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After the meeting with Mafu, things cleaned up between the two of us and we went back to how we used to act in middle school. Neither of us thought it was time to tell the others what was going on and Ue was the only one there that night so we felt no need to bring up what happened the day before or what happened in the past.
Mafu showed off his singing the day after we met and he finally agreed on joining the band which was very helpful to us. Sure, I was somewhat of a singer, but Mafu was much better and his voice suited the others yet. My voice was softer than his and definitely did not hold the same emotion as his. Out of Hiiragi, Mafu, and I, Mafu was definitely the best, and Hiiragi probably the worst, worst of the best of course!
After a couple of long hours at practice which was mostly spent listening to Mafu's singing voice and showing him the basics of everything. None of us really minded though, his singing honestly made up for it. Haru and Akihiko would take cigarette breaks every once in a while, but not as much as they usually do. After turning off the lights to our music room and headed to the restaurant we usually go to when we like to have a nice 'family' meal.
"All right, then... Let's celebrate Mafuyu joining the band," Haru says after we get our drinks and st down our instruments. "Cheers!" The two college-students say. I'm stuck sandwiched between the two. I raise my glass of iced lemonade along with Haru's water and Akihiko's coke.
"Uhh...?" Ue mutters, a hand wrapped around his soda. "Cheers?" He questions and slowly raises his glass.
"Cheers," Akihiko replies with a smile. Our three glasses are still raised but the boys in front of us have yet to clink their glasses with ours.
"Cheers!" I say excitedly, lifting my glass higher than the other two. Ue connects his glass to Akihiko's than to mine then to Haru's. "Yeah," the three of us say together.
The two boys then shift their attention to Mafu who has yet to raises his glass. He seems surprised when they turn his attention to him, but happy nonetheless. Haru and Akihiko cheer together once more before we all set down our glasses.
"But, man, Mafuyu... You always seem out of it, so I wondered if you could actually sing... But you've really got some pipes on you," Haru praises him. He never said anything as nice to me. "You startled me."
"For real," Akihiko adds with a nod.
"You guys never complimented me like that," I say with a huff and cross my arms over my chest. "Besides, I totally taught Mafu how to sing," I say while shrugging my shoulders. (She definitely did not). Mafu shakes his head from side to side causing the other three to start laughing.
"But..." Haru continues with the conversation. "It's not like you've actually been a vocalist before, right?" He asks.
"Nope," Ue answers for him. He definitely takes all the credit for discovering Mafu's singing. I mean, he was the one who heard his singing and asked him to the band. "In fact, I'm still not sure if he understands the first thing about bands yet."
"I at least understand the first thing... Sort of," Mafu says, trying to defend himself from Ue. The two of them are oddly cute together.
"'Sort of'?" Akihiko repeats in a questing tone and Ue says the same thing after.
"Whatever you two, Mafu's progressed really quickly considering he's just learning," I say, trying to defend the boy causing Ue to stick out his tongue at me.
"You seem like you've got hidden potential," Haru says thoughtfully and he rests his chin in his hand. "So with a little practice, I bet you could kill it. What kind of music do you usually listen to?"
Mafu stays silent for a little while as if he's thinking hard about what he listens to and then he turns to Ue. "What do you listen to, Uenonyama?" Mafu asks innocently.
"Huh?!" Ue says, clearly startled by the question as he spits out his drink in his cup. "You're asking me?" He asks then groans for a while like even he doesn't know what he listens to. "Like... UK rock?"
"UK?" Mafu repeats.
"Rock from England. I listen to Japanese music, too," Ue explains. What else would the UK be, Mafu?
"Uenoyama's playlist throws some really sophisticated songs sometimes," Haru explains to Mafu then turns to look at Ue. "Influenced by your dad's preferences, huh?"
"Yeah... something like that."
"And as for me...!" Haru begins to say excitedly until Akihiko cuts him off.
"You've got a lot of poppy and cutesy music," Akihiko nods to himself like he knows exactly what Haru listens too.
"Cute--" Haru says embarrassedly. I think it matches his personality perfectly, though. "Well... out of us four, I probably do listen to the most Japanese rock... I do like pop, too. Kaji's got the broadest taste out of all of us. He'd go to a metal festival one day and a classical concert the next."
"Well, I am also a music major," Akihiko explains. His taste would have to be broad if he wants to succeed in that major.
"A music major?" Mafu questions.
"He plays the violin. Isn't that awesome?" Ue says like he's bragging about himself.
"Why're you bragging for him, Ue?" I say while narrowing my eyes at him. "You're a total Akihiko fanboy."
"What about, Yui?" Mafu asks and I shrug my shoulders.
"I dunno," I mutter and play with a loose piece of my hair. "I like the American stuff for some reason. It resonates with me..."
"So you all have different music tastes," Mafu notes.
"But I think we get along so well because our tastes are so different," Haru explains. I can't help but agree, our different opinions makes our music unique from other bands.
"When it comes to our musical direction..." Akihiko begins then points a pretend microphone at Ue who has a very dark aura around him.
"Whatever. I'm gonna do what I want," Ue says coldly. He has a harsh way of saying it, but it's relatively accurate.
"...Is our basic attitude," Akihiko finishes his sentence from early and I chuckle. "We didn't go in thinking we had to understand each other," Haru nods his head to what Akihiko is saying.
"In fact, when I've played in bands where we all had the same interests, we all ended up arguing and it never worked out," Haru adds on. "We clash because we like the same things."
"I totally get that," Ue says in a deeper tone of voice than usual.
"We all know about your old band struggles, Ue," I add on while waving my hand from side to side. "I couldn't even be in a band with my friends I argued so much," I sigh.
"Yep... It always ends in bloodshed," Ue adds while closing his eyes.
"Uh, no one usually bleeds..." Haru says nervously.
With that, we finished the night on a high note and everyone had high hopes for the band in the future, and that band included Mafu. Ue was nervous about how well Mafu was going to fit in at first, but it ended up being completely fine. In fact, both Ue and Mafu seem more alive than ever and I'm guessing it's because they met each other.
All that's left is for Hiiragi to talk to Mafu about how he feels and for me to tell Hiiragi. With the way that things are going now, I can only see a brighter future ahead.
