Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 4 "End of the Orchestra and Dream Concerto"

"good evening."

In the rehearsal room, Masumi greeted as usual, but did not receive the usual response.

He didn't care, took out the guitar from the guitar bag, connected it to the speaker neatly, plucked the strings lightly, and adjusted the knobs on the headstock.

After everything was in tune, he said to the rest of the band.

“Let’s start rehearsing!”

The drummer and bassist still didn't respond, and a heart-wrenching silence fell on the rehearsal room for the four of them.

"Takuma? Ah Hai?"

Masumi asked again, but still got no response, and gradually he became a little impatient.

"What are you all doing there?"

"Practice hard! The review for the Unconfirmed Carnival Festival is about to begin. If we don't seize this opportunity..."

"I say, Masumi."

The drummer stared at him. "Do you really think a band like us with only a few hundred listeners on Spotify can pass muster?"

"Even if we pass, we'll just be a sidekick to bands like Sideros, right? Is it really necessary?"

His thorny aura finally made Masumi realize that something was wrong.

As a drummer, he usually uses warm voice to support high-pitched instruments, which is the foundation of the band. But now, his voice is as flamboyant as the guitar solo, losing its previous softness.

"Ahai, what do you mean?"

Masumi's face fell.

"I'm telling you, is there any need for a rubbish band like this that can't become popular to continue to exist?"

He took the opportunity to hit the cymbal with his drumstick, and an irritating percussion sound was heard.

"Enough is enough, Hayakawa!"

A girl with long honey-blonde hair and a cool and cool appearance interrupted him.

She is the band's keyboardist, Mio Kurokawa.

"It's not your turn to interrupt!"

The drumstick was thrown over, but Kurokawa Mio dodged it easily.

"What are you so arrogant about! Kurokawa, as long as you have Masumi here, nothing else matters!"

"A girl like you who joined our band out of love and fun, what right do you have to criticize me! You are simply—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Masumi interrupted him forcefully by grabbing his collar and raising his fist at him.

That aura made Hayakawa Kai flinch, his cheeks tense.

But Masumi just stared at him for a few seconds, and his clenched fists gradually loosened.

“Kurokawa takes music seriously.”

"Heh." This sentence made Hayakawa Hai sneer disdainfully. "Is this what you want to say?"

"That's why I hate this about you."

He roughly pulled Masumi's hand away.

The impact caused Masumi to stagger backward, accidentally tripping over the equipment line and falling to the ground.

There was the sound of a strap ripping, and the guitar hanging in front of Masumi fell heavily to the ground, pulling on the connecting wires and emitting a shrill wail through the speakers.

"Zi-"

The sound plunged the room into a dead silence.

"I won't accompany you anymore."

Hayakawa Kai just left the rehearsal room, and the bassist Takuma beside him also left with a sigh.

"—Sorry, Masumi."

The shiny lacquer of the guitar reflected Masumi's nervous expression. He carefully examined the guitar body. What if the headstock broke or the fretboard cracked? The unconfirmed carnival festival was imminent.

The noise from the speakers continued.

Masumi turned down all the knobs of the stereo, gain, and guitar to the lowest level, but the sound was still extremely loud!
Noisy!
◇

Noisy!
Masumi stretched out his arms. The alarm was so loud. Where did he put his phone?

"it hurts!"

Bang! Masumi's back hit the floor hard, and he fell off the bed.

He finally opened his eyes and straightened his body. Looking at the furnishings in the room, his eyes were blank for a moment, and then he realized that this was his hometown in Kobe.

It was a nightmare.

He staggered up from the bed, just as he had done in the rehearsal room.

I got out of bed, walked to the corner, and unzipped my gig bag.

Inside was a blue and white tele electric guitar, an American-made Fender. The streamlined body had a slight dent in the lower left corner due to the collision.

Masumi bought it with the money he saved for two months working part-time after arriving in Tokyo, and he has always regarded it as a treasure.

It has been a month since that day without any maintenance. The fingerboard is covered with dust, and the strings and frets are slightly rusty.

Masumi connected the strings to a desktop speaker and plucked them gently, but the notes were seriously out of tune.

After tuning the instrument, he pressed the strings with his left hand, and held the pick with his right fingers and thumb, sweeping it from top to bottom.

The rosewood fingerboard has a warm and soft tone, and the alder body has a bright and thick tone. Masumi was unconsciously immersed in the sound of the guitar strings.

After playing for a while, there was a knock on the door.

Masumi put down his guitar and opened the door. It was Seno Asami.

"Mamami-kun, the soundproofing in this house is very poor. It's not good to disturb others so early in the morning." She was wearing pajamas, her eyes were sleepy, and her face was full of displeasure at being disturbed.

Although it is a conservative and loose style, it can still create smooth and full lines when worn on her.

"Sorry, I'll pay attention."

"Masumi-kun, you don't look well."

"is it?"

"Hmm, a face like a blue mackerel floating in the sky."

"What kind of description is that?"

"Yeah, it means it's terrible... It seems like Masumi-kun doesn't watch anime at all."

“I watch it occasionally.”

"Eh?" Asami became interested. "What is it? Don't tell me it's 'Your Name' or Ghibli."

"It's called 'Lonely Rock' and it's about four high school girls who form a band."

"I've seen this anime too. It's a blockbuster hit, and the original manga even had a spin-off recently."

Asami seems to enjoy chatting with others about anime.

“It was recommended by my bandmates. The live scenes in it are very realistic and reminded me of my first time performing at a LiveHouse.”

"Oh, that's right. After all, Masumi-kun is in a band, so he might be able to relate to this kind of subject matter."

The dim morning light outlined her straight jawline, and Mami smiled in the shadows.

“There are quite a lot of band-themed animations lately. I personally recommend this one—haha~”

After chatting for a few sentences, Mami was interrupted by a huge yawn. "No, I'm so sleepy. I want to go back and take a nap. Good night."

"Be careful not to oversleep."

Masumi reminded him, going down to the second floor and into the bathroom to wash up.

Clear tap water gushed out from the faucet, and a dull "buzzing" sound came from the water pipes.

Masumi splashed some cold water on his face and looked up at himself in the mirror.

A strand of fluffy, messy hair stuck out restlessly from the top of the head.

Her facial features are sharp and angular, and she is quite attractive. If she dresses up carefully, she will definitely be very popular.

The only thing was that his eyes were lifeless, as if he was not interested in anything, which made him look much less attractive.

While brushing his teeth, Masumi opened the band's official Spotify account, which he had been managing.

"It was disbanded so suddenly."

"Where's the new song preview?"

“The band can’t go on without a keyboard player.”

“I stopped watching it after the original keyboard player left.”

After reading a few comments, he exited the software with a blank expression.

Masumi's band was called "Seven Bitternesses," an underground band with only a few hundred listeners on Spotify. In Tokyo, such a band was barely noticeable, barely enough to hold a live house show. So their disbandment wasn't a huge shock.

No matter how precious and important the musicians themselves regard music, performance itself is a real business.

If you don't have a clear enough understanding of this, it will be difficult to make it from underground to mainstream.

Of course, there are also many underground bands that despise this behavior, sneer at all commercialization, make their own independent music, and are willing to stay underground.

The band's original keyboardist had an argument over this and parted ways unhappily.

Masumi has been undecided about whether to make his music go mainstream and be heard by more people, or to stick to himself and make music seriously without compromise. Now he feels a sense of relief.

After gathering his thoughts, Masumi went downstairs.

"Good morning, Mr. Masumi." Kuon Mirai greeted him.

Today is a school day. Her uniform jacket is ironed meticulously and tied with a red bow near the collar. A white shirt can be vaguely seen through the jacket.

"Good morning. Are you alone?"

"Rinone-san is in the kitchen. Asami-san usually skips breakfast in order to stay in bed."

The aroma of food wafted from the dining table, and Masumi walked towards his seat.

Breakfast was traditional Japanese cuisine: an omelet, grilled shad, white rice, and miso soup with daikon radish.

What a hearty breakfast.

"I started." He muttered softly as he sat in the chair.

I reached out my chopsticks to the grilled shallot fish. The surface was fried crispy and the rich fat was slightly oozing out. I picked up a piece and put it in my mouth.

The meat is firm and delicious with a slightly moist taste.

Masumi picked up the miso soup in front of him and took a sip. The delicious soup exuded a lingering aroma of fermentation.

His taste buds faithfully sent delicious signals to his brain, and he sighed softly.

Just a day earlier, he was eating a half-price bento in his low-rent apartment in Tokyo.

My band career should be over here.

He used to move forward in one direction with determination and never look back. Now, it is nice to take things as they come and enjoy a leisurely life at ease.

But people always have to find something to do.

Just after the band's journey ended, a natural path began before Masumi.

Although he has no dreams, he can still support the dreams of those around him.

He wanted to do his job as a barista well, help the new heir, Rinne Kamishiro, run the coffee shop well, and fulfill his father's wish.

(End of this chapter)