RECORDING
Chapter Twenty
Bravery
Jun swayed loosely, caught up in the crowd's excitement. The once unassuming, whimsical kouhai was now cheering and waving her fists with a fervor that closely rivaled that of the other girls in the audience. Like these other girls, Jun was lent audacity by alcohol (a gin and tonic Asumi had sold her with a wink and a nudge). Like the rest of the audience, her enthusiasm branched from her restless longing for a girl. The girl Jun wanted, however, was not up on stage.
Ui stood next to her, her soft features washed in a neon glow from the stage lights. She looked fascinatingly beautiful. The lights, in their finest trickery, had highlighted and accented the younger Hirasawa girl's face so elegantly that Jun was rendered absolutely stupefied. Another drink could perhaps solve this problem, but the pigtailed girl worried she'd make a fool of herself. It was bad enough that she had partaken in underage drinking, but with the situation she faced here and now she couldn't not drink.
Glad though she was that Ui was happy, no longer torn up over Yui and Azusa, Jun felt a little dissatisfied herself.
Carefully balancing herself, Jun leaned over and tapped Ui's shoulder. The feeling of soft fabric sweeping over even softer skin was heavenly. When Ui turned to face her, Jun yelled over the crowd, "I'm getting something to drink. Can I get you anything?"
Ui shook her head. "Don't you think you've had enough?" she asked, her gentle voice heavy with concern.
Smiling hugely, Jun let her hand linger on Ui's shoulder. "I'm just getting a Coke. No need to worry." Out of courtesy she offered to get Nodoka something (but the bespectacled girl wanted nought), and staggered back over to the bar.
"Oi, oi, don't you think you've had enough?" Asumi suggested when she saw Jun elbow herself on the bar.
"That seems to be the general consensus," the pigtailed girl chuckled. "I just want a Coke."
Jun dipped her head and stared at the glossy, swirling woodwork whilst the bartender filled a glass with Coca-Cola. All around her girls were clustered in pairs — laughing, chatting, and basically being in love with each other. Jun had never had the experience of being loved by someone. She had never had the experience of loving someone. It spooked her, these new feelings, the desire to just make somebody happy, the fact that love had suddenly become a priority over her own personal achievement.
"So, are you here with someone?" Asumi asked, setting the cold, perspiring glass before Jun — chatting up the customer, like any good bartender.
The kouhai shook her head.
"You're here with someone you want to be with." Asumi phrased that not as a question, but a statement; and there was something mighty knowing about the way she peered at Jun over her glasses.
No flies on this one, the pigtailed girl thought. She nodded solemnly, still holding a mouthful of Coke.
Her aurum eyes bright with interest, Asumi leaned forward on the bar, crossing her ankles casually. Jun gulped as the bartender's low-cut top fell forward a bit, exposing the lacy edges of her bra. "Tell me about her. What's her name? What's she like?"
Jun held another mouthful of soda, contemplating her answer. What was it about Ui that so drew the jazz bassist to her? The only clue Jun had, the only thing she could put in words, was the ethereal allure Ui had that compelled Jun to stay by her side. The kouhai swallowed, murmured, "Well…She's very, uh…"
"Jun-chan."
The pigtailed girl was just about to say alluring when she heard that sweet voice in her left ear, felt that genial touch on her shoulder. She smiled. "'Sup, Ui-chan," she grinned, turning towards her friend.
"I changed my mind — I want something to drink. Do you have iced tea?" she asked Asumi.
The bartender shook her head apologetically. "I stopped serving it two months ago when no one bought it. The shakes here are great, though."
Ui smiled. "Great," she echoed. "I'll take one."
"How would you like it? Thin-thick, medium-thick, or thick-thick?"
The ponytailed girl chewed the inside of her cheek as she considered her options. "Thick-thick," she decided.
"Comin' right up." Asumi departed to make Ui her shake.
Ui watched Afterschool Tea Time momentarily before she claimed the stool next to her inebriated friend. Jun seemed to be giving her no regard, her face turned towards her cold glass of cola, but she was actually watching the younger Hirasawa girl from the corner of her eye, observing her from an emotional distance. When it came to first love, one could never be too cautious.
"What's going on, Jun-chan?"
"Mm?" the pigtailed girl grunted, feigning ignorance.
"You seem distant." Ui's disconcerted face was a crystal clear sight amid the pot smoke. "Is something wrong?"
Jun opened her mouth to deny this, but decided it was useless. Lying and saying that nothing was wrong would make her seem more obvious. Beside her, the corners of Ui's mouth tightened — it reminded Jun of their trip to Tokyo; only this time Ui was making that face for her.
The kouhai bassist released her straw from her mouth and sighed. "I have something to tell you," said she, turning to face Ui, "and you're not going to like it."
Ui leaned forward, chin in palm. "Try me."
Jun's dark eyes swam. Her heart began thundering once she realized what she was throwing herself into. Her neurons were clogging her nerves in one big traffic jam. Her hesitation only proved detrimental as it allowed her doubts to catch up to her. There was a very good, very likely chance that Ui would not like Jun back. She had said that she loved Yui in every way, and that included some of the ways Jun loved Ui.
So I love her, the pigtailed girl thought vulnerably. A raw torrent of emotions bloomed in her chest, as though her heart had bursted. Her breath caught painfully in her throat. I really do love Ui-chan. If only she could say that out loud.
The intensity betwixt them was so thick that they both started when Asumi set the cup down on the bar.
"Thick-thick chocolate shake," she cheered in a sing-song voice.
"Thank you," Ui said faintly. Her eyes still on Jun, she accepted the shake.
Jun exhaled, wondering if all this had really just happened. If she really had almost confessed her love. Probably not. I could never be so bold. She turned back to her own drink, hoping to find solace in a caffeinated soft drink.
Ui stared in dismay at her straw; as hard as she was sucking, the shake crept up only a third of its length. Her cheeks prickled and her chest tightened as she sucked harder still.
"Too thick, aneesan?" Asumi asked drolly.
"I think I just broke a rib," Ui gasped. "Thanks, Jun-chan," she smiled when her friend passed her a spoon.
Asumi cocked her head, studying Ui. "Are you related to that neesan up there? With the Les Paul?"
"I'm her sister."
"Ah," the bartender nodded, standing up straight. "You look just like her. Are you twins?"
"No," Ui giggled, "but we get asked that often enough." She glanced at the stage. Yui and Azusa were bantering as they had at the talent show last summer, and the latter occasionally swatted the former with her harisen. "I think this is their last song," said she to Jun. "I'm gonna go watch."
Jun nodded solemnly, gnawing her straw. Ui paid for her shake and departed back into the crowd.
Asumi shook her head, arms folded, as she watched Ui go. "Hm. She doesn't have Yui-neesan's legs, but damn! that aneesan has some bazooms on her." When she heard no response from Jun, she looked down to see the kouhai staring sadly at her Coke. Her amber eyes widened and she clapped a hand to her mouth. "By the lily! That's the girl you…?"
Jun pursed her lips in response.
"She's cute!" the bartender gasped.
The bassist sipped her Coke. Ui-chan does have that going for her, but that's not why I…why I…
"She is really, really, cute," Asumi reiterated. She looked at Jun with wide eyes. "You have to do something about this. You have to be brave, okay? This is serious. If you don't tell aneesan there how you feel, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
Jun knew this was all true. Asumi had hit the mark so blatantly, Jun didn't even bother refuting it. "But, bartender-san," she said, her voice belying her agony, "what if she doesn't like me back?"
Asumi considered this. Jun waited, expecting, hoping for reassurance. She wanted the bartender to say of course Ui liked her back. How could she not? But Asumi didn't say that.
Instead she took Jun's hand in hers. "That's what I mean about being brave."
A feathery ruffle scraped through her mic as Yui giggled. From what she could see in the audience, people were as much taken by hers and Azusa's antics as the folks at the talent show were. However, some hornier individuals were calling for Azusa to smack something other than Yui's head with her harisen.
Yui squinted her marron eyes, scanning the crowd for familiar faces. As far as she could discern, Nodoka and Ui were coming, as well as Ui's friend…what was her name? Jin?
A swat from Azusa's fan brought her back to attention. She looked curiously at her harisen-wielding girlfriend, who hissed, "We've got less than five minutes before Terror Firma comes on! Introduce the closer!"
The senpai cleared her throat, facing the audience again. "Thanks for having us," she said cheerily. "We'd also like to thank our manager Sawa-chan-sensei for getting us this show. And thanks to Asumi-san and the staff here for being so good to us." She paused reflectively, then laughed. "Y'know, it was so funny when we first came to Hair to schedule this show. Though, really, it's kinda a fog to me. Maybe because I drank too much? Azu-nyan definitely did. We've got a picture of her fast asleep—"
Another rap came from Azusa's harisen, this one far less gentle than before. "Don't get side-tracked, and don't tell stories about me getting drunk."
"But you were so cute when you were drunk—ow!" By now Yui had a cross-bandage atop her head. Shaking it off, she continued, "We don't take a reception like this for granted, so we're gonna…we're gonna…we may as well introduce the band."
A rhythmic THUNK! resounded from Ritsu's Yamaha drums — the beat of Listen! — over the acclamations from the crowd.
"Bashing those pig skins," Yui spoke, projecting and elongating her voice as if she were announcing Beyonce, "the energetic scam artist, Miss Tainaka Ritsu!"
Two bars later Mio entered with her sparse but melodic bass line. She noticed people clapping quarter notes, but they were off by several beats. She figured it had something to do with the "sound gap" she learned about in physics class last year.
"On the bass guitar; shy, diligent, and easily scared — Miss Akiyama Mio!"
It took several measures of Ritsu and Mio looping Listen!'s intro whilst the audience shrieked, whistled, gave cat calls and phone number requests before Azusa could come in with her guitar part.
"This is our rhythm guitarist; cute but touchy, and wears cat ears about as well as she kisses—"
"Yui!" Azusa croaked, her strumming faltering, missing some beats.
"—Miss Nakano Azu-nyan!"
"Azusa."
"Gesundheit."
Yui had the audience in hysterics now; it was getting ever so slightly out of hand. Whether she knew it or not, the elder guitarist had dropped the bomb about hers and Azusa's relationship. It drove the crowd wild to imagine what Yui and Azusa were doing backstage…
When the audience finally settled down enough Mugi played the melody for Listen!, which provided lovely contrast with Mio and Azusa's countermelodies.
"This next girl," announced Yui, "comes from a wealthy family, but nothing else is known about her. Kind, gentle…except when Sawa-chan-sensei's insulted — Miss Kotobuki Mugi-chan!"
The name Kotobuki did strike a familiar and heated note with over half the crowd. Some of them remembered the olden days, when Holt had a financial influence over the music industry and a sexual influence on Studio 5. They eyed Mugi, noticing how that form filled her little black dress, and wondered if she could bring a similar sexual influence.
"H'aaaaaaaaaaannnnnd-a I!" Yui announced, sounding like a circus conductor. "Hirasawa Yui, the…the, uh…the, uh…" She turned to Azusa. "What can I say about myself?"
"That you're getting off-track again." Had Azusa's hands not been occupied with her guitar she would have hit Yui with her fan.
The senpai happily shrugged off her introduction, content to leave it at her name. Coming in with her part in the intro to Listen!, she said, "Give a little cheer to our cheerless tonight. This…is…Listen!" There was a thrum of silence in which only Mugi played the melody, then everyone re-entered. Yui stepped aside for Mio to take center stage and sing.
Somewhere in the middle of Yui's guitar solo in Listen! Jun returned to the audience, to Ui. The ponytailed girl's chestnut eyes shone in wonder as her older sister danced about the stage with Gitah, her tongue hugging the corner of her mouth. Jun studied Ui's enraptured face and knew a bomb explosion would not divert her attention from Yui. What chance do I stand? the pigtailed girl thought hopelessly. What chance do I stand against someone Ui-chan was born to?
Jun's focus shifted to Mio, who had resumed singing. Mio-senpai and Ritsu-senpai are going out. Mio-senpai's so meek, but she got the girl. All around her people were falling in love with each other, and Jun was stuck drowning in her cowardly doubts.
And what about Azusa and Yui? Jun sighed, knowing she could never equally match either of them in guts. What she admired the most about Azusa was her uncanny ability to get what she wanted. Azusa often had to compromise a little, but she always came out with a satisfying deal. Jun imagined she had worked this ability in her favor to get Yui.
Listen! ended and the audience exploded into the loudest and longest ovation. Someone in the crowd kicked off a rhythmic quarter-note clap, and everyone else joined in, as if imploring Afterschool Tea Time to keep performing. Jun added her own handclapping to the din, and once again found herself taken in by the crowd's enthusiasm. Her problem with Ui didn't seem any less close to her vulnerable heart, but now it was just another thing factoring into an interesting night.
Mugi stared uncertainly at the keyboard. She knew what she had agreed to do with it, but she still didn't know if she could. It wasn't something she or the other members of the band were given to.
She turned her beryl eyes toward the audience and smiled. During Yui's introduction of the band Mugi had gotten a pretty loud applause. She suspected that was due in part to Holt's fame in his younger years — now was the time for Mugi to take up his legacy. She realized somewhere in the dark corners of her mind that her father only had a handful of good years left…maybe less due to his unhealthy lifestyle…
Mugi found Sawako in the very front of the audience. Their eyes met and the sensei winked. Mugi returned the gesture by blowing her a kiss. This incited an even more exuberant collective shriek from the crowd.
Sawa-chan would do what I promised to do without a second thought, Mugi knew. Her girlfriend had thought it was awesome. It was actually something Death Devil-ish. But Afterschool Tea Time wasn't like Death Devil. Then again, it was Ritsu's idea…
She was going to do it without another thought.
Yui had apparently forgotten about Mugi's planned concert antic. Grinning, she said into the mic, "Well, good night, everybody. Enjoy Terror Fir—"
KEEEEYRAAAAASSSSHHHH!
The guitarist squeaked in alarum as the Yamaha hurtled directly behind her. The keyboard bounced up sharply, but didn't totally break. A button or two loosed from it.
For once the audience was totally silent.
Mugi stared wide-eyed at the Yamaha laying ten feet away from her. She couldn't say that she had always wanted to experience breaking a keyboard, but this fueled her. Adreneline roared in her fiery blood, making the stand seem light as a feather as she swung it over her head at the Yamaha. Mugi was so taken by the rush that she actually grunted and screamed, sounding like a blood-thirsty Anglo-Saxon, as she bashed the keyboard again and again and again. She didn't stop until every key had flown loose. Those that were left on the stage she kicked into the audience's waiting hands.
"WOO!" she heard Sawako whoop. "Rock'n'roll!" The rest of the spectators joined in shouting their approval.
Backstage, Ritsu shook her head in amazement. "I gotta say, Mugi-chan. I didn't think you would actually do that."
"Me, neither," the ojou panted. Her hands shook: an after-effect of the adrenaline. She ran her sweaty palms along her dress. Then she grinned, her eyes suddenly wild. "That was fun. What else can I break?"
The band shrunk back in terror. Azusa gasped, "Mugi-senpai's a maniac!"
"Just kidding," the keyboardist giggled.
Once they had changed into regular clothes — save for Mugi, who realized she had left her uniform with her father — the band mingled in the audience whilst Terror Firma performed. Yui and Azusa met up with Nodoka, Ui, and Jun. Mio and Ritsu made their way to the center-front of the crowd to watch the band. That left Mugi to wander about Hair in search of Sawako. Throughout her search she was stopped by countless women who wanted to gush and fawn over her.
She eventually found Sawako at the bar with Asumi. The two cousins conversed openly over bottles of Oberon beer.
"…totally wild," the sensei was saying as Mugi approached. "I mean, we did some wild stuff in Death Devil, yeah, but Jesus. We never smashed anything." Sensing the blonde girl's presence, she turned around. "Oh! Hello there, my dear destructionist."
"Well, hello yourself," Mugi smirked. She refrained from kissing Sawako in greeting, for Asumi was there. The bartender had to depart from company moments later, though, to serve a customer.
"You're dressed awfully casually," Sawako joked. Mugi noticed her eyes flick downward toward her chest before they came back up.
"Ach, this old thing?" the ojou snorted, playing along. "I just threw it on. My real nice dress is at the Laundromat."
The brunette swallowed a mouthful of beer. "Well, you look good in it." Good was an understatement to Sawako. But she felt like she had met her lovey-dovey poetic quota at the train station. Besides that, she was ever so slightly drunk. "Hey, how'd you do in the solo contest?"
Beaming, Mugi produced the container with the medal from her purse. "Gold!"
Sawako smiled, her eyes full. "Oh, Mugi-chan…You really took this day by storm," she sighed, playing with a flavicomous ringlet in the keyboardist's bangs.
"Excuse me."
Mugi turned to see two much older women standing before her. The one who spoke up wore a Plumtree T-shirt, jeans, and black Converse shoes. Her short, straight hair was put up in a little ponytail. She appeared to be in her forties.
"Your father is Holt Kotobuki, ne?"
Mugi nodded, prepared to hear praise for her father and a word of hope that she would follow in his footsteps. Her expectations weren't in vain.
"I'm a big, big, big fan of his. Seriously." The woman rolled her eyes and made grand sweeping gestures with her hands. "He's been my guycrush ever since Studio 5."
"Studio 5?" Sawako blinked. For the life of her she could not picture Holt in that scene. His name and his picture did not go with that of Rick James.
"Oh, yeah," the woman nodded exuberantly. "He was named one of the sexiest single men in the entertainment industry. That man has more notches on his belt than…than a sky has stars!"
Mugi shifted uncomfortably and averted her eyes. This was a misconception several people seemed to have about her: because she was rich, she wouldn't mind hearing about her father's sex life. The keyboardist had no doubt he had that many notches in his belt. During her parents' divorce Veronique's lawyer tried to prove that he had violated the fidelity clause. His lawyer proved that false. But Mugi had a sickening suspicion that Holt had cheated on Veronique.
The woman turned her eyes upward reflectively. "Let me see…Studio 5 was '77…He was thirty, I was twenty-four, so that would make him…sixty-two!"
Her friend spoke up, "And that would make you…"
"I'm fifty-six fucking years old."
Mugi blinked in amazement. This woman was much older than she had taken her for. She thought the woman was her mother's age, which was forty-seven.
"And he had a kid," the woman gasped, tilting her head at Mugi. "You're his spitting image. With his track record I wouldn't put knocking up a woman beyond him — but raising the kid!"
The ojou blanched. She wondered how many would-be Tsumugis Holt had planted in women. Probably those women aborted their pregnancies, but still Mugi questioned if she had any brothers or sisters somewhere in this world.
"Who did he have you with?" the woman asked eagerly. "Is he married to her?"
Mugi's mouth fell open as she tried to find a response. She realized she hadn't said anything yet. "Um…okay…He married Veronique Hohnstedt — she's a columnist for a newspaper in Lausanne, Switzerland, but, uh…they got divorced."
"Ah. So be it. I'll bet my paycheck he's thrown himself back into any pretty woman's bed."
Knowing Holt, Mugi found that hard to believe. He was stodgy, eccentric, as sexually charge as a pencil sharpener…but then that was supposed to feel about her father (unless she had a severe Electra complex, but that was more Ui's turf). Father is absent from home a lot so maybe…Maybe while he was in Kobe he impulsively bought a keyboard and a blowjob.
"Well…" The woman laid a hand on Mugi's knee. "Please let Holt-san know how very important he is to the music industry."
"Will do." As if he didn't know. That was part of what ruined his marriage.
Mugi and Sawako were silent as the two women left. The teacher took a long gulp of Oberon, wondering what she should say to break this awkward silence. She was surprised by what she heard about Holt. She had thought of him as Suze Orman, but it turned out he was Sean Connery. She had thought he had 'soft prick' written on his forehead. I really misunderestimated him.
Terror Firma was kicking out the jams. The song they were playing now was called 'Underwater Motor Scooter.' Like most of their songs, this one was heavy on the keyboards. Mio noticed their keyboardist played two — an 88-key Korg M50 and a 37-key Moog Little Phatty synthesizer — simultaneously. The raven-haired girl found herself bewitched by her familiarity.
Hitomi plucked an enchanting melody on her three-tone sunburst Telecaster as she sang, "The girls have got a house that's like a caravan / And it's like your holiday whenever you go round."
"This song is serious," Ritsu grinned. When she heard no response from Mio, she turned to see her girlfriend staring blankly at the band. The drummer detached her hand from Mio's and waved it in front of her eyes. "Are you here, space cadet?"
"I am," Mio insisted, startled. "Ricchan, does that keyboardist look familiar to you?"
"What, the nun? No…" Ritsu glared at Mio with a hurt expression. "You're not leaving me for a keyboardist in a nun outfit, are you? I can't help not being rich!"
"I'm not leaving you! And you can't make the assumption that every keyboard player is rich."
Ritsu smirked. "Whoever that familiar keyboardist is, I'd stake my savings on her being rich."
Mio returned her girlfriend's excited smile and squeezed her hand determinedly. "Alright, you're on. I'd like to talk with that keyboardist after the show, and we'll find out if she's rich. I'm betting a thousand yen she's not!"
'Underwater Motor Scooter' ended with a humming final note from the keyboardist and the bassist. Their bass player was an unassuming girl with hair like liquid copper falling down to her shoulders. Her eyes were gray, her expression revealing her shy and sweet personality. She played a turquoise Fender Stu Hamm Urge II bass.
The drummer was a goofy girl, as one could discern by the faces she made whilst playing her mahogany Pearl Sound Check 5-piece drumset. She had long straight black hair and sly brown eyes framed by a pair of round thin-framed glasses.
As Afterschool Tea Time had done, Hitomi introduced Terror Firma one by one. Mio listened eagerly for the keyboardist's name. The drummer was introduced as Katayanagi Ayana, the bassist as Arashiyama Madoka. Then there was herself, Fujusegawa Hitomi.
"All their names are such mouthfuls," Ritsu commented.
"And on funky keyboards," Hitomi called. She paused dramatically. All that was heard was the crowd cheering and Ayana impatiently rolling her sticks on the hi-hat. Then Hitomi twirled her hand toward the habited keyboardist. "Yamoto Chiharu!"