Sayonara Piano Sonata

When I woke up, I found myself being embraced by a pair of slender arms wrapping around me from my back to my chest. What"s going on here? When I turned my body around under the blanket, the tip of my nose came into contact with soft, silky hair. Right in front of my eyes, was a cute and angelic sleeping face. I was about to retreat in shock, but Yuri let out a nasal "mmm" moan and buried his face into his arm.

Oh right, it"s Yuri. We slept together last night. He might"ve been a guy, but waking up to a body as slender as his in bed, and seeing a face that was so incredibly feminine appear right in front of my eyes—it really wasn"t good for my heart.

Moving carefully so as to not wake Yuri up, I slowly moved my body out of his arms and got off the bed. A chilly, creaking sound moaned from the floor. I had no idea what time it was, as it was still pretty dark, but the display of the sound system showed that it was nine o"clock. Well, if it"s still dark, that means...... As I pulled the curtains apart, my eyes were blinded by the snow-white world. My barely awake body started shivering in response to the freezing cold. The roads, the roofs of the houses, and our courtyard and fence were all covered in snow, and fragments of the sky were slowly fluttering downwards from the grey clouds.

It"s a white Christmas.

For some reason, everything before my eyes seemed unreal. I wouldn"t have been surprised if everything, starting from when Yuri had come to my house, had just been a dream. But when I stretched my hand outside the window, my body heat was undeniably drained away as my skin came into contact with the silent chill of the air.

Layer by layer, my drowsiness was peeled away from me. When I closed the windows and turned my body around, I could still see the blonde boy sleeping on my bed. This isn"t a dream. Not Yuri, not the snow, and not the performance we"ll be giving later today.

Guess I should leave earlier today, since it"ll take a fair bit of effort to get to the venue in this heavy snow. After I finished changing into my performance attire, I heaved the ba.s.s and the synthesizer onto my back and walked out of the room. Even just walking that short distance down the narrow stairs made me feel like my back was about to break. Yuri said he would be taking a break today, so I guess it would be better to not wake him up, as he should be pretty drained.

"Oh, morning, Nao. Did you have a fantastic night?"

"And here I am, wondering why the h.e.l.l you"re up this early, Tetsurou...... Rather than saying idiotic things like that, shouldn"t you be doing something else instead? There are lots of ch.o.r.es for you to do, aren"t there? Like the laundry, for example."

I threw a towel at Tetsurou"s scruffy face, which had popped out of the living room.

"I"m really busy in the morning. There are children"s shows and anime waiting to be watched."

I was in no mood to reply to that, so I walked weakly towards the kitchen instead. I had no intention of wasting my energy on pointless things like that, since it was the day of the performance.

"What about Julien Flaubert? Is he still asleep?"

"Yeah. He said he"d be resting today, so cook him something when he wakes up, then send him to the station."

"Can we hold a photo shoot session in our house? ...... No no no I"m just kidding! Nao! Don"t put on such a frightening expression when you"re holding a knife in your hand!" Tetsurou scooted back into the dining room. "Speaking of which, I thought he was going to the concert with you. Isn"t that why he came here?"

"Nope, he told me he"s not going."

Oh?—Tetsurou scratched his tilted head and left just like that.

I know Yuri"s angry. He"s probably not interested in the feketerigó without Mafuyu, regardless of whether we play well or not. It"s the same for me as well. But if that"s true, why am I still standing on the stage? Even though only the three of us are left.

Am I just being stubborn, like Yuri said?

Or am I just doing it to savour the sweet excitement of the performance?

Or to bathe myself in the glittering stage lights and the cheers?

It might"ve been for all those reasons, or for none of those reasons at all. But our forefathers had left us a magical curse, one that could explain everything in any given situation.

If you asked me why, it was because it was rock "n" roll.

After I finished breakfast, I prepared for the weather by putting on a raincoat over my windbreaker, and wrapped the cases for the ba.s.s and the synthesizer with huge plastic bags as well.

The sky was a little brighter when I walked out of the house, but the snow was showing no signs of stopping. The snow was fine, as it was precipitating at a pretty low temperature, so my boots sank halfway into it when I stepped out of the door. It wasn"t exactly impossible to walk, but I was carrying a lot of equipment with me. I was seriously regretting not leaving the synthesizer at the venue after the rehearsal the day before.

As I walked out of the courtyard, I was greeted by Chiaki, who was waiting for me. As the drummer, she didn"t have to bring anything with her, so she was holding an umbrella instead. Perhaps as a tiny rebellion against Senpai"s decision regarding the outfits, Chiaki was wearing a red coat that reminded me of Santa Claus.

"Morning! Pa.s.s me the synthesizer."

"I was going to meet you at your house."

"You"d have to wait a hundred years to be earlier than me."

Smiled Chiaki, as she s.n.a.t.c.hed the synthesizer case away from my hands. I originally wanted to offer her the ba.s.s instead, as the synthesizer was much heavier, but she was already walking swiftly towards the station with the synthesizer on her back.

"Did you get a good night"s sleep? Nao"s the type that would think about all sorts of things the night before a performance."

"Ah, yeah."

I had thought it was going to be a given that I wouldn"t be able to sleep with Yuri pressing against my back, but for some reason, I had actually slept really well. Perhaps it was because feeling the warmth of another human being had made me feel at ease. But that was something I was never going to say to Chiaki.

"I guess I won"t be able to rehea.r.s.e, thanks to these frozen hands."

"You just have to stick the drumsticks to your hands using chewing gum or something."

"Ahaha, why doesn"t Nao stick his mouth shut with chewing gum as well?"

"I can"t sing if I do that."

"You can hum the song instead."

Strange, why am I feeling calmer as we approach the performance venue? Mafuyu"s probably not coming, so there"s no way we"d be able to convey our rock music to her. And even though I know that...... No wait, perhaps it"s precisely because I know?

I wanted to tell Chiaki what I had heard from Yuri—the things about the hospital Mafuyu would be going to—but I couldn"t find the opportunity to tell her amidst our banter.

The club we would be carrying out our battle in, was located in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the largest entertainment center in our city.

The shopping complex was filled with people despite the heavy snow outside. I could hear being played amidst the background noise coming from the shopping mall"s entrance, which was decorated with flashing lights. Chiaki and I walked out of the station, both of us covered with sweat. It felt like the sweat on my forehead was freezing as the chilling wind blew past the corridor.

We walked down the escape stairs and into a private corridor, then pa.s.sed through a door with a "Staff Only" sign to enter the backstage. I could see her back and her long braided, black hair amid the workers that were busily running about with earphones on their heads—Kagurazaka-senpai was already there.

Standing next to her were also two men that I recognized: the muscular, tanned guy was Tomo, and the tall one with blonde hair was Hiroshi of Melancholy Chameleon, Furukawa"s partner. What"s Hiroshi doing here?

"Morning, everyone. Pa.s.s your instruments to the staff. They"ll take care of them."

Said Senpai suddenly, as she turned her body around. Even though her back had been facing us, Senpai had noticed our presence before even Tomo or Hiroshi did.

Speaking of which, Senpai"s attire was pretty shocking. Despite the heavy snow outside, she was wearing a miniskirt and a tube top that revealed her arms and her belly b.u.t.ton. And to top it off, she was even wearing a pair of white boots as well. Her outfit was completely and uniformly white. All she needed was a laser gun, and she would"ve looked like a heroine that had stepped out of a B-rated science fiction movie.

"Whoa! Won"t you be cold in that, Senpai?"

"I"ll be releasing an unbearable amount of heat both inside and outside my body later on. Comrade Aihara, you should take off your coat as well."

Chiaki"s red coat was removed from her body in an instant. You"re wearing a white tube top as well, aren"t you? I don"t even know where I should be looking.

"Nao"s the only one that"s not dressed to kill."

Shrugged Tomo in disappointment.

"You might as well play the ba.s.s behind the stage. The band would be much more popular with the crowd if only Kyouko and Chiaki were on stage."

Teased Hiroshi, snickering as he rubbed salt into the wound.

"Urm, well, why are you here?"

Tomo"s presence there was understandable, as he was a performing member—but why is Hiroshi here?

"That Taisei, he wanted me to be both the emcee and the chorus for his performance. He said something like he"s used to the way I talk, so it"s much easier to stage the show with me. It"s not like I"m a comedian or anything."

Hiroshi grimaced. What, so it"s the usual bunch we"re used to seeing. We didn"t see any of the other performers yesterday, as we had headed straight to the studio right after finishing the rehearsal.

"Well then Kyouko, see you later."

Hiroshi and Tomo disappeared past the curtains that led backstage. Is Furukawa there as well? I still wasn"t very good at dealing with him, so I was lucky we hadn"t immediately b.u.mped into him.

"You two, come here."

Senpai motioned at us to follow her as she walked to the side of the stage where the footlights were located.

The club had a pretty weird layout. I couldn"t quite understand it even though it was already my third time there. Between the ground and the incredibly high ceiling, were multiple levels of dance floors, which made it look just like one of Escher"s deceptive drawings. Additionally, there were small "islands" connected by multiple flights of stairs, as well as two large hexagonal stages located really high up.

"We should be able to see everything since we"ll be performing so high up in the air. We"ll spot her immediately if she comes."

Who is she referring to? Neither Chiaki or I asked her that question.

If it"s Senpai, she should be able to spot the sapphire eyes and the maroon-coloured hair, even while performing amidst the darkness and the dancing spotlights.

But all three of us knew there was the possibility that she wouldn"t even show up.

Even though we had entered the club, my feelings were as calm as before. "Is it because of the snow?"—I thought to myself. It felt as though all of my feelings had been sucked away by the pure white world.

All Christmas songs were songs about departures. Perhaps that"s why.

And so, in the depths of the mall, despite being stuck in a sticky mire of darkness, under the heat of the crowd and the lights that were scratching against my skin, it felt like my chest was burning up once more.

I hope you will come.

I want to see you.

I want to see you, Mafuyu.

The four rhythmic strikes of the ba.s.s drum shook the walls and the ceiling, and the footsteps of the crowd, as well as the roaring cheers, were seeping through the concrete.

Different from the cramped live house, the club had an actual preparation room located backstage along the corridor, one that was about half a cla.s.sroom wide. On the right side of the room was a desk, and on the left, well-arranged cabinets. A lot of performers were around, so the room was filled with instruments, costumes, sound systems and people.

As we were going up on stage next, we planted ourselves close to the exit. Chiaki and Kagurazaka-senpai were chatting with the men from the hip hop group performing right after us. High school students? For real? I heard rumours about an incredible group during the auditions, so that"s you guys? How about a drink after the concert? Good idea, let"s go out next time. They were blatantly trying to hook up with the girls, but I wasn"t paying any attention to what was happening around me. Instead, I was just sitting on a chair, quietly listening to the vibrations coming from the stage while hugging one of my knees.

But there was no way I could"ve known whether Mafuyu was there or not just by doing that.

Perhaps it"s better that I don"t know. I should just allow time to flow past me as I become blinded by the footlights and stage lights, and carry the beautiful illusion that she might"ve been here into my dreams.

The performances of the two groups before us were about to end. Aside from the interjections by the emcees and the interludes of the DJs, the performances of the six groups were supposed to flow one after another without interruption. That was why two separate stages had been prepared for the performers, so that the group waiting could get on stage early and would have ample time to prepare themselves for their performance.

It"s about time for us to go.

The door to the preparation room suddenly opened, and I stood up. A female staff member popped her head through the door and said,

"Mr. Hikawa from feketerigó, someone"s outside looking......"

Senpai and Chiaki, who were behind me, reacted way quicker than I did; they pushed their chairs away and sprang up in an instant. My knees were trembling. Could it be Mafuyu?

When I was walking towards the corridor, a small silhouette dashed towards me.

"Naomi!"

Blonde hair came flying out from under the hood of a coat, and a pair of red ears and the red tip of his nose followed. I was extremely confused. Yuri? And it wasn"t just him. Leaning against the wall of the corridor, brushing snow off his overalls, was—

"U-Uncle Tetsurou?"

Chiaki let out a weird shriek when she ran into the corridor.

"Yo! I"m here to see your performance, Chiaki!"

Tetsurou, with his scruffy face and disheveled hair, waved his hands with a smile.

Why? Why are Tetsurou and Yuri here?

"W-Well, I got him to drive me here since I could not reach Naomi through your phone."

Said Yuri, as he hugged me tightly. Tetsurou drove him here? Why did he do that? And didn"t you say you wouldn"t be watching our performance?

"Maestro Ebisawa just gave me a call."

I held my breath. Kagurazaka-senpai pushed Chiaki behind her and walked to my side.

"He said they have managed to get the tickets on the waiting list, and will be heading out on the four o"clock flight."

It felt like my head was buried in snow or something—it took me quite a while to comprehend what Yuri had said. Four o"clock flight? What does he mean by that? Four in the afternoon, today?

Isn"t that in two hours?

"Why so suddenly!?"

Chiaki questioned Yuri from behind me.

"The Maestro saw the tickets for the performance," said Yuri in tears. "He was afraid Mafuyu would change her mind, so he booked the tickets immediately."

The tickets we had given her. Oh right, Ebichiri"s on a break starting today.

Mafuyu, she...... In just two hours, she"ll be taking off for the other side of the ocean.

It was only then that I started feeling a sharp pain in my body, as though half of my body was being forcefully pulled apart from the other half. I knew it was coming sooner or later, but it didn"t feel real at all. It was farewell.

"Naomi, g-get to the airport right now!"

Yuri pushed my chest hard.

"Young man, it"ll take an hour and thirty-seven minutes to reach the airport." "It"s only two o"clock right now!"

I looked at Senpai and Chiaki in disbelief. What...... What are you two talking about?

"...... I won"t...... be going."

A voice of feigned toughness.

"Naomi? Why are you still being stubborn at a time like this—"

"Our performance is about to start!"

"What...... What are you saying, you idiot!? Seeing Mafuyu is way more important......"

"But this is a live performance. There"s no way I"m going to abandon my band at a time like this."

"I will do it then!"

Yuri pushed himself away from me all of a sudden and looked at Chiaki, Senpai, and me—the three members of feketerigó.

"I will play the ba.s.s. You should have heard it before, Naomi. I know how to play everything....... everything. And I play it better than Naomi does. S-So Naomi, you should......"

I had no idea where the strong emotions surging inside me were coming from, but I grabbed Yuri by the collar and slammed him against the wall of the corridor. Even Tetsurou was stunned.

"Nao......mi......"

Yuri arched his body in pain.

I did remember hearing it once before. Yuri could easily replicate the melody of my ba.s.s after listening to it just once. For him, it was as easy as rolling oranges with the tips of his fingertips. But still.

"Don"t you underestimate feketerigó."

A deep and murky voice.

"Yuri"s ba.s.s may be a hundred times better than mine, but I am the only person that knows how to control the effects unit, and the only person that can harmonize with Senpai"s melody from below."

With Chiaki"s support, I was the only person that could make the heart beat. But the only person that could lift us into the sky was Mafuyu. And only Mafuyu.

Mafuyu is...... the only person that can do that.

My fury lost its strength, and my hands dropped down. A hand gently grabbed my shoulder and pushed me aside. The person then went to support Yuri"s body, which was about to collapse to the floor.

It was Kagurazaka-senpai.

"...... S-Sorry, but, but, I....... Mafuyu and, Naomi, they......"

Yuri began sobbing in Senpai"s arms while I just stared at my own hands. What the heck did I just do? What was the point of venting my anger out on Yuri?

However, even though I had said all that in the heat of the moment...... it was all true.

"Young man."

Senpai gently caressed Yuri"s hair and asked me softly,

"You won"t regret this?"

I sank my fingernails deep into my palm. I hadn"t fully suppressed my unreasonable anger just yet. What"s with that? Why does this person always have to evaluate me in such a dramatic manner?

"Of course I will!" My voice was steaming. "Whether I go or not, I"ll definitely regret it. But......!"

The gazes coming from everyone were incredibly painful, so I threw my words at my feet.

"This is Mafuyu"s band, a place she can return to to play the guitar once more. So there"s no way I"d ever forsake this place!"

"Mafuyu....... her guitar? W-What do you mean by that? Hey, Nao!"

Chiaki approached me and shook my shoulders hard. Ahhh, I said it. Mafuyu had planned to keep it a secret forever, but I said it. But of course. There"s no need to keep it a secret, yeah?

Aren"t we comrades that are tied together by an existence called Mafuyu? Aren"t we feketerigó, four people that share the same blood and soar in the sky as one?

I told everyone everything—including why Mafuyu went to the hospital, why she quit school, and why she chose to stay in America for an extended amount of time.

All of Mafuyu"s plans.

Chiaki grabbed my arms and sunk her fingers into my skin in anguish.

"....... That"s just silly. Mafuyu and Nao are both silly. I can"t understand you two at all!"

She rubbed her temple with her fist as she said that.

The footsteps above our heads were becoming more chaotic as time pa.s.sed, and the cheers were increasingly getting louder. I could hear the emcees rattling on and on, stirring up the excitement of the audience. Chiaki drew her drumsticks out from the back of her belt and held them in her right hand. She then shot me a glance, and made her way down the corridor, towards the noises that were rumbling down the stairs.

"Let"s get going, young man."
 

So the clothes are not quite right for the manga page, but I think this chapter is what the manga page is referring to.

Thanks to Asololo and Trarc for the fast edits. Chapter 16 should be released relatively soon.