Chapter 8 (1/2)
I grabbed my bass and escaped froht towards the roof Once I got there, I saw a girl in her unifor towards the sky Her hair was caressed by the winds, and she seeurazaka-senpai
”Isn't that a little too slow, young man? The after-school bell already ended”
”No, it's Senpai who's too early”
Lessons were still ongoing, so how could she get here before the bell finished ringing?
”The nal at the factory opposite of us overlaps with the chi in a coincidental and intriguing polyphony I really hoped you could listen to it, young man”
”Haa” Speaking of which, it's a little too dangerous for you to be sitting at such a high place, right?
Senpai juht in front of me
”Have you decided to join our club?”
”Well” I re across htly hesitant with my words ”I'll need your help to learn the bass, but as for joining the band”
”Why?” Senpai arched her beautifully-shaped brows
”Because I just want to win back that classroo the bass for Senpai's sake”
”But you ca to my instructions”
”That's simply because I'll need Senpai's help if I want to teach Mafuyu a proper lesson”
”So by needingyou how to play the bass You're using ht?”
The way she put it was rather blunt, but I still nodded ainst Mafuyu, I couldn't care less about e
A smile appeared on Senpai's face
”Mer have the expression of a loser”
Her smile wasn't as theatrical as usual—instead, it was an extremely natural smile I was shocked
”Isn't this fine? I've already predicted that you'll be joining us anyway So let's begin!”
Senpai squatted down and took out a bunch of stuff from the backpack on the floor: a mini-amplifier with batteries in it, the cables for the as for the bass
” But, why do we need to practice on the roof?”
”Youngfor the basics of bass?”
She directed the question atand unwound them
”Her crab walk?”
It's a sort of repetitive practice of the basics The player sets a fixed te froer—then plays out each scale in order Because the left hand moves horizontally inwards little by little, soer crab walk Sounds noobish, but it covers the basics of guitar playing However, Senpai shook her head
”There's another thing that needs to be done before that It's the reason why I called you up to the roof”
Senpai pulled the string tightly by its ends
”I've set up a tightrope fro You shall walk on it to the other side of the building”
I was stunned I nearly dropped the bass as I was taking it out from its case
” Eh?”
”You can't be a bassist if you can't entrust your life to the strings I'll be here praying for your safety You'd probably die if you fell off, so you better prepare yourself mentally first”
”No, no no no, what the heck are you talking about?”
”My ed
”To becoo special training that puts your life at risk You mean you don't know? Even the one all sorts of training with their lives on the line For example, they'd knock their head repeatedly with a tin can, or expose theas explosion and so on”
”So the fa to are?”
”The deceased Ikariya Chosuke” [TLNote: Wiki page here]
”The Drifters is a coainst the ground [TLNote: It's the japanese band/colish one]
”The Drifters is a band as well! They were the opening act for The Beatles' concert That's really rude of you, young man”
”I know that, so stop trying to change the subject!”
”The thing about the tightrope was obviously a joke The first thing you should do is change the strings of the bass Since the instrument has been in the store for quite a while, the elasticity of the strings has gradually slackened”
T-This person is just
I didn't think there was any point in saying anything, so I just changed the four strings in silence
”The real reason foryou up to the roof, is that!”
Kagurazaka-senpai pressed against the fence and pointed doards Without even looking at where she was pointing, I understood what Senpai was referring to—as the sounds of the guitar entered uitar in was right beneath us
Then again, I had taught her how to soundproof the room with the towel, so why could I still hear the sounds of her guitar? The carefree melody was Ravels'
Was it due to the shock of our class her as 'Princess'?
”It was seven days ago”
Kagurazaka-senpai leaned her back against the fence and gazed into the sky
”I was skipping classes starting from the very first period, and stayed here till school was over, listening to the sounds of the streets”
What's this person in school for?
”Then, the sun gradually began to set, and just when it felt like it was about to rain, the sound of that guitar came It was Book II of Bach's <the well-teues and played only the preludes I was so pissed I didn't notice it was already raining—I sat down and continued listening”
”You'll catch a cold like that”
”All she played were the preludes, right up to No 24 in B , so I snuck a peek at the roo out Her hair was a clear maroon color—it was just like frozen h for me to fall for her”
The bass slipped off round
”Urm Senpai?”
”Hmm?”
”But Mafuyu's a girl?”
”So what? I like beautiful things In ender doesn't matter Why do you think I allowed Aihara Chiaki to join the band as our comrade? Because she's cute”
”Please don't say such shocking things nonchalantly”
”In any case, I never expected her to be able to play the drums that well in less than a year”
”Chiaki would cry if she heard that from you”
”No problem I'll tell Comrade Chiaki about my tastes unreservedly”
”So everyone really does think you're soet her hands on whatever she wants?”
I was shocked speechless I never thought she'd be a person like that I should just learn bass by an to tuneof that
”However, Ebisawa Mafuyu didn't listen to a single word I said Also, based on my detailed observations, for some unknown reason, you're the only person in this school whom she'll converse with”
I jumped in shock and lifted my head
What appeared before me was that destructively cute smile of Senpai's, which she had only used once that week
”Therefore, young th”
I had no idea why, but I couldn't look straight into Senpai's eyes—all I could do was shi+ft aze back to the bass in my hands That was the first time someone had said that to me in my entire life No, wait a second, calm down and think about it properly Senpai said herself that I'm just a pawn to be used by her
”So your actual plan is to gather a bunch of cute girls, right? It's not really about the band”
I voiced the doubt within urazaka-senpai did was tilt her head and look atrepeatedly
All these conversations I had with her weren't just hallucinations of ht suddenly flashed past my mind
”Young man, do you knohy humans are born into this world?”
What's with the sudden question? How could I possibly know!
”The answer's simple Humans are born into this world for love and revolution”
Suddenly, the wind breezed past us, lifting Senpai's long hair I nearly fell over, despite only feeling a faint gust of wind onall this? Do I harbor so about what life is all about? These questions appeared in my mind for a very brief moment
”Lev Trotsky you probably don't know about him, do you?” [TLNote: Or better known as Leon Trotsky]
I no longer had the strength to shake my head
”He was the second-to-last revolutionist! He fled to Mexico after losing to his comrade, Joseph Stalin, in a political battle He died before witnessing the start of the revolution of the world However, his misfortune was not because Stalin was not by his side”
Senpai took ed it into the amplifier
”His misfortune was that Paul McCartney was not by his side The last revolutionist, John Lennon—he was lucky to have had Paul McCartney next to him”
Senpai suppressed her overwhels with her nails A series of intense and out-of-tune sounds blared fro my ears I couldn't understand at all—how could the thick strings of the bass produce such a high-pitched sound? She was playing the prelude of The Beatles' <revolution> It's the song of revolution written by John Lennon, and it's a song that's widely misunderstood
”Love, revolution and th to push for the never-ending revolution; the strength to find the Paul who belongs only to s that I sing—there is no difference between the three Young ave you?”
Is your answer even directed towards my question?
”Ah, I' to say”
Just as I was about to voice sohts, Senpai knitted her brows and shook her head, , ”My, my”
”Can't help it then To put it in siathering a bunch of cute girls, I' a band as well”
”Then just say that right at the start!” I banged the case yet again
”It's better to be a little more poetic”
”You always treat others as idiots as well, don't you Senpai? And stop with that proud look of yours—I' you”
”YoungCome here”
Senpai was shtly more polite, will you!
”Well then, let'soff-topic” Me? It's my fault? Just as I was about to speak, Senpai suddenly returned the bass to me
”We'll have to create the sound before you practice See, I've brought all sorts of pickups here You have your tools handy, right?”
Senpai took out a few guitar parts fro that captures the vibration of the strings By changing these parts, the tone of the instrunificantly Otherand etc, with the uitar itself
” You ht now?”
”That Aria Pro II of yours is a cheap bass, but I specially chose it in consideration of the timbre of Ebisawa Mafuyu's Stratocaster However, that's not enough This bass is unable to create the tones that offer a perfect response to her guitar”
Senpai pointed beneath the fence A series of glauitar, played by Mafuyu, came fro me to the roof?
Senpai and I repeatedly pondered on how to , and it just so happened that I was good at it as well
” The sounds of your bass are already co Lake”
After two long hours, Kagurazaka-senpai took the cos, s—and said that with praise I was slightly embarrassed by that