A welcoming ceremony was held in the company's concert hall.New Trainees pooled inside. There was only a handful of us, which was surprising. I didn't think many would be given the golden pass, you know... From the way, it looks there are enough people to tell me five bands or more (+)were accepted.Eh? Where's Kenichi-san? Ehhh, did he not make it in? I wonder if he wasn't able to perform so well... We never found each other in the end after the audition, so maybe he didn't pass?However, once the lights dimmed and I fixed my attention on stage, I saw him there.As the drummer started off with the drum, eh?! Wait a second it's Satoshi-san!With Renjiro on bass, Kenichi on guitar, and a woman I didn't recognize was also playing the keyboard, she seemed young... was she an auditioner like Kenichi-san as well?Lorraine was standing in front of the mike.
He sat himself down at the counter before me and plopped down his head face first.I greeted him. "Hello to you too."A muffled "Hi" escaped him."How can I help you, sir?"He grunted."Then that'll be the bacon cheese fries, mango smoothie, and fish burger."He grunted. He rummaged through his jacket before fishing out his wallet and sliding it across the counter. I rang him up and let him be to prepare his smoothie and fries."The best pick me up is food." I placed his meal on a tray before him."Yes..."He seemed to have his headphones in. Seeing him hunched over the desk like that, I was tempted to stroke his head which at the moment seemed like a puppy.I didn't realize I was actually doing it, until his hand moved to reach for the smoothie and I retracted my hand quickly. It felt as if my hand was on fire.
"Hello!" I greeted the others who were already waiting for me inside the studio with a big smile. Though my mind was somewhat distracted by Amara's reaction earlier. Was that weird of me? "The heck do we all have to gather here again for?! I haven't even eaten!" Akemi-san had complaints about my random summoning. "Well, don't you think we should get started as soon as possible?" I politely smiled. "Oh," Being the gentleman that he is, Hagihara-san, the bald drummer came to help me carry in my items. I found it somehow intriguing how the person in the band with the most intimidating appearance turned out to be the most well-mannered and easy to get along with. Agawa-san the foreigner-looking bassist must've smelled the food because he suddenly ejected himself from the sofa to the studio's center table. "So you're not as empty-headed as you seem, you brought food for us?"
Needless to say, we didn't get much work done due to the awkward tension. We ended up calling it a day after eating.On my walk home, I heard footsteps only for Amara to appear in front of me and seize my face with both her hands."What happened to your face?!"I forgot, around this time her shift ends."We should walk home together," I spoke as she squished my cheeks.But this only annoyed her. "Ka.Ga.Mi!""I just got into a small spat..." It was a habit to scratch my cheek, but there were cuts there so I ended up wincing.Amara pursed her lips at me, something flickering in her eyes."Who was it?""It's fine!""Like hell it is?! Who scratched your face?!""Ah, Fukuda-san..." Kenichi-san unexpectedly overheard us and walked over. I wanted to greet him and ask about him
The end result was that Banshee's official debut was pushed back. Within that time I'd be composing songs for a group that had already debuted. Hysterical Kitten's Entertainment 1st group and only all-girl band, Helens. I listened to their music but there wasn't anything particularly wowing about it. I heard before that the girls don't write their own songs or lyrics, it's normal for most bands to at least do one or the other or both. Once again, I couldn't help but feel as if a bomb had been dumped on me. I think the higher-ups have really overestimated my abilities. But then again, a composer/songwriter was a composer/ songwriter, maybe I was being tested? I didn't walk with Amara due to a difference in our schedules so my walk to the studio the following afternoon felt completely surreal until I got hit in the face by the main entrance door. "Ah!" I stumbled back holding my forehead. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" A brunette with a side ponytail quickly bowed. She was like a
Its a small world. The faces of the girls I saw this morning were two among three more faces I didn't recognize. Their manager Kanna-san, a tall young woman with reddish-brown hair introduced me with a big bright smile but the girls reactions were fairly gloomy. Why? I mean I get I'm just a rookie but we're going to be making music, and that's something super fun! "So what do you think?" Kanna asked me. "Huh?" "You listened to the original song I sent you right?" she asked me. I slowly nodded. "Uh...yeah, but is it alright before we start I'd like to get to know everyone first. And if it's not too much, I'd like to hear more about them and their hobbies and interests as well." "Huh?" Girl#2 seemed annoyed. Kanna-san politely smiled but her eye
Needless to say the past week I've been feeling drained and unmotivated. The Banshees have been practicing these past days on the revised song while I work with the Helens for their album. I thought it was just one song and the other composers would swoop in but Hanabusa-san said Kanna-san pestered the higher-ups for me to compose songs for the whole album. Why?! My mood became foul as I stood there waiting for the cross-walk sign to change. I'm new to this, I would have liked to work with pros, to learn something you know? I was looking forward to that... Such a dispassionate group, they were draining to work with. The days I would work with Phoenix, the guys would listen to the song and our lead singer would come up with words on the spot. That chemistry, that beautiful connection... It can't just be that we were the only band like that... right? "Hmmm, hmmmm hmm..." That day Amara was humm
It was a little bit larger than my room. The dorm.Unexpectedly, the company found out about my move and notified me about the company dorms. It was built separately from the building but not too far away from our neighborhood or the building.After unpacking, someone knocked on my door. Maybe because I only took my equipment, a futon and a suitcase of clothes, the room felt bare and cold.I opened the door slightly to see Ken-san."Sup?""Ken-san don't you have a performance-"I live here so I thought I'd welcome you. Here...I got this as a gift but I couldn't fit it in my room. "He hauled in a miso soup-shaped bean bag character, it was tilted slightly to create the illusion soup was spilling out."Ahhh, thank you!" It filled up the empty space nicely."Is this all you brought?" he looked around my room.