Chapter 13 (1/2)
The skies, on the last Friday of May, were filled with dark clouds I couldn't fall asleep, so I headed to school early in theAs soon as I entered the classroom, I was immediately surrounded by my classmates
”I heard you're gonna have a shoith the Princess today?”
”What? What do you mean by shon? What'll happen if he loses?”
”Perhaps he'll be her slave for life?” ”Then isn't that the sas are now?”
My face turned green after hearing everyone say things like that
”Urm Well Why does everyone know about this?”
”Didn't you talk to Ebisawa in the courtyard yesterday?”
”You guys saw?”
”The at like having a shon The audience was really disappointed!”
It's not like ere putting on a show there
”So, when are you guys coet?”
Ah, so they didn't hear the part about having the shon later after school? That was fantastic Despite trying to divert the topic, I still ended up telling the other than the place and time of the shon
”A new club? With Ebisawa? And Aihara? And Kagurazaka-senpai too?”
Why are they so damn excited?
”The Kagurazaka-senpai you're referring to is the one in second-year?”
”Yeah, the one who looks like the head of a band of female ninjas”
What sort of analogy is that? I can't understand that at all! Then again, is Senpai that well known at school?
”Starting a band in that sivable, so you better lose!”
”I'd rather you win Then I'll take over your place in the band” ”Yeah, you definitely must win, and then I'll join too” ”You know nuts about instru the instru their sweat” ”So more and more motivated”
And then they actually started singing our school song—I felt like I should just run out of the roo the time of the shon, Chiaki walked into the classroom Everyone became silent I'm saved
”Are you guys saying bad stuff about me?”
A few guys flashed an aard s to their seats Seemed like everyone had finally learned one of the basic etiquettes of society: to not gossip about soht in front of the person herself
During lunch break, uys purchased fro for my victory But how can I possibly finish this much bread!
”Nao, you mustn't lose”
”Though I', you rabbed my shoulders and cheered me on I just stared blankly at the pyramid of sauce cutlet bread It wasn't like there was zero chance ofthat excited about it, I was honestly quite troubled
After school, I brought o there first, before the shon, but I didn't see her around when I got there Then again, I recall she has work today? I then spotted so on the floor, near the fence where Senpai usually sat I walked over to take a look It was John Lennon's albu of the CD was simply titled <stand by=”” me=””> I took out my discman and placed the CD inside As I listened to the hoarse voice of John Lennon, I looked doards through the fence and waited I took out a piece of unfinished sauce cutlet bread and stuffed it in my mouth
Halfway into the song, I suddenly reht hootten that
But just then, the back of a girl, together with her oing on? She doesn't have to do what she usually needs to do?
I continued to let the song flow from my earpieces and into my body, even as I watched Mafuyu walk into the practice roorabbed hard onto the fence and stood there motionlessly, till John Lennon's voice faded away
I switched off rabbed my bass
When I reached the practice rooatelle on the other side of the door I stopped in ht about how I should enter the roo the door open with , ”Sorry to disturb!” But in the end, I decided to just knock on the door
The bagatelle suddenly stopped, as if it were shocked motionless
The unco cold air that seeped through the gaps It persisted for quite a while
”Urm” I was the first to talk, but I had no idea what to say ”I'ht?”
The door opened
Mafuyu's guitar was slung across her shoulders She looked at aze
” You really came”
Froht Somehow, she was different than usual
”As the representative of rock, I'e on the stubborn classical supremacist”
”You idiot! Are you serious about this? You didn't even kno to do the hao”
Don't belittlelike that?
”You peeked at ?”
”N-No”
With her face flushed red, Mafuyu slammed the door shut with her two hands
”— Why do you have to do such a thing? Do you really want to use this room that badly?”
Why do I keep doing such things? Ah, I don't even know myself
Senpai said it is for love and revolution
Chiaki asked before, ”You're very concerned about Ebisawa, right?”
I don't know But I can't allow things to go on like this
Mafuyu said from the other side of the door,
”Just do whatever you wish over there! I don't care anymore”
Just this once, I chose to remain silent
Oh well I already knew things would turn out like this
I took out ed in the cable, then squatted down near the door There was a hole beneath the hinge of the door that I could directly plug my cable into This was the result of my fifteen minutes of work yesterday—a cable that extended from the amplifiers to the door
Just as I was about to hijack the stereo device, my hand stopped For some unknown reason, I suddenly remembered a certain piece of music history that Tetsurou had once told me, half in jest
It started with a small stream in Germany The river flowed into a beet plantation, then later spread throughout all of Europe It clashed with the local ulfed by thethe hout the world That's how a lot of things in this world are born, and rock is one of them
Therefore, if we sought out the history of invasion and integration that spanned three hundred years, we'd find that all things were linked to each other
I plugged the cable into the hole
In that instant, a sharp screech blared out from the amplifiers on the other side of the door
I could alhtened looks of Mafuyu
”What have you done?”
She found out In reply, I turned the volume on my bass to the maximum The room filled with feedback
”Hey, what are you do—”
In order to drown out her voice, I played the opening note of the piece Allegretto vivace Ion the floor with force, but at the sa for a place to step with my toes Use the low notes to stomp out the boundaries of the octave, then retreat back a little with slightly hesitant steps
I could hear Mafuyu holding her breath in shock Of course, she should knohat piece this was, just froht bars She had released an albuo in February I had listened to that CD ed
It was Beethoven's 35th piece, <variations and=”” fugue=”” for=”” piano=”” in=”” e♭=”” major=””>—the variations were later used in his <symphony no=”” 3=””> There was another title for this piano piece: roica variations=””>
Back then—
Kagurazaka-senpai toldthat piece
”As you can see” Senpai began pointing at the scores as she explained on ”This is a piece that starts off with a singlethirty-two bars—she will definitely recognize this as roica> straight away With this, we'll be able to fire the first salvo and pull the opponent into our music”
With that, Senpai tapped the teer
”It's allegretto vivace, so don't ever go too fast One of Ebisawa Mafuyu's weapons is her ability to strureat speeds Should the shon turn into a situation in which speed will decide the victor youngHowever, you can set the speed of the whole piece with the opening thirty-two bars—that's the first reason I chose this piece”
”But” There was a hint of uneasiness in my voice ”At this part that leads to the overture, there's a place where the four voices e, and the melody after that will be led by Mafuyu! If she starts to rush then”
”Young ht lose”
Senpai shook her head and let out a sigh I curled my body up I'm sorry, but I'm a born loser