Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 179

"Wait." The girl grabbed his clothes, her grip light but firm.

"Good luck, Songzhi! I'm really looking forward to your performance!"

Jun Matsue laughed, waved to her, and disappeared into the crowd.

The girl looked at the stage; under the dim lights, only the rounded outline of the drum kit could be seen, with a faint metallic sheen.

But in Yamami Maki's mind, it was very clear—it was the drum kit she picked out for Matsueda-san, one part by one, as the staff explained.

The hi-hat closes crisply, the snare drum has few overtones but a strong sense of resonance, and the 22-inch maple bass drum has a steady bass...

As she silently reminisced, the stage lights gradually brightened. Yamami Maki watched the girls walk onto the stage, with Matsueda Jun leading the way. The boy sat down in front of the drum kit and took out two treasured black drumsticks with a thorn pattern.

"The opening band has changed today?" she heard the whispers of the audience around her.

"It sounds like a new band?"

“They’re definitely a new band,” a female voice chimed in, “Such a handsome drummer! If they’d performed before, I would definitely remember them!”

Yamami Maki chuckled to herself. The sound system vibrated slightly as the equipment started up. The girls on stage exchanged glances and nodded.

The boy tapped the drumsticks three times, and the girl's slightly immature, ethereal voice and the strumming of the guitar rose up together, the lake-blue summer air permeating the underground space.

"That day I was wearing a blue floral dress and took off my sandals~"

As I stumbled past the stage by the roadside, drunk, I overheard people talking about you on stage—

Maki Yami watched as the boy on stage slammed his drumsticks down, the resounding cymbals creating a gust of wind that seemed to pull the audience to the city streets during a blues moment.

If you can feel the wind blowing, it means summer has arrived.

Chapter 313 The Song That Only You Can Do

The chaotic drumbeats echoed endlessly in the melody that flowed outwards like water, eventually becoming regular and orderly, like a drunken girl wandering the streets, finally sobering up a bit, opening her eyes, and looking at the world in a daze.

I was wearing a blue floral dress that day.

They've gone and never returned, but summer has come~

As the song ended, the audience below the stage became enthusiastic, and cheers rang out from every corner. Yamami Maki turned her head and looked around, unable to suppress the smile on her face.

"Hello everyone, we are today's opening act band, Unit 2—" Miyamura Aya held the microphone in her right hand and made a V sign with her left.

The cheers from the audience grew louder again, and someone shouted, "Izumi-chan changed bands again!"

It seemed she knew Izumi Mizuki, as the girl strummed her guitar twice in response.

"Thank you all for your support~" As Aya-chan spoke, the instruments and effects pedals on stage were already adjusted, and Jun Matsueda nodded to the girl, indicating that the next song could begin.

The musicians on stage lowered their heads, focusing their attention on their instruments, and the underground space fell silent once again.

Yamami Maki looked up at Matsueda Jun, whose eyes were lowered. The light overhead cast large shadows on the boy's face, making him look somewhat cold and aloof. But the girl knew that Matsueda-kun would not refuse her.

The electric guitar sounded first in the silent space, and after a short chord build-up, the brisk bass and drums started up together, and people's bodies began to sway to the melody.

The drumbeat quickened, and the girl began to sing, "I'm waiting for you~ I'm waiting for you~"

"Even endless tomorrows can be traversed~"

"Stop walking, turn around, and sigh at the endless days of today~"

Simple yet powerful chords, in a repetitive melody, convey the most classic and passionate youthful feeling of Japanese rock. Yamami Maki watched the boy on stage strike the cymbals with his steady right hand; the movements were so simple, yet so captivating.

"Things like 'forever,' memories and all that~"

"Knowing full well that none of this can be preserved~"

"Yet I still struggle with this, scratching my head in frustration, crying in the corner of my memory~"

The girl's singing style was not as ethereal and lyrical as in the previous song, but instead returned to its original dry vocals, like a confession in a diary, which perfectly matched the simple rhythm.

"I want you to remember those things~"

"The wonderful times we spent together through the city~"

"I still regret that day when I fled before I could even utter a word—"

As the voices faded and the interlude began, Jun Matsueda continued moving his hands and looked up at the audience.

Yamami Maki could be spotted at a glance in the rhythmic crowd, and the boy playing the drums laughed.

Many people in the audience raised their right hands, extending their index and little fingers in a metal salute gesture to show their approval of the band.

Only the senior student stood out from the rows of metal ceremonies, giving a thumbs-up as if in approval, and swaying cutely to the rhythm.

Jun Matsueda had seen her make this gesture before. Last year, when the brass band was holding a training camp for the brass band competition, and when Maki Yami was still the captain, the girl briefly gave a thumbs up while watching her members train.

"You played wonderfully~" He still remembered the girl's smiling, approving tone.

At this moment, the girl in the audience did not say such a thing. She simply extended her right hand and never lowered it. The light in her eyes followed Matsueda Jun's movements. Yamami Maki was so focused that she did not even notice that her gesture was so different from the others in the crowd.

Jun Matsue watched as the girl's fair thumb shook stubbornly and firmly in the crowd. Senior was always like this; she didn't come to watch the practice often, but she was always the most focused one.

She would carefully ask herself if her position would affect his movements when she sat down.

She would try to help him adjust the cymbals, and when she discovered that she had left fingerprints on the brass-colored metal, she would give an apologetic smile.

She would silently note down the parts where he made mistakes, and the next time he performed that part, her gaze would turn towards him, and after a successful performance, she would applaud silently to express her joy.

She would, just as she is now, devote herself entirely to his performance, her body and mind swaying with the melody. For Jun Matsuoka, that would be the best recognition.

He knew that the girl's behavior wasn't because of the drum, but because of him.

The musical phrase repeated itself, "I still regret the day I fled before I could utter a word—"

Miyamura Aya put down the microphone and looked behind her. Yamami Maki, who was standing below the stage, stood on tiptoe. She knew that, according to the previous rehearsal, the last part of the vocals was to be sung by Matsueda.

The long forty-second interlude features amplified bass, guitar, and drum sounds intertwined, the rhythmic beat like a bespectacled, perpetually silent young man, gathering the courage to utter his clumsy words.

As the drumsticks left the drumhead, Jun Matsueda moved closer to the microphone placed to the side. The drumbeats and electric guitar disappeared, leaving only the rapid, deep bass that stirred people's hearts.

Holding the gift given to him by someone, the boy looked at the girl in the audience who was always giving him a thumbs up, and their eyes met in the air without flinching.

"I'm waiting for you."

"I'm waiting for you."

"Even endless tomorrows can be traversed in a flash~"

The boy's singing voice was clean and natural, carrying a sense of unrestrained emotion and self-abandonment, echoing above the quiet crowd.

Yamami Maki looked towards the stage. The girl was certain that the boy on stage was singing to her. In the bustling crowd, he was looking only at her.

Unlike when we sat to the side of Matsueda during practice and watched him play and sing, our direct gazes now seemed to express our feelings without any concealment, shooting into each other's hearts without hesitation.

The girl then understood what he meant—the view from the front of the stage was definitely better than standing on the side.

"I'm still scratching my head in frustration today."

"Unforgettable thoughts, a lingering sadness—"

Jun Matsue's slightly melancholic voice rose in pitch, and the boy hummed "ah ah" as if cheering himself up. The tight cymbal sounds and guitar reappeared, becoming a catalyst for expressing his feelings.

He finally sang the last line.

"It's absolutely unacceptable if I don't belong to you—"

There was no singing style, no pitch, just simple shouting to release emotions, and even a few cracked voices.

Because this is genuine emotion without any embellishment.

Jun Matsue wanted to know what kind of scenery they would see if they continued walking with the girl who was looking at him at that moment.

The song didn't end. In the enthusiastic outro, the quiet crowd swayed once again. Yamami Maki lowered her raised hand and looked down at the ground, which was now submerged in trousers and shoes.

The girl pressed her hands to her cheeks, her face burning hot—of course, anyone would look like that if they were being stared at by the boy on stage and said those words.

but.

However, Yamami Maki asked herself a question.

Was what Songzhi just sang just lyrics?

"The performance was a great success!" The girls walked off the stage with their instruments, with Jun Matsueda carrying the drums and walking at the back with the staff.

“Matsue sang really well at the end.” Izumi Mizuki turned to look at him. “He had a lot more feeling for it than when we practiced before.”

The boy's smile was indifferent until the girl standing below the stage walked backstage—Yamami Maki waved excitedly to them, or rather, to him.

Perhaps it was because he had played too many drumbeats, but Jun Matsueda felt his heart beating a little faster.

The girl's face still bore traces of blush, the color of love for one person.

It is also the color of immorality, rose.

Chapter 314 Holding hands behind everyone, expressing unspeakable feelings

"Thank you all for your hard work~"

The shop manager clapped his hands as he walked up to the group who were about to get on the bus. "The appearance fee has already been paid to Izumi-san. Won't you stay and have some more fun?"

"No need." After taking out her phone and confirming that the payment had been settled, the girl shook her head.

"We haven't even had dinner yet, we're starving."

"Haha..." The store manager's smile turned awkward again. He took out his phone and transferred another sum of money. "Thank you all for your help. Dinner is on me. I wish you a successful collaboration in July!"

The girl got into the car, looked at the new transfer information on her phone, and nodded in satisfaction.

"So how much is the appearance fee?" Aya Miyamura leaned over and asked curiously.

"Including the 10,000 yen that the store manager just transferred, the total is 50,000 yen."

"So much?" the girl asked in surprise. She only knew that everyone had agreed to split the appearance fee equally, but she didn't know exactly how much money she would receive.

"The appearance fee has doubled, but we're just opening act. We're a newly formed student band, so we'll only get around 10,000 to 20,000 yen per show, and we'll have to split it among ourselves."

The president of the Light Music Club, who always has a cold expression, becomes quite animated when talking about this kind of thing.

"A ticket for a mixed-gender show costs around 2,700 yen. If the Chikamatsu show is sold out, we'll earn 400,000 yen. If it were a formal performance..."

Yamami Maki tried hard to focus her attention on the girl who was speaking, because her cheeks were still hot and she was still immersed in the performance a few minutes earlier.

"Are you feeling hot, senior?" Jun Matsueda, who was sitting across from me, leaned closer. "Should we turn the air conditioning down a bit?"

"No, no need!" The girl hurriedly waved her hand. "I'm just a little excited from leaving the livehouse."

She could look directly into Matsueda's eyes before, but now the unspoken atmosphere between them made the girl blush.

The van quickly returned to the familiar studio. Xiaoxing didn't get in the van; she went to find her boyfriend after the performance. The four of them went into the practice room and spent more than ten minutes putting the moved equipment back in its place.

"I'm so hungry~" Miyamura Aya exclaimed, "Let's go eat! Dinner's free tonight!"

They decided to have barbecue for dinner. Jun Matsueda stood alone in the studio lobby waiting for the girls to come downstairs. The girls were always a little slower when they were getting ready to leave.

A lone footstep echoed down the corridor. Yamami Maki's steps were somewhat hurried as she sat down next to Matsueda Jun.

"Aren't they ready yet?" Jun Matsue was also a little hungry.

"Aya-chan is helping Izumi change the strings on her guitar; it'll probably take a while," the girl said with a smile.

The studio was quite crowded in the evening. Men and women carrying musical instruments walked around the lobby, like extras before a love story unfolded, faithfully playing their roles.

"What did you think of today's performance, senior?"

"It's great!" Yami Maki said with a smile. "The audience's response was very enthusiastic. This is only the premiere, and it will definitely get better and better from here on out."

"What about my performance?" Jun Matsueda continued to press, and the girl's heart trembled.

"The drumbeats were very steady, and the final singing was also very beautiful..." Yami Maki lowered her head, looking at the tips of her shoes, her cheeks blushing again.

"It's very tempting." The girl's voice was very soft, like a gentle drop of water splashing in a noisy hall, hitting his ear.

"I'm glad you like it, senior." Jun Matsue looked at his senior's ears, which had turned red. "This is my first time singing on stage, and I was a little nervous."

"But seeing you in the audience reminded me of those days in the practice room, and suddenly I had so much to say and so many songs to sing."

She seemed to have understood correctly... The girl's heart began to pound, like the restless cockatiel in her house, chirping and hitting its cage.

But what should Youhua do?

Thinking of the happy expression on her junior's face when she talked about her sweetheart, the fledgling bird in Yamami Maki's heart began to settle down again.

"It's not that I dislike Matsueda," the girl told herself. "I just want to find a way to make everyone happier."