#you get twenty years to hone your style... i would hope its insane

[flipomatic]

A New World Chapter 6: Drumming Along

First Chapter Previous Chapter

As the bell rang, signaling the end of her final class for the week, Ako couldn’t help the rush of excitement she felt. Finally, she would be able to leave her school books behind and get to let loose over the weekend.

There were so many things she wanted to do this weekend, and not nearly enough time to fit all of them in. NFO had a big content update coming, Edogawa Music was holding a sale on drum pedals, and a new cool ninja film was opening in theaters. Ako couldn’t decide what she wanted to do first. She wanted to do them all at once.

Ako pulled out her phone to check if any of her bandmates were free. She loved spending time with them and doing all sorts of things together. Rinko played NFO with her, Sayo had a great eye for the best instrument parts, and Lisa enjoyed the same films that Ako did. She sometimes hung out with Yukina too, but they didn’t really have an activity.

As Ako clicked into today on the master schedule, her heart sank. All of her bandmates were busy this afternoon, off living their university lives. The master schedule Lisa made was so convenient, but also super depressing.

It felt like they were always busy these days, without any time to hangout like they used to. Ako hadn’t played NFO with Rinko in weeks. She had only seen her other bandmates at practice and at one group meal.

Ako slumped forward on her desk dramatically, resting her head against its surface. It was cold against her cheek, a welcome feeling.

What was she going to do now? She could always go do things alone, but it wasn’t the same. There was some homework she could work on too, but that was extra boring and she could just do it later.

Everything was different this year and Ako didn’t like it. For a moment, she wallowed in her misery.

She looked over to the right, catching sight of her other friends talking next to her desk. Oh, how could she have forgotten them, even for just a moment? They were still in the same year as her; they didn’t have insane schedules filled with extra classes and projects and rehearsals that were at the worst times.

Ako sprung up from her chair, with the seat making a loud noise as it was pushed back. Rokka flinched, clearly startled by the sound. She clutched her guitar case, as if to shield it from danger.

“Are you alright, Ako?” Asuka asked, with one of her eyebrows arched. She was leaning against the neighboring desk.

“Fu fu fu.” Ako brought one hand up to cover her mouth. “More than alright! Through the overwhelming power within, I am compelled to seek your company!” If she had a spotlight, that would make this pose perfect.

Askua didn’t seem impressed. “Meaning?” She deadpanned.

“Do you wanna hang out?” Ako rephrased her assertion as requested, returning her hand to her side. She looked between Asuka and Rokka with wide eyes, hopeful that they would say yes.

Rokka, having recovered from being startled, nodded. “I heard Hello Happy World is playing in town today, we could go see them?” She spoke softly, phrasing it as a question. Her hands fidgeted on the handle of her guitar case.

“Oh, yeah I heard about that.” Asuka replied. “Near the shopping district.”

“Let’s go!” Ako always loved to see other bands, and anything was better than thinking about what her bandmates were up to. She scooped up her bag, heaving it over one shoulder.

The trio started walking towards the exit, passing through the hallways and stairwell of the school. Now that they were second years, they went to class on the second floor. Ako forgot sometimes, until she looked out the window and realized just how high they were.

Once they were out of the building, they walked to the market district. It was a warm enough spring day, with only a few clouds in the sky. The three second years followed the sidewalk towards the market. On the way they chatted about class, about the weather, and about bands.

Rokka told them that Raise A Suilen was still performing often. They had been playing around Tokyo, trying out some different venues and setups. Ako and Rokka were walking next to each other, with Asuka a step behind.

“Chuchu wants to become the best girl’s band in Tokyo.” Rokka explained as they walked. “She’ll find the stage where RAS shines the brightest.”

“How’s that been going?” Asuka asked, sounding genuinely curious. Ako was also eager to hear the answer.

Rokka sighed, scuffing one of her feet against the sidewalk. “Not great.” She admitted, frowning down at the ground. “Nothing seems to be good enough. She’s been so moody about it too…”

Ako wasn’t sure if she understood Chuchu’s, but she was certain that a couple of her bandmates would. “I’m sure she’ll find it.” RAS shined on every stage Ako saw them on, so she had not doubt that Chuchu would succeed.

“For sure!” Asuka’s response was insistent.

This brought the smallest hint of a smile back to Rokka’s face. “Yeah, you’re right.” She brought her hands up to her guitar case strap, straightening her back. “I was actually planning on coming today to watch the guitarist.” Her fingers tightened around the strap.

“Kaoru?” Ako was pretty sure she was Hello Happy World’s guitarist. She had gone to Haneoka and graduated along with Ako’s bandmates.

Rokka nodded, “Yes. There’s a lot I can learn from her.” Her eyes were cast straight ahead, looking out towards the distance. Ako glanced that way, but she didn’t see anything special. “I need to keep improving, so RAS can shine.” She looked so cool like this, like she did when she played guitar.

Asuka whistled, chiming in from behind. “That’s pretty impressive.”

Rokka’s head snapped back, her shoulders shrinking down. “Not really.” All her confidence from a moment before had faded.

“It sounds like fun.” Ako had spent a lot of time watching her sister, the best drummer in the world, play the drums. Almost everything she knew about the drums, she learned from her. Guitarists could probably learn the same way.

Ako wondered if she should do the same, during the concert today. The drummer for Hello Happy World was… Ako had to think for a moment to recall her name. She had blue hair and didn’t go to school with Ako. She had graduated as well, and oh her name was Kanon, Ako finally remembered.

The three stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for their turn to go. They were only a block away from the performance, which was being held at an outdoor stage. Hello Happy World seemed to play outside often, which Ako thought fit their style of music.

They crossed the street and soon reached the venue. A small crowd had gathered in front of the stage in anticipation of the concert. Many different groups of people were gathered there, from students to the elderly. There were even some small children, who stood in the front of the audience.

Ako and her friends found a spot in the middle of the crowd, where they were able to see the stage clearly.

They still had at least twenty minutes until the performance would begin, so they continued to chat. Asuka told a story about how Kasumi had recently been messing around with fireworks. She wanted to use them for Poppin’ Party performances, but didn’t know the best way to do it. Luckily, Arisa had been there with a bucket of sand to put out the fire.

Ako shared how Roselia was doing this year, that their practices were going well. She withheld the more unfortunate details, which involved the master calendar and lonely afternoons. The girls continued to talk while they waited.

A few minutes after the scheduled start time, the show began. The curtain onstage was pulled back, revealing Hello Happy World. Kokoro stood in the center of the stage, mic stand in hand. Kaoru, Hagumi, Michelle, and Kanon were all arranged with their instruments around her.

“We are Hello Happy World!” Kokoro beamed out at the audience as she introduced the band. “Lucky! Happy! Smile! Yay!” The crowd cheered at the signature phrase. “First up, Egao no Orchestra!”

As if on cue, Michelle hit the samples to start the song. The rest of the band followed, with the song blasting out over the audience. This song, like all their others, brought life to the crowd. It was full of spirit and cheer.

Ako glanced over at Rokka, who had her eyes locked firmly on Kaoru. The guitarist was alternating between playing and flourishing at the audience, causing some teenage girls near the front of the crowd to cheer each time.

Remembering what she thought about earlier, Ako looked over at Kanon. The blue haired drummer was entirely focused on her music, unlike Kaoru. Ako honed her ears in on the drums, listening to the beat.

The drum parts were quite different that the ones in Roselia’s music. This reminded Ako a lot more of a marching band, with tighter and faster drumming. Kanon kept her hands low as she played. She mostly drummed through the wrist, only bringing her hands up when she needed to hit the cymbals.

That was different than Ako, who tended to play with wider arm motions. It was interesting to see, perhaps something she should try next time she practiced. Especially for songs that stayed more on the lower drums, she could have better timing if she kept her movements smaller. Rushing was a problem Ako contended with regularly.

As the band transitioned into their next song, Ako kept watching. She watched as Kanon maintained the rhythm perfectly, how her smaller motions still made great drum sounds, and how her drums blended in with the rest of the band.

Next to her, Rokka had a notebook out and was hastily taking notes. Ako could see the word “fleeting” was written there at least one after Kaoru said it during an emcee.

Ako wasn’t going to take notes; she could remember what she saw well enough.

When the concert wrapped up, with the band members taking a bow in the center of the stage, Ako thought she should do this again. At just this one concert, she had picked up a couple things to try. If she saw more drummers, she would certainly learn more and more techniques.

Ako remembered all of her drummer friends, and started to wonder what kind of cool techniques they would show her.

Besides, with how busy her bandmates were she had plenty of time to spend watching bands. Her afternoons, which used to be full of Roselia practices, were free. Learning from watching other drummers would be a great thing to fill them with. This wasn’t a complete substitute for practice, but it would help her improve.

Then she could be the drummer Roselia needed.

Also, and most importantly, it was super fun!

Next Chapter