much confidence in herself.

"A karaoke duel. What a stupid guy he was for thinking he could easily obtain high scores just because he's good at singing. In actual fact, there was no way he could even win against me, as I had already rigged the scoring system."

That's just despicable...... Why did you do that to a professional musician?

"d.a.m.n, shut up. I won't lose next time," Hiros.h.i.+ tapped his palms against the steering wheel.

"Actually...... you lost the moment you allowed Senpai to decide the rules of the duel. I think it'd be better if you were more careful the next time around."

I couldn't help but give him that piece of advice, as I found him deserving of my pity.

"Really...... you've been fooled by her before?"

"Ah well...... urm......"

In the end, all Hiros.h.i.+ did was flash a wry smile.

When the car entered the intersection, our conversation finally turned to music.

"It's always been my dream to play the guitar. However, Furukawa—oh, he's the guitarist of our band, by the way—says I suck at it, and thus, has banned me from the guitar. Then again, it seems like he's interested in being the lead singer, but he's not that good at singing. Because of that, we frequently poke fun at each other's poor techniques. Occasionally, we'll secretly switch our roles onstage as well."

He said the rest of the members that joined them later were their close friends. Which means, they have no relations.h.i.+p with the Melancholy Chameleon, right? I was slightly at ease. Even though they were an underground band, they were still professionals, and it would be quite intimidating to perform in front of them.

"You guys may be the opening act, but you can just relax with your performance."

"What do you mean by relax with our performance? No way. We'll intoxicate the audience with our singing," Senpai retorted. Speaking of which, what sort of relations.h.i.+p does she share with Hiros.h.i.+? There were just too many mysteries regarding Senpai's social circle. Is she really just a high school student one year older than me?

"You always say you want to play guitar, but you always take the mike away to sing during your secret gigs. If you're not that confident in your guitar technique, shouldn't you concentrate on playing your guitar instead?"

Senpai's words were becoming increasingly sharp. In response, Hiros.h.i.+ turned up the car stereo. There was a sudden loud blast from the speakers. I could hear cheers, background noises, and the drumsticks tapping out the countdown.

Next flowed the splendid but overly coa.r.s.e sounds of the Les Paul guitar.

Then came the hoa.r.s.e voice that sounded like fine liquor.

It was Okuda Tamio's live alb.u.m—. [TLNote: First part of the performance is the song mentioned here. Also, wiki link on Okuda Tamio.]

It felt like the instruments buried in our luggage were resonating to the sounds coming from the speakers, which caused the instruments to produce some noise.

Despite listening to the rough rock music, I was suddenly a.s.saulted by a wave of intense sleepiness. It was probably because I stayed up late last night to pack my luggage......?

There was a soundproof wall outside the car's window. The roofs of the cars that pa.s.sed by our SUV glittered brightly under the rays of the sun. Above them was the sunny sky of summer that extended endlessly outwards. As for Mafuyu, who was sitting beside me—the color of her eyes was exactly the same as the color of the sky I was looking at.

I closed my eyes, and allowed my body to immerse itself in the voice of Okuda Tamio.

I woke up. Turning my head slightly, I could see Mafuyu's face right in front of me.

...... Eh?

She exchanged sights with me, and her face immediately turned red. I quickly raised my head up in shock—it was only then that I realized I had rested my head on Mafuyu's shoulder while I was asleep.

"...... S-Sorry."

"It's nothing. Oh, we've reached our destination."

Mafuyu suddenly looked out the window and mumbled...... we've reached?

"Hey, come help us unload the stuff if you're awake."

Chiaki pulled me by my ears all of a sudden, causing my drowsiness to disappear immediately.

"...... Wow......"

I couldn't help but exclaim in awe as I stepped out of the car.

Amid the spa.r.s.e forestry that consisted of slender trees, stood a pure white villa, bathed in the rays of the sun that filtered through the trees. Past the trees behind the villa, I could see the beach.

After making our way past the villa and through the trees, we found ourselves standing on the edge of a cliff. The uneven stacks of boulders stretched their way to the far side, away from us. The rocky sh.o.r.es were jagged in shape, due to the constant erosion of the waves. The sea breeze carried the rich smell of the water as it blew against our faces; it felt really refres.h.i.+ng. Wait, can we actually swim here?

"It'd be troublesome for us if the villa was located next to a sandy beach, as there'd be lots of visitors around." That was the explanation Hiros.h.i.+ gave us. "Don't worry though, the rocky sh.o.r.es are really fun too."

"I'll teach you guys how to head down to the sh.o.r.e later." And with that, Hiros.h.i.+ led us back to the place the car was parked.

The villa looked just like a recording studio. When we stepped through the door, we could see an upright piano, a DJ mixer, microphone stands, studio monitors and recording devices—all located in the main hall. Hiros.h.i.+ told us he had chipped in some money together with a few of his musician friends to buy this villa. The use of this villa was then rotated among the individuals during summer, where it was used to make music or compose a few songs. I see, so that's the reason they chose such a remote place? This building stood alone among the trees next to the road; no other structures were visible from here.

The sofa and tables in the hall were placed up against the walls, making the place pretty s.p.a.cious. Even so, the open s.p.a.ce was significantly reduced when we finished moving the amplifiers and the drum set in. As a result, we could only have our meals out on the balcony. The ceiling of the main hall was made high, which was readily noticeable given the shape of the huge slanting roof of the building. Seems like the bedrooms are all located on the second floor.

"But we have a slight problem here......."

With the luggage out of the way, Hiros.h.i.+ suddenly said something as we all quenched our thirst with some cold drinks,

"Well, since it's rare for us to sleep when we're here, we only constructed three bedrooms."

We looked at each other. It was obvious, even without counting, that there were four of us in the band. I then looked at the upper end of the spiraling staircase—there were indeed only three doors along the protruding walkway that extended out from the tall ceiling.

"Well...... what should we do about this?" I looked at Senpai and asked.

"Which means, the question now is—who should I sleep with, right?"

No, that's not it.

"Well, it'll be detrimental to our friends.h.i.+ps if I sleep with either Comrade Ebisawa or Comrade Aihara...... It can't be helped. Young man!"

"Definitely no!" "What are you talking about, Senpai!" "That's probably the worst decision, isn't it!"

Senpai seemed to be really surprised when the three of us retorted at the same time. Hiros.h.i.+ almost fell off the sofa laughing.

"Then...... young man, you shall decide who you want to sleep with."

"Enough! Let's not carry on with any more discussions about that."

The final decision was that I would sleep on the sofa in the hall.

Hiros.h.i.+ then told us about the routes to the sh.o.r.es, a place where we could buy things, and so on. It was already noon by the time we were done with everything, and that meant it was time for lunch. However, Hiros.h.i.+ entered the car and said it was about time for him to go.

"Urm...... I'll be preparing some food. So if you don't mind, how about joining us for lunch?"

Though he was doing it because he had lost a bet with Senpai, he was still loaning us the villa for free, and had even driven us all here. It just felt like we were chasing him away when he was no longer useful, and that didn't feel right.

"Nah, it's okay. I'll become really envious if I stay any longer."

Hiros.h.i.+ rested his arm on the window of the driver's door and said that with a laugh. He then put on his sungla.s.ses.

"Well then, I'll be coming here at noon the day after next to pick you guys up. Hey, Kyouko, make sure you clean up this place properly! I'm lending it to you all for free, but there are still some conditions attached."

And with that, he started the engine.

"Mmm, I know that, you loser."

Senpai's reply was pretty wicked as well.

"Thanks, Hamasaka."

Chiaki waved her hands energetically at the SUV moving away from us. Mafuyu remained silent.

"Well then......" Senpai turned around to face us all. "Comrade Ebisawa, please proceed with the opening speech for the training camp."

"...... Eh? M-Me?"

"Of course! You're the Chancellor of the Supreme Council! It's your duty to say something at times like these."

"But......"

"Anything will do."

"Mmm......"

Mafuyu lowered her head and proceeded to draw a few circles on the sandy ground using the tip of her foot. Chiaki and Senpai maintained an upright standing posture while waiting for Mafuyu to deliver her speech. She suddenly lifted her head—probably because of the pressure coming from the two girls—and said,

"...... T-The training camp shall go on all the way till it is time for us to go home."

And what about after the training camp's over?

Chiaki willfully insisted that we have our lunch at the beach.

"There are plenty of books that say the sea breeze increases the taste of the onigiri by multiple-fold!"

"We'd have to wait till two if we started preparing the rice now. How about sandwiches instead?"

"Uhh—can't help it. I'll give in this time."

What's with that smug look on your face!

"How about we change out of our clothes while we wait?"

"Hold on a second. What's with the sudden desire to swim? What exactly are you here for?"

"To swim and suntan?"

It's to practice! Just as I was about to say that out loud, I saw Kagurazaka-senpai come out of the storeroom with a parasol and a rolled-up mat in her hands.

"So you guys are that excited about swimming!?"

"We can practice after the sun's set, so we should swim while the sun's still up. Isn't that right?"

Well, you're not wrong—no wait, can't fall into her trap.

"Alright, change out of your clothes, Comrade Ebisawa. I'll help rub the suntan lotion over every inch of your body."

With her intentions fully exposed for all to see, Kagurazaka-senpai grabbed Mafuyu by her hand. However, Mafuyu shook her head.

"I hate the sea."

"Why?"

"And I have never swum before. I'm scared."

"No problem. The sh.o.r.es here aren't shallow, so you won't be stepping on anything before long—there's no chance of you stepping on sea urchins."

Chiaki, why are you scaring her like that? Mafuyu remained seated on the sofa and shook her head. I actually thought a little bit about it though—heading to swim right now instead of starting off with practice did seem to be a pretty good idea, as it might help Mafuyu to settle down a little. However, that didn't seem to be the case.

"To think that we had specially purchased our swimsuits together," Chiaki complained while puffing her cheeks.

Senpai heaved a loud sigh, then said,

"Mmm, I get it. It'd be pointless for us to go to the beach if Comrade Ebisawa doesn't want to go. Let's start practicing after lunch. We can leave the swimming for later—when we're all sweating after our practice."

Chiaki began to tune the drum set in the main hall while Senpai tinkered around with the effects unit. As for me, I made my way into the kitchen. The kitchen was a small area right next to the main hall. Sadly, there was no gas, only an electric stove. Thankfully though, there was a large frying pan, which could come in handy if I wanted to make omelettes.

Just as I was about to drain the lettuce dry, the sound of the waves of the sea came in through the ventilators. I see, the kitchen's facing the sea. It was a real shame I wasn't able to see Mafuyu in her swimsuit...... I recalled the phone call from Chiaki. In the end, she never mailed me that photo—what sort of swimsuit did they buy?

"...... Need my help?" Mafuyu's voice came from behind me all of a sudden, causing me to nearly drop the cooking chopsticks on the floor.

"Eh? Ah, n-nah. It's fine."

"Why are you so surprised?"

I can't possibly say I was imagining you in a swimsuit, can I?

Since Mafuyu didn't use any effects units, she had already finished her tuning and had nothing to do. Then again, there wasn't much she could help me with for the sandwiches anyway.

"You cook frequently at home as well? Your father said something about it in one of his articles."

"Yeah. Tetsurou lacks all sorts of life skills."

Why did he write about his son cooking at home in his article? I really didn't understand, but something else intrigued me even more: why did the publisher continue to a.s.sign work to Tetsurou, who constantly wrote about stuff like this?

I began to think about Mafuyu's rather amazing life as I peeled the lettuce. It seemed like that was how pure pianists were raised and bred—they were not to injure their fingers no matter what, so they were banned from stepping in the kitchen.

How much despair did she experience when she lost the most important thing in her life—the piano? Or perhaps, she didn't feel any despair at all?

"So...... I do not really know what I should do."

Mafuyu said that as she squatted down at the door connecting the kitchen to the main hall. It felt like there was a deeper meaning to what she said—she wasn't just referring to work in the kitchen.

I guess—she must've been alone this whole time. A pianist is at his loneliest not when he is practicing alone, or when he is recording; he is at his loneliest when he is sitting in front of the orchestra, listening to the cello solo in the third movement of Johannes Brahms' —that was something I had read in a certain biography.

However, Mafuyu wasn't by herself anymore, and I hoped she could realize that.

Still..... is it really possible? Can I make her understand that in three days, before the training camp is over?

If you asked who in the band moved the most—the answer would, without a doubt, be the drummer.

"But even so, you don't have to drum while wearing your swimsuit! Go change!"

"But it's so hot!"

After taking a short break after lunch, we immediately began our practice. The ventilation in the villa's main hall was pretty good, so it felt pretty comfortable even without any air conditioning. Even so, Chiaki, who sat between the drums and who was exercising her whole body, was already drenched in sweat. She changed into a bikini for her upper body, but still wore a pair of shorts on her lower body. I could catch glimpses of her sakura-pink bikini and her glistering skin—s.h.i.+ning due to the sweat—through the drum set, and because of that, I was unable to concentrate even a single bit, resulting in me playing a few notes wrong.

During the practice, Senpai had repeatedly stopped our playing, which rarely ever happened. She then actually said this: "Everyone, just change into your swimwear!"

"Is there any point in doing this?"

"So we can feel the warmth of each other through our skin."

That's the logic? That will make me play worse, so no thanks.

However, I knew Senpai wasn't pausing practice because I was making mistakes. Senpai turned down the volume of her guitar and placed her guitar on the stand. She then walked towards the other side of the hall—towards Mafuyu, who was leaning against the back of her chair. Mafuyu glanced at Senpai before s.h.i.+fting her gaze back to the Stratocaster guitar in her hands.

"Comrade Ebisawa, you have two options right now......"

Senpai raised two of her fingers and showed them to Mafuyu. Mafuyu's body flinched.

"One: change into your swimsuit so we can feel the warmth of each other through our skin......"

"...... No."

"Or two: stop rus.h.i.+ng ahead by yourself. You're not the only one playing."

Mafuyu sat down on the sofa. Despite her grumpily nodding her head, she didn't once look straight into Senpai's eyes.

Senpai stared at Mafuyu's forehead for a long while, then suddenly turned her body away.

"Let's take a fifteen-minute break to calm down."

And with that, she opened the gla.s.s door and stepped onto the balcony.

I had no idea what to say, and I couldn't get close to Mafuyu either. All I did was turn down the volume of my ba.s.s and place it on the stand; I then squatted down on the small carpet.

"Hey, Mafuyu......"

I lifted my head in surprise when I heard Chiaki speak. At the same time, I saw Mafuyu looking in the direction of the drums with an expression similar to mine.

"You performed much better on the day you first played together with us, you know?"

Isn't that a little too harsh and direct? But I felt the same way as well, and I believed Mafuyu knew it too.

It was on the sixth of July that the four of us played together for the very first time. We had yet to achieve the same standard of playing we had demonstrated in the I had shown Eb.i.+.c.hiri. How exactly did we manage to reach that standard back then? There was a sudden silence amid the stale hot air in the hall, which caused me to subconsciously remember the heat I had experienced back then.

Mafuyu and I exchanged sights for a brief moment. Even though she lowered her head instantly, I knew she, too, was also reminiscing about that time, as her eyes were fixated on my ba.s.s—a unique ba.s.s that I had customized all over again, to match the timbre of Mafuyu's guitar.

No, I should say...... it wasn't just me. Because there were four of us.

"I know," Mafuyu murmured.

"Then...... why can't we replicate our performance back then?"

Chiaki walked to Mafuyu's side and stuck her face close to Mafuyu's, to stare at her. Mafuyu turned her head away to look out the window.

"Back then, I wasn't—"

Mafuyu stopped abruptly. Back then, you weren't?

"You weren't—thinking about all these things that are troubling you?"

Chiaki knelt down in front of Mafuyu and finished Mafuyu's sentence for her. Seeing Mafuyu nod, Chiaki then went a step further.

"You know...... you can just forget about those troublesome things when you're playing with the band!"

Mafuyu didn't offer Chiaki a reply. Instead, she once again s.h.i.+fted her gaze back to her guitar. She swung the hand holding the pick, and a series of semiquavers flowed out from the high octaves, sounding just like the screech produced when a gla.s.s surface is scratched—it was the opening of the song by Extreme. Back when I lent this CD to Mafuyu, she seemed to be particularly fond of the opening sequence of the song, which employed elements of the baroque organ. It wasn't long before she had practiced it to perfection. The scary thing was, in the original version, the opening of the song was played utilizing the delay of the dotted notes, and was dependent on the effects unit; however, Mafuyu managed to play out each and every note using only her hands. I hugged my knees silently, and immersed myself in the sounds of her guitar as they rained down on me.

Mafuyu was already so incredible by herself—

Her reason to be in the band, and the things she worried about—perhaps it's actually me who should be thinking about all these things instead? Is the unstable sound of Mafuyu's guitar a consequence of me being unable to catch up to her?

Suddenly, a series of metallic clashes overlapped with the sounds of the guitar. It was Chiaki. Unknown to me, she had already made her way back to her seat at the drums, and was stepping on the pedals of the cymbals in a sixteen-beat tempo to match Mafuyu. Mafuyu's guitar picked up speed, as though it were trying to break itself free of the tempo.

I picked up my ba.s.s again, and turned up the volume as I prepared to intervene in the duel between the two. However, I couldn't do it. Where exactly should I step in, and using which note? I was clueless.

It was because I couldn't follow their pace—

I let out a sigh and placed my ba.s.s on the sofa.

The words Senpai had said to me some time ago reverberated in my ears again: You aren't following us! You are our heart. You made it sound real easy, but......

"Alright, halt!"

Senpai's words forced themselves between Mafuyu's guitar and Chiaki's drums. Even though she wasn't using a mike, her voice managed to get the two girls to halt their performance in shock and turn their heads around. Senpai had re-entered the main hall without us noticing. She then removed her T-s.h.i.+rt, revealing only a blue bikini covering her upper body. I reflexively s.h.i.+elded my face with my hands. Is she for real?

"Ah well, let's just start with this song then. Comrade Aihara, please continue the sixteen-beat tempo. Young man, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and—"

"Urm, eh? S-Should I change into my swimwear as well?"

"Hmm? I'm referring to your ba.s.s."

Whoa! d.a.m.n, that was a really embarra.s.sing misunderstanding. It's your fault for bringing that up earlier!

"I won't stop you if you want to change into your swimwear here."

"I never said that!"
 

"T-That's no