Short romance stories

Music (Kakeru x Misuki)

Kakeru's POV

The sound of the other band is barely audible in the waiting room. All I could hear is cheering.

"Aww. Kakeru's nervous." Haiji snapped me back to reality with his words. I was too deep in thought.

"We're next dude. We'll need your guitar to pull us through." He added.

"For the first time in forever, I'm going to agree with Haiji on this one. Cheer up dude." Toru now said. I don't believe this is her first time she took his side. They're very close, after all. We now went silent

The silence in the room only broke when a guy from the student council arrived.

"Next band, proceed to the stage." He said. We all nodded before our hands connected.

"What's our catch phrase as a team?" Haiji asked.

"Go for gold?" Toru suggested, which made the first shake his head left to right then back.

"Overused. Any suggestions Kakeru?" They all looked at me.

"Let music strike their hearts?" They all agreed.

"3" Nerika said.

"2." Toru.

"1." Haiji.

"Let music strike their hearts!" We all shouted as we all raised our connected hands. Doing this simple thing somehow erased my anxiety.

The stage received most lights, while the audience had none. The only light they had was the stars above them.

In the huge group of people, my eyes only attempted to find one.

A smile on my lips formed as I saw a familiar girl wave at me. It's Misuki. I waved back at her.

We now set up our instruments before Nerika took the mic. The judges looked unimpressed.

I sighed.

We had no classic music to present. We only added Yorushika's Nautilus to our short list of songs to perform. We realized 2 songs was just too short.

We performed Yorushika's Ghost in the flower first, since it's a song from a well known anime movie, A whisker away.

The calm start made people wave their hands in the air. When the intensity of the music rised, so did the audience's. It's one of Yorushika's famous song, after all.

The chorus hit them good.

♪Kotoba o motto oshiete, natsu ga kurutte oshiete♪

Tell me words, tell me that summer will come.

♪Kaze ni sukaato ga yurete omoido nante wasurete♪

Your skirt flutters in the wind.

♪Asai no nugutte natsumeku♪

Breathing lightly and wiping off the falling sweat, it feels like summer.

The next one is Say it. The chorus had a very deep meaning.

♪Kitto, jinsei saigo no hi omae ni omou no darou♪

I'm sure that on the last day of my life, when I think of what's gone before

♪Zenbu, zenbu iitarinakute oshii kedo♪

All of it, all of it will be unspeakably precious, but

♪Aa, itsuka jinsei saigo no hi, kimi ga inai koto o♪

Ah, on that last day of my life, you won't be there

♪Motto, motto, motto♪

More, more, more

♪Motto, chanto, itte♪

Say it more clearly.

The cheerful song hides a very dark meaning. The main message it gives is

"if you'll leave me, at least say it more clearly."

Some think the song is romantic, but it isn't. It's about losing someone due to suicide.

Now, for our last song

The sadness of the song is evident. The tempo is very slow, until it developed into the chorus. The sadness of Nerika's voice almost made me cry.

I couldn't hold back my tears from racing down my cheeks after the last chorus.

♪Kono mama no, hayasa de kyou o oyoide♪

At this speed I swim through today

♪Kimi ni yatto te ga furetara♪

And if my hand finally touches you...

♪Mou me o samashite♪

Come on, open your eyes

♪Mite, kimi o wasureta boku o♪

And see that I've forgotten you.

As soon as we were finished, I realized that most of the people watching us were crying as well. Of course they would, especially those who knew the story.

The story of the song follows one guy who loved music. He made songs, but no one listened to them. Only one girl believed in him. She tried following his tracks, places he had been to, but alas, she saw his guitar near the sea. A note which said "goodbye" was stuck onto it.

Tears left her cheeks as she realized he's gone. He committed suicide.

With tears on the everyone's faces, they still had the energy to give their applauses. Before we left the stage, I saw a glimpse of Misuki. She was crying as well, and it somehow made my heart ache a little.

We may not be able to win this contest, but at least we let music touch everyone's hearts.