Sayonara piano sonata~Russian Volume 2 - Chapter 10

<--!When I returned to the basement, I sprinted past the staff and ran towards the PA console. I then spoke to Hiroshi, who was standing on the side. "Sorry, but can I ask a favor from you?"-->

<--!Hiroshi showed an expression of "Huh?" when he was done listening to my request. However, the person-in-charge of the audio system with a bandanna on his head seemed to have understood what I wanted immediately. He rapped at the equipment and asked,-->

<--!"So all you need is the time difference between the sounds?"-->

<--!"Urm, yes. If possible...... be as accurate as you can."-->

<--!"Pass me the source. I'll take a look."-->

<--!"Oi, hold on! I'm at a loss here!"-->

<--! "It won't matter even if you don't get it!"-->

<--! The guy took my phone and recorded Mafuyu's message swiftly.-->

<--! "—Oh? That's quite an embarrassing confession that we have here...... Hey lad, it's not good to make a girl cry."-->

<--! "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"-->

<--! I totally forgot about it - I actually allowed an unknown man to listen to the Mafuyu's painful words. But then, now's not the time to be thinking about those things. Hiroshi grabbed me by my hand just as I was about to rush towards the exit.-->

<--! "Oi! You still haven't had your rehearsal yet, so where do you think you're going? Also, why has Kyouko disappeared as well?"-->

<--! "I'm going to find Mafuyu right now! Hurry up and let me go!"-->

<--! "You know where she is?"-->

<--! "I'm currently calculating her position. Lad, hurry up and move! You still have to get a map, right?" The bandanna guy interrupted.-->

<--! "I'm really sorry! I'll definitely be back before the concert begins!"-->

<--! I exchanged sights briefly with Chiaki, who was at the drum set. I then flew towards the door. Thank god Furukawa's at the resting area. He'll definitely go into a rage if he knew we were pinning our hopes on something as silly as this.-->

<--! However, we had no other option but to do that. All of this may be for nothing, and we may not be able to get back the wing that's been torn off - but even so, we can't just succumb ourselves to that fate without doing anything.-->

<--! I pedaled hard on my bicycle, and made my way to the neighboring town - the train station that's closest to my house. I stormed into the stationary store to get myself the largest scale map I could find, a long ruler and a compass. I took a look at the clock in the store before I left - it's already five fourty-five. The dusk of summer was slowly swallowed up by the time. And next is— hmm...... should be the district office. Wait, why the district office again!? I couldn't help but recall the time Mafuyu and I ran away from home together. The idea I had came up with back then was pretty stupid. I took out my phone and connected myself to the website of the district office.-->

<--! ...... Hold on. Which number should I call? I stopped pedaling and parked my bicycle on the walkway next to the railways, and was at a lost of what to do. Come to think of it, I don't even know how I should call that thing they play every evening at five!-->

<--! There's not much time left, and I'll only be wasting more time should I panic without doing anything. I dialed the number of the district office.-->

<--! "Urm, good evening, I'd like to inquire about something. It's about Dvořák's music...... the song that is played everyday when it hits five in the evening......"-->

<--! When I recalled it much later, it was really stupid of me to ask the question in that manner. I must have caused a lot of confusion to the operator who belonged to the general division. Dvořák's music...... who would have understood that?-->

<--!My call was diverted a few times to various divisions, where it finally reached the civil defense.-->

<--!"You mean that music? That's the radio broadcasting for disaster prevention!"-->

<--!It seems like the person on the other side of the phone was an old civil servant.-->

<--! "Should things like an earthquake or fires happen, we'll do an emergency broadcast via those things! The thing that rings at five everyday is not a chime, but a testing broadcast."-->

<--! Eh? So that's the truth behind that? I never knew that......-->

<--!"Uhh...... urm, then...... may I know where those speakers are situated in the city?"-->

<--! My heart nearly sank to the floor when I heard his reply.-->

<--!"Where huh......? Over forty different locations?"-->

<--!"Forty......"-->

<--! I was that close to fainting, but I managed to continue,-->

<--!"Can you please tell me...... the location of all the speakers?"-->

<--! All the fire stations in the city, nearly all the public schools, as well as the parks. I spread out the map on the divider on the roadside and marked out all the locations of the speakers that the civil servant had told me. I was getting irritated when I was about halfway into the task. I never thought that there would be so many. Damn, it's about to reach six o'clock.-->

<--!Just then, my phone rang.-->

<--! "Nao? It's me. The mister at the PA has crunched out the numbers, and he asked me to inform you about it."-->

<--! "But why you—" Damn, I'm stupid. There's no other way he could have contacted me aside from Chiaki! It's my fault for not leaving behind my contact number when I left in a hurry. After I was done noting down the three digits on the side of the map, Chiaki asked,-->

<--! "Right, what are these numbers for? Is there really a way for us to locate Mafuyu? It's already so late—"-->

<--!"I don't know, but......"-->

<--!I took out my compass. Indeed, there isn't much time left. As I gathered my thoughts, I clamped my phone between my ears and my shoulders, and explained,-->

<--!"At the current temperature, the speed of sound through the air is about 348 meters per second."-->

<--! "...... What?"-->

<--! "In the voice message, I could hear the sound of the chimes after Mafuyu's voice fades off. That chime will ring everyday at five."-->

<--! I forgot when it was, but I had listened to Dvořák with Mafuyu before - the canon of the second movement of <New World Symphony> that was created via the absolute limits of the speed of sound. I was really thankful to Ebichiri's habit of over-doting on his daughter — the ordinary phones would definitely be unable to pick up the broadcasts in the city that clearly. I have that high-end phone to thank for that.-->

<--!"All the speakers in the city will play at the exact same time. So that means that the sounds from the further speakers will arrive to you slower, right? All I need to do is see the time lag between the chimes, then multiply it by the speed of sound, which is 348 meters. That will allow me to know roughly how far away Mafuyu is from the speakers. There's three separate chimes in the voice message which arrived at different times, so—"-->

<--! "Y-You can know where she is just from that alone? But the time between each chimes is so short...... a-and...... there should be a lot of speakers as well, right?"-->

<--!"Mmm. So the thing that's left is for me to believe in Mafuyu."-->

<--! I drew circles after circles on the map with my compass. Of course, there'll be huge margins of errors since my calculations are based on the estimated time difference as well as the speed of sound, so I wasn't that lucky to get a precise spot on the map where there were three circles overlapping at the same time. But even so, there was still a ray of hope - the intersection between those circles and that line.-->

<--!"...... To believe in her?"-->

<--! "Because she brought her guitar out with her, and she said she was at a loss of whether to meet us or not."-->

<--! Aside from that, there's also the last detected location of Mafuyu that Miss Matsumura told me.-->

<--! "But what's the point in knowing that? The information is already two hours old!"-->

<--! "So what I am saying is - I am assuming that she is heading directly towards the livehouse right after she ran away from home."-->

<--! There's no other option but for me to believe in that.-->

<--! Starting from Mafuyu's house, I used my finger to trace out the route along the national highway, which goes north. The last detected position of Mafuyu happened to be in that direction as well.-->

<--! My finger stopped at a certain place that's in one of the intersection of the circles that I drew. I could see a blue line that transversed the map horizontally - it's a river.-->

<--! Would that be the place where Mafuyu is at? If she's planning to follow that path to make her way to the neighboring city, then it makes sense for her to walk north all the way to the river, then continue along the riverbed where it would lead her to the north-east direction—-->

<--! That's right. Regardless of how good the receivers of her phone are, in order to hear the chimes that clearly, she will have to be in a place where there's no objects around her that's blocking the path of the sounds, right?-->

<--! Everything makes sense if she's at the river side.-->

<--! I hung up the call, and replayed Mafuyu's voice message. Can I hear the sounds of the water that will confirm my hypothesis? Sadly, the sounds picked up by the receiver were too faint for me to make much of it, and so everything will boil down to luck. In any case, it's something that happened over one hour ago. She may be tired from all the walking, and is now resting at a certain place. Or, she might still be on her way from her house to the livehouse.-->

<--! My only option is to believe in the latter.-->

<--! After stuffing the map and my phone into my pocket, I released the kickstand of my bicycle in preparation to continue my search.-->

<--! As I rode along the narrow road that had no sidewalks, I was constantly overtaken by the cars that sped past me. By then, the dark clouds in the sky were slowly dispersing, and the setting sun of summer was peeking diagonally downwards onto me. The sun in the west was bright red color, just like that of blood.-->

<--! I was already sweating all over my body when I could see the dikes of the river. I pushed my bicycle up the slopes and took in huge gulps of air that was blowing against my face.-->

<--! At the bottom of the grassy slope was the river that seemed to stretch endlessly. The river was narrower due to the hot weather, and it was dyed by the colors of the sunset. I took out my map and confirmed that I was heading upstream. Problem is, will I really be able to find her? On the map, the area where the three circles overlap is nothing more than just a triangle that's a few centimeters wide, but in actual fact, that area is extremely big. I could easily see people lying along the riverside, as well as people walking their dogs, and others training on badminton. Upon seeing all that, I couldn't help but think - wouldn't it be great if the world were to disappear in the dusk, leaving behind just Mafuyu and I.-->

<--!If that were the case, I'd definitely be able to find her.-->

<--! The sweat on my body was gradually drying off, and the winds were beginning to feel a little cold. My left hand was still grabbing onto the map, while my legs had never once stopped pedaling.-->

<--! There aren't many significant landmarks along the riverside - there's only the metalwork factory located right below the dikes. I was about to reach the area of the triangle marked on the map. The river before me suddenly became wide. Since I was riding along the side of the river, I was forced to do a detour by making a large turn. To my left, I could see a baseball pitch and a football field going past me.-->

<--! When I cycled through the turn and got back to the riverside again, I stopped my bicycle at a place where there was grass all around me. As I looked at the riverbank that was filled with pebbles, I was overwhelmed by a sudden surge of fatigue. I sat down on the grassy slope.-->

<--! It should be somewhere around here, right? My mind was blanked out by the winds that blew past me. The cool grassland beneath me instantly absorbed the heat from my body due to my vigorous motion.-->

<--! I only have an hour left. Seems like I won't be able to find her. The real world is hopelessly large, while I am so insignificantly tiny - I felt like crying. With the bonds between the two people gone, there's no way that they'll be able to meet each other again. All that's left is the darkness of the night that's silently but surely creeping up on me.-->

<--! It will no longer return - the thing that ties everything about Mafuyu and I will never ever return to me again.-->

<--! I took out my phone and confirmed the time of the voice message. It's already too late for me to do anything, but I should a<--!t least give Mafuyu a call one more time. But all I heard was the hollow sounds of the dialing tone landing onto the grassland drip by drip. I buried my face in between my knees in depression - the hand that I was holding the phone with dropped its way onto the ground. It seemed like the dialing tone was repeatedly slicing my arm with each ring as I counted the number of rings.-->

<--! The thing that had once bonded Mafuyu and I together—-->

<--! Music.-->

<--!Music— I heard it.-->

<--! I raised my head slowly, and for a moment I thought that it was just my hallucination. I listened intently to the winds that were breezing past the surface of the river, and ignored the inanimate electronic sound that was coming off endlessly from my palm. I began to seek the faint sound.-->

<--!There really is the sound of music - I could really hear it. I slid down the grassy slope and stood on the exposed soil on the riverbank. I then closed my eyes and listened intently to the sounds of a guitar. The constant G open chords sounded just like the heartbeats of a bird, and the melody that's riding on it was like the eyes of the bird that were looking through the darkness of the night.-->

<--! I had heard that song before. It's the first song that tied the two of us together.-->

<--! <Blackbird>.-->

<--! I began to sprint wildly on the soil - before the song stopped playing, and before the sun sets. I ran into the grass patch and went against the flow of the music to seek its source. On the way, I pried open countless Canada goldenrod and had even stepped on their stems.-->

<--! My views widened up suddenly when I reached the end of the patch of weed. The river had already chewed up the afterglows of the settling sun and was washing it away silently. The night winds were gently flowing through my hair. I looked around in an attempt to seek that song. The lights had gradually disappeared and everything around me was sinking into the deep blue hues of the night.-->

<--! Just then, a flash of light streaked past the corners of my eyes.-->

<--! It's a place upstream that's far away from me - a dune that is formed from the alluvium of the river. There's a bunch of maroon hair that's glittering brightly with a gold brilliance under the last remaining rays of the settling sun.-->

<--! I kicked aside the gravel next to my feet and rushed upstream.-->

<--! "— Mafuyu!"-->

<--! The person who was squatting on the ground and staring at the surface of the river suddenly raised her head when she heard my voice - it's Mafuyu alright. The shadow of her guitar case had stretched really far in the direction upstream. She was grabbing onto her handphone tightly with her hand, which was giving off the polyphonic ringtone of <Blackbird>.-->

<--! "...... Why?"-->

<--! Mafuyu's eyes were opened wide from her surprise. She mumbled as she stared at me sprinting towards her.-->

<--! "Why...... are you here?"-->

<--!I swallowed my saliva as I attempted to catch my breath. With my back bent down and my hands on my knees, I replied,-->

<--!"...... Why else!? To find you, of course!"-->

<--! Tears reappeared on Mafuyu's pair of reddish eyes.-->

<--!"...... Why are you looking for me? You idiot!"-->

<--!I don't know if I should be angry or dumbfounded, or if I should just laugh instead. In the end, I stretched my hand out towards her.-->

<--! "...... Let's go! Everyone's waiting for you....... We'll be going on stage at seven."-->

<--! Mafuyu hugged her knees and shook her head fervently.-->

<--!"I can't go."-->

<--! "Why!?"-->

<--! "Because...... I went on a disappearing act, so I no longer have the right to go back. Everyone will just be troubled even if I'm around, right?"-->

<--! I lifted my head to look at the sky that was slowly dyed in the colors of the night. It won't do for me to convey them with just words alone. But even so—-->

<--! I grabbed onto Mafuyu's right hand, which she had buried her fingers into the sand. Mafuyu looked up in surprise.-->

<--! "How would you feel if your right hand was to say that to you as well?"-->

<--! "Wh......at?"-->

<--!"We'll feel really troubled if you're not around! It's that simple. If you don't return to us, we won't be able to play any song at all."-->

<--!"But...... my hand is currently......"-->

<--!"That doesn't matter! Can you stand? Here, hold on to my shoulder."-->

<--!"W-Wait!"

<--!I propped Mafuyu up forcibly.-->

<--!"If you can't play using your hand, then use your teeth to play! If you can't do that as well, then get on the stage and dance! We're a band! And think about who's the one who gave the band its name!"-->

<--!"Don't decide that by yourself!" Mafuyu's eyes were about to sink to the bottom of the sea. "Even if...... even if I'm around, there's nothing that I can do! I can't even play the guitar—"-->

<--!"Things like that don't matter at all! Even if you can't play the guitar now, there's still the piano!"-->

<--!I grabbed Mafuyu hard on her right wrist.-->

<--!"What are you talking about?"-->

<--! "It won't do if Mafuyu's not around! Don't you get it!?"-->

<--! "I don't!"-->

<--! Mafuyu's tears fell towards the ground along with her words.-->

<--!"Didn't I promise you before our training camp? I've gambled my whole life on that, you know? That's why I said things like I'd listen to anything you say if you can't find it. You also agreed to it back then, right? If that's the case, then don't run away!"-->

<--! I had no idea what I was saying.-->

<--! "And I promise you that you'll definitely get it this time when you reach the live house. It's okay even if you can't play the guitar. Just stand at the side of the stage and listen to us play. If you still don't get it after that, then I'll be at your beck and call - I don't care if you want me to take a hat and collect money for you for the rest of my life. So—"-->

<--! Just then, I remembered what Miss Maki said to me before. Why am I feeling so troubled when Mafuyu's not around? It's because I—-->

<--!"Actually...... I planned to live out the three years of my high-school life by not participating in any clubs, and just spend my days listening to CDs. But because of Mafuyu's appearance...... because I hoped to keep you by my side, I purchased my bass, modified it and practiced on it. But you— you're always like this. Don't just disappear like that!"-->

<--! It's because of Mafuyu's appearance, and because I hoped to keep her by my side. I already went so far and did all these things. However, the words in my mouth were swallowed up by the burning breathes in my throat.-->

<--! Mafuyu walked up to me with her unsteady steps and grabbed me on my shoulders. She lifted her head and looked at me with her shimmering eyes, before shifting her gaze onto somewhere around my upper arm. She said with a hoarse voice,-->

<--!"...... Idiot. You're an idiot!"-->

<--! "Just let me be one! Can you walk?"-->

<--! Even though her gaze was still fixed on my arms, she nodded her head.-->

<--! We cycled along the bicycle track upstream. I could feel Mafuyu's body heat on my back, and both of her arms were wrapped around my waist. The pedals were getting heavier and heavier, while the skies were becoming darker with each passing distance. The throbbing from just now had not died down totally yet. I dared not look at the time at all. As I gripped hard onto the handlebars, I looked at the two arms that were interlocked around my waist from time to time, so as to make sure that Mafuyu's still by my side.-->

<--! Mafuyu's right here, And now, I am bringing her there.-->

<--! But that's all there is to it - she's only 'here', just like her right fingers. It's just a physical existence. The blood that's pumped could not reach her, so she couldn't move.-->

<--! I can't let things end like that. You can't consider this a band. If so—-->

<--! Senpai and I— can we make it in time?-->

<--! I don't know. All I knew was I could feel the presence of her breaths blowing on my ears. I took another firm grip on the handlebars which were wet from my sweat, and transferred more strength into my feet.-->

<--! The sky was already totally dark when we reached <Bright>. The windows on the first floor as well as the entrance of the staircase which leads to the basement were lit with bright neon lights. The place was particularly eye-catching compared to the quiet and relatively dark residential area in which it is situated in. There are some people hanging around the neon lights - they should be the viewers who are waiting for the performance to begin? I parked my bicycle in the corner of the parking lot that was already filled with cars, before taking a glance at the clock in the office. It's already seven ten. We didn't make it in time. Has the concert already begun?-->

<--!"Are your legs okay?"-->

<--! "I-I can walk," Mafuyu leaped off the backseat and stood on the gravel ground.-->

<--! We walked by the viewers that had gathered here. Just as we were about to head down the stairs, Mafuyu suddenly stopped in her tracks and began to hesitate yet again. I grabbed her by her hands.-->

<--! "Quickly!"-->

<--!"But...... It's already......"-->

<--! Already what!? Chiaki's still waiting for us! It's because I told her that I'd definitely bring Mafuyu back. I walked down the stairs briskly. There's a small table situated at the turn, and the staff was there selling tickets for the concert. "Ah! The two of you......!" One of the staff was about to call out to us, so I shouted, "We're one of the performers!" I then pulled Mafuyu by her hands and continued running downwards.-->

<--! When I pushed open the heavy soundproof door located at the end of the flight of stairs, a series of blinding and scattered rays as well as an intense bout of penetrative rhythm came lunging onto me.-->

<--!As we stepped inside, Mafuyu and I were immediately cut off from the outside world by the door behind us. I could see the audience moving along to the rhythm amid the dense hot air around us. There's probably about a hundred people there....... no, maybe more? And the person in front of the crowd who's bathed in the colorful spotlights and going all out while drenched in her sweat was—-->

<--! "...... Chiaki?"-->

<--! It took me a lot of effort to hear the Mafuyu's whispers. Right, that person is Chiaki. The dancing white drum sticks were etching out beautiful and cruel arcs in the air, just like a whip. I could faintly see Chiaki's burning face amid the gold and white shimmers of the golden cymbals. Beneath the constant shuffles of the light cymbals was the rhythm of the bass drum that seemed to make its way right into our hearts, and even up to our throats.-->

<--! And then—-->

<--! Chiaki saw me.-->

<--! No, she's not looking at me. Somehow, I clearly knew—-->

<--! She's looking at Mafuyu.-->

<--!The beats suddenly changed. It's a provoking rhythm in semi-quavers that climbed up the scales in a flash before diving all the way down. That caused a stir among the audiences who was itching for more.-->

<--! "That's......" Mafuyu's voice was a little hoarse.-->

<--! I too knew what it was. <He Man Woman Hater> - it's the song that Mafuyu and Chiaki used to duel against each other for over ten minutes, so much so that it felt like they were slashing each other away. Mafuyu was grabbing on my arm with her left hand, and it seemed to be twitching. She was searching for the nonexistent set of six strings, so as to be able to answer the call of Chiaki.-->

<--! "Let's go. Chiaki's calling us."-->

<--! We took a route along the wall at the side of the livehouse and brushed against the backs of the crowd as we made our way towards the stage. We walked into the resting area after locating the door that leads to it - though it is called a resting area, it just nothing more than a passage that leads to the emergency exit, with a few cabinets placed along it. There's a few guys who had already changed into their attire. They were standing shoulders to shoulders with each other, and ready to take the stage at any moment. Right when he saw me, Furukawa grabbed me by my shoulder and slammed me against the wall.-->

<--! "Oi! Taisei!" Hiroshi was about to stop him, but his arms were brushed away by Furukawa. Furukawa pulled close to me while grabbing me by my collar. The back of my head was hurting from the impact against the wall, and somehow his voice seemed to be especially piercing.-->

<--! "Quit fooling around, you bastard! What time do you think it is now?"-->

<--! "...... Sorry......"-->

<--!"Why the heck are you apologizing to me? You should be apologizing to your drummer instead! She's been holding on all the way till now with her solo performance!"-->

<--!I looked at the stage that was under the merciless rays of the spotlights from my position on the side. Chiaki — she was stirring up the atmosphere of the place by constantly moving her arms as though they were about to snap off. By herself.-->

<--!Chiaki did it all alone.-->

<--!"Urm, may I know...... where Kagurazaka-senpai is?"-->

<--! "That's what I wanna know! Where did she run off to?"-->

<--! She's not here - that means Senpai didn't manage to make it in time? The piercing tones of the open-rimshot came from the stage, and the descending sounds of the bass drum were slowly fading away. The final note of the drumming performance was burrowed in the cheers from the audiences below. Chiaki twirled her drum sticks in her hands in response to the cheers given to her, and stood up wobbly at the same time. As though there's an invisible string leashed around her neck, she walked unsteadily towards the side of the stage and collapsed into my chest.-->

<--! "...... Nao, you're— so— slow—"-->

<--! "...... Sorry......"-->

<--! "And I want to scold Mafuyu a lot!" Despite her lying limply on my chest, Chiaki shot a fierce glare at Mafuyu. Mafuyu shrunk herself to the side and removed the guitar case that was on her shoulder.-->

<--! "In any case, let me have a drink first!"-->

<--! Chiaki then accepted the bottled water offered by Hiroshi and cleared it all in a flash. The flush on her face was nowhere near receding, but she was already looking back at the stage anxiously.-->

<--! "What are you planning to do?"-->

<--! "Hold on till Senpai returns, of course!"-->

<--! "Just give up already!" Furukawa said that from beside me. "You've managed to stir up the audience with your solo performance. You've done all you could already."-->

<--! "I don't want to!" Chiaki rejected him immediately. "Mafuyu, go prepare yourself too, quickly! Senpai will definitely make it back here."-->

<--! I shook my head. Chiaki had no idea about how demanding my request was. Mafuyu lowered her head and stared at her right hand.-->

<--!"Forget it, I get it. I'll go back on stage by myself. Stupid Mafuyu!"-->

<--!"Oi! Chiaki!"-->

<--! I chased Chiaki and ran to the stage. A wave of cheers from the audiences came assaulting us immediately. As I took a look at the area beneath the stage, all I could see was a sea of people whose face I couldn't see properly because of the stage lights. I could feel goosebumps on my body - Chiaki...... she's been fighting alone this whole time in a place like this?-->

<--! I could faintly hear the yells of Furukawa or some other people from behind me, but it's already too late. I was standing on the stage looking at over one hundred people beneath me, and their blood vessels were already infused with the drugs administered by Chiaki. At the place before me - on the stage to the audiences' right, was my Aria Pro II bass on its stand waiting for me.-->

<--! I could no longer head back. There's something injected into my blood vessels as well - I was burning up. At the instance when I touched the neck of my bass, I could feel a sweet surge of electricity flowing into me. Despite the fact that my legs were trembling from my nervousness, my mind was in a surprisingly clear state. What should we do? Senpai's not here yet, and Mafuyu's still standing behind me stiffly...... if only one of them were to take the stage. There's nothing I can do alone - I've already exhausted myself bringing Mafuyu here.-->

<--!"...... Nao, wait...... I'm sorry......"-->

<--! Chiaki stuck her head out of the drums and said to me in a hoarse voice,-->

<--! "My legs feels weak. I've probably went too hard just now....... Please give me a moment, since I can't step the pedals right now. Ahaha, what a problem we have here."-->

<--! I looked at Chiaki's slumped thighs in despair. I could begin to hear the boos from the crowd beneath us.-->

<--! "Sorry, I have to rest a little longer." Chiaki's voice sounded like she was close to tears. Chiaki had been fighting by herself on stage, but what about me? Can I do that as well? But I can't. I could only carry my bass and do nothing with my back facing the audiences. In the first place, this is a situation that you can't face alone. I looked towards the side of the stage. Mafuyu was squatting next to the wall and looking at me with a painful expression on her face, while Furukawa and Hiroshi were behind her discussing something. It seemed like Hiroshi finally gave in. He lifted both of his arms above his head - and both of them took out their own guitars from the cases.-->

<--! Ah. Is this where everything will end?-->

<--! I finally brought Mafuyu here after many difficulties, but it's already too late. When I realized it; when I ran out of this place; when I was looker for her; when we returned together - everything's already too late.-->

<--! Just then—-->

<--! There was a change in the atmosphere of the livehouse.-->

<--! My ears had picked up the slight change - there's a brief gush of wind, followed by a strength that supports me, who was at the brink of collapsing.-->

<--! I steadied myself and turned around to face the audience. Behind the staggering crowd was the opened soundproof door. The person standing there had long black hair tied up together in a braid, and it was fluttering along to the escaping hot air - just like the tail feathers of a bird.-->

<--! A few of the viewers close to the door had noticed it and turned their heads around. The silhouette swung her arms and tossed out something. I could barely catch the glittering object that soared above the crowd in darkness. The sharp sound of rubber squeaked through the microphones. The audience died down in an instant, and a moment of silence fell onto us.-->

<--! "...... What's this?" "What just happened?" "Who's that?" "Eh? What?"-->

<--! Small ripples began to form. However, all I was looking at was the thing in my hand - a tape with the title of its song clearly labelled on it.-->

<--! I see, it's this song!-->

<--! Somehow, it feels like Senpai already knew everything right from the start.-->

<--!"...... Senpai?" Chiaki whispered. I fed the tape into the tape recorder that belonged to Mafuyu, which was hanging right beneath the microphone. The moment I pressed the play button, the cheers from the audience rang once again. The crowd split into two, and that person began to make her way grandly up the stage that's bathed in colorful lights.-->

<--! Senpai looked at me, Chiaki and finally Mafuyu. She then put on a gentle smile.-->

<--! Just then, the melody of the piano began to play.-->

<--! The spinning tape recorder was playing out the crisp chords of the piano, and the microphone that had its head lowered was gently picking up the sounds that was being released. I immediately knew what was going on here, so Mafuyu should know too.-->

<--!Even though it was chopped into segments in the hands of Kagurazaka-senpai and pieced together again to form another song, I could still recognize it immediately upon hearing it - it's the sound of the piano played by Mafuyu.-->

<--!Senpai allowed the melody of the piano to continue flowing as her back continued to face the audience. At the same time, she said to everyone with a low but clear voice— -->

<--!"Not all of our members are here yet."-->

<--!Chiaki tilted her head in confusion. As for Mafuyu, she had raised her head in shock and was looking at Senpai.-->

<--! Indeed, not all of the members of feketerigó are here yet. Even though Mafuyu's physically here, her soul's not here.-->

<--! Therefore—-->

<--! "As usual, let's start by warming up with the songs of The Eagles till everyone's here!"-->

<--! Upon seeing the energy returning to Chiaki's eyes, Senpai turned around and grabbed onto the microphone. I gently buried the chords of my bass onto the crisp sounds of Mafuyu's piano.-->

<--!Next, Senpai's voice joined into the foray— -->

<--! <The Last Resort>-->

<--! It's a hoarse singing voice of a traveler who traveled over the seas while bringing along only his body and his life.-->

<--! <The Last Resort> is the last track in the album of The Eagle's <Hotel California>, and it's a requiem dedicated to the native Americans whose homeland was plundered, sullied and destroyed. It's a slow and sad song. Right now, the melody that's carrying the song is actually segments plucked out from Beethoven's piano sonata - though I wonder how many people had actually noticed that?-->

<--! It's probably only the few of us here. Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major — what's being played is the variations of the final movement, which is <Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung>, a title written in German by Beethoven. [TLNote: which I think translates roughly as "Cantabile with Heartfelt Emotion" or something. I can't into German.]-->

<--!How long did it take for Senpai to achieve something like that? She had obtained the source of the music from Mafuyu's CD, arranged them together without changing the tempo of the pieces, and changed it into a song sung by The Eagles. That was indeed what I had asked her to do. It may sound easy on paper, but she had actually done it for me.-->

<--! And that's the reason why Mafuyu is here right now.-->

<--! Even though it's just series of notes connected together and spewed out from the shabby tape recorder that was hanging from the microphone stand, Senpai, Chiaki and I had all found Mafuyu in there.-->

<--! Mafuyu should have found it too, right? The place she is in our hearts. She's not playing anything and only listening from afar, but that's even more reason for her to understand — to understand the reason for her to be here.-->

<--! The hard sounds of the cymbals were gradually fading away as we entered into the second chorus, and Chiaki's drums came in right after. The colors of the silently swaying audience was exactly like that of the sea which exists in the eyes of Mafuyu, while the sound of Mafuyu's piano was heading straight into that sea. The sextuplets of the forth variation were wobbling along with the waves. When the singing part of the song was over, Senpai used her Les Paul guitar to engage in a really lengthy exchange where her guitar and the piano entwined together, and with that we entered the sixth variation.-->

<--! However, my steps stopped right there.-->

<--! The melody of Mafuyu's piano was about to come to an end, but <The Last Resort> was far from over. When the scale changed into G major, the requiem of the Indians will become our elegy—-->

<--! I began to pray. Finally, Mafuyu's piano had reached its end, and what's left was the melody of my bass, as well as the sounds of Senpai's guitar as it mimicked the cries of the seagulls. Mafuyu has disappeared. A void opened up in our sound.-->

<--! The singing of Senpai sounded like a prayer too — filled with overflowing hope, which gave her a reason to bleed. In the name of destiny and the name of God. What a helpless and cruel line it is. And thus everyone left her — Senpai's singing was echoing in nothingness.-->

<--! However—-->

<--! Suddenly, I noticed it. There's someone there. On the other side of the melody of Senpai, and above Chiaki's tempo that's entering in slowly - the sound is right next to me. The melody sounded way too natural. It's as though the melody had branched off from my bass, and is extending into the sky endlessly. It gently encased itself around the sounds of Senpai's Les Paul guitar. As I breathed the accompaniment of the chorus into the mike, I narrowed my eyes and looked towards the other side of the stage.-->

<--! Behind Senpai's tall silhouette, I could see a golden shimmer. It's the maroon hair that's glittering under the dazzling stage lights.-->

<--! For a moment, I wondered if that was just a hallucination of mine. I mean, my ears could always hear things that aren't there. But thankfully, that's not an illusion at all. Senpai then sang out the final prayers. It's a song that portrays the helplessness of those who had their homeland stolen from them, to those who plundered the homeland of the others.-->

<--!— They call it paradise I don't know why — — You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye — -->

<--!As though Senpai's melodious voice was sucked into darkness, all that's left were the sounds of the guitars that's streaming out constantly. One of the guitars sketched out the finale of the song, while the melody of the other flew its way into the faraway skies.-->

<--! I took another look towards the other side of the stage. It really isn't my hallucination - Mafuyu's right there, plucking the strings of her Stratocaster with her slender, fair and mirage-like right hand. The cymbals behind her clashed, and the sea of people beneath us erupted into a roar.-->

<--!I could hardly remember what happened after that.-->

<--! The clash of solos between Mafuyu and Senpai's guitar continued for five minutes, and they might have went on longer if it wasn't for me stopping them. There was no time for us to rest after <The Last Resort> was over. The audience beneath us were already urging us impatiently by stomping on the floor.-->

<--! We didn't converse much on stage, since each and every second up there is precious to us. The many things that had slowly gathered in us over the two months were hurled beneath the stage in one go in thirty minutes. Some of them might have drowned from that.-->

<--! Once we were done with digesting all the songs, we were cheered off the stage as we walked away with our bodies drenched in sweat. Chiaki could no longer stand, so thank god Senpai got to her before she fell onto the floor.-->

<--! Hiroshi and his band members, together with the other band that consisted of middle-aged members, were all putting on smiles on their faces. The only person to put on a grumpy expression was none other than Furukawa. However, that grumpy person then spoke,-->

<--! "Oi. You guys are the opening act, but for some reason there are some people down there who are demanding an encore."-->

<--! He pointed towards the stage rather unwillingly - it's just as he had said! The sounds of clapping and stomping from the audience were coming to us in a rhythmic manner, which sounded like the ground was rumbling. I had already planned to succumb myself to the rather comfortable fatigue, so I showed an apologetic smile and replied,-->

<--!"Urm...... but the amount of time for the concert's limited......"-->

<--!"Quit complaining! Get on the stage now, or else the building will just collapse onto us."-->

<--! Furukawa kicked me on my back. It seemed like the staff had no intention of moving the instruments on stage either, and they were all looking in our direction. I guess we had no choice but to do it.-->

<--! I then shot a glance at Senpai. She had allowed the exhausted Chiaki to sit on her thighs, and then she said to me,-->

<--!"Looks like we'll have to allow Comrade Chiaki to take a rest. You two can take the stage!"-->

<--! Us two...... both of us? And that means— -->

<--! I looked at Mafuyu. There was a red hue to her fair skin, and the colors of her eyes were the same colors of the summer sky.-->

<--! "See, this is the name of our band!"-->

<--!Senpai patted Chiaki on her chest. The logo of feketerigó was printed on that area of her T-shirt.-->

<--"So there can only be one song for our encore."-->

<--! Mafuyu had already nodded her head in agreement before I could react. She stepped onto the stage without any hint of hesitation. The neat sounds of clapping and stomping then shattered into pieces of applause. It was when I looked at Mafuyu carrying her guitar on her shoulder without fear that I realized this - despite the difference in the genre, Mafuyu's still a professional musician, so she's already used to all these things.-->

<--! The only problem is, that doesn't apply to me. Just as I was procrastinating, Mafuyu looked me in the eyes briefly. She then used her thumb and index finger to play that song — <Blackbird>.-->

<--! With that, I was forced to go on stage as well.-->

<--! The spotlights and Mafuyu's face were all so dazzling - I couldn't pay any attention to whether I had sung well or not at all.-->