No one asked me to, but...
...Haruto Hagihara! I ended up loving him a lot, so you'll see more of him in future chapters and I'll explain him more in Chapter Info 2. The drawing ended up looking ok, but I'll probably do a better one in the future. I based this drawing off jupiterattacks on Reddit. I own Haruto, but not the art and character I based him off of. Now for the story!
Underline is English words or English lyrics (depends on context)
Y/n POV:
'Ahhh... I love the smell of given up dreams and failing grades that this school always seems to produce,' I sarcastically think as I walk into the classroom, gaining no attention, even with the snare case draped across my shoulder, resting on my hip. Scratch that, my case did catch one person's attention, probably one of the only ones in the room who would notice.
As I reach my desk, I carefully take off the strap and put it under my desk so no one would accidentally break the thing I had just bought at an amazing price. Of course, I had to give my number to a random stranger, but it'll be worth it. Since I had gotten the replacement, I had been studying beat and tempo, trying to understand how to count in and find a beat that would match other sounds. I have barely touched the snare and drumsticks, not to mention the drumset as a whole. Likely, I would need a tutor, not that I had any idea who would be willing to teach me, but I could stick to books and online learning for now.
'I've got far to go, but I'm proud of what I've got done,' I think, smiling while staring off into space, making the black-haired boy next to me even more curious about me.
"When did you get that?" I hear Uenoyama whisper to me. I turn to look at him, surprised he even cares.
"I replaced my old snare with this new one on Saturday," I tell him, not bringing up who sold it to me or why I needed to replace it. I'd prefer to avoid the topic of why I started playing, but I know that is probably not possible. I could lie and say I just wanted to, but I can't lie well and even if I could, that wouldn't be very convincing.
"What was wrong with your old one?" he asks me, surprising me. A small part of me thought he was going to ask if I played or not, but he probably thought that anyone who carries an instrument to school likely plays it. Mafuyu was the exception to this rule, but he's in a whole different category when it comes to rules.
"The mount, tension rod, and snare butt were rusty and I thought I could get the parts replaced, but they would cost more than buying a new one, so I just got a new one," I tell him, one thought going on loop in my mind.
'Don't ask about the price, Don't ask about the price, Don't ask about the price, Don't ask about the price, Don't ask about the pr-'
"How much did you pay for the new one?"
'God f*cking dammit! What do I say now?' I start to freak out, searching my mind for a good way to dodge the question. Not only did I not want to talk about the extremely attractiv- I mean annoying, worker, but I didn't want to mention the terrifyingly low price; Uenoyama would probably think I did something to get it that low and I was not in the mood to explain what happened.
"A bit nosey today, I see," I say, breathing a quiet sigh of relief once I hear the words come out of my mouth. Once you question why a dude is asking so many questions, they will either stop talking to you as a whole, get defensive, which gives you an emotional advantage over them, or continue asking questions. However, the chances of option number 3 happening are slim, so it was not a surprise when Uenoyama stopped talking and turned to face the front of the room.
'I do feel a bit bad for emotionally manipulating him,' I think while looking at his face. 'I'll apologize randomly to him in the future and hope he's forgotten by then.'
The bell soon rings, starting a long-ass day of school. I had no choice but to endure it, glad lunch always seemed to come faster than anything else
-------
Ding, dong
Ding, dong
Ding, dong
Ding, dong
'And like normal, lunch has arrived and I will be going to the stairwell,' I think as I pack my papers up. Turning my head, I look over to Uenoyama, who is also packing his things up. He then grabs his guitar and walks out of the classroom. I shake my head from side to side as I chuckle to myself.
"Looks like someone is done being a dumbass," I quietly say to myself in English as I head out the door, my snare case hanging around my shoulders, my drumsticks occasionally making a clicking sound when they hit. A pair of eyes from my class rests on me for a second, before quickly moving away as I walk down the hall.
'Why was someone looking at me so intensely? I have pants on, right?' I think while checking out my legs. 'Ok, so I am wearing pants, so what's the reason?' I question myself as I take a different way to the gym. Normally, I would just head down to the gym, but I'm staying on the second floor and finding where that stairwell leads to. 'Shouldn't be too hard right?'
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'Yeah, so I was completely wrong,' I think to myself as I finally find where the stairs led to after 10 minutes. Turns out trusting your "natural instincts" means nothing when you can't even find where north is. 'Should've just taken the other way,' I think as I open the doors and quietly walk down the stairs, trying not to disturb the two boys' lesson.
"Uh...you mean the colour? The model?" I hear Uenoyama ask as I finish my descent to the platform, neither of them noticing my form behind them.
"The model..." Mafuyu responds as I quietly pull my snare and drumsticks out of my case and put them on the floor. I choose to sit down in between their cases, sweat-dropping at their obliviousness to their surroundings. I'm a bit confused about what they are talking about, but continue to eavesdrop.
"Mine is a Fender Telecaster. You have a Gibson hollow-body, don't you?" Uenoyama tells him, as I begin to understand what they're talking about. Recalling back to what I had read, Fenders use ash and alder trees while Gibsons use mahogany. There are a few other differences but in terms of sound, Fenders are typically more bright sounding, whereas Gibsons are known for having thick, dark, and mellow qualities in their tone.
"Gibson? Hallow-body?" Mafuyu questions, making it apparent that he doesn't know what model he has been carrying around all this time.
"Do you seriously...have no clue what your guitar is?" Uenoyama asks the boy beside him, almost sounding like he was expecting him to say something. But in the normal Mafuyu fashion, he only turned to look forward and begin to put on that sad puppy look, while Uenoyama looked back at him with a 'what the hell' look plastered all over his face, making me almost give off my presence to them as I hold in my laughter.
"Well, whatever. The model's not important," Uenoyama 'reassures' Mafuyu while holding his right hand out. "As long as you can play it," he wisely says, almost making me feel bad for ignoring him for 3 or 4 days. Almost. "So, uh... You know how to tune it now, right?" he asks, remembering Friday afternoon.
"Yep," is all Mafuyu excitedly says, making a smile cross my face. He strums his guitar, but instead of a nice sound coming out, a very out of tune one comes out, making me cringe at the very noise.
"That's not tuned at all," Uenoyama says, pointing out the obvious, earning him a confused "huh?" from Mafuyu. "It's off-key," he says, changing his wording slightly so Mafuyu understands.
Unfortunately, Mafuyu is confused again and lets out another "huh," before looking back at his guitar and strums in again, replaying the same awful noise as before and getting the same reaction from me. "Why, though?" he asks innocently, making Uenoyama slightly blow a fuse, while I cover my mouth with my hand, keeping the obnoxiously loud laughs in.
"Why?" Uenoyama repeats Mafuyu's question before hanging his head, already tired of teaching this boy, even if it's only been one day. He quickly composes himself again before asking if Mafuyu tuned his guitar as I begin to space out, not listening to their conversation.
'I'll probably practise after school, I still need to get better at hearing beats and reciprocating them onto the snare. Wonder who could be my tutor? My first thought would be Kaji, but he's a college student, in my brother's class nonetheless. Maybe some people put up posters in the drum store, but I fear going back there,' I think before I tune back into the conversation in front of me.
"Oh..." I hear Mafuyu say, before asking a question I was not expecting. "What's a peg?" he asks, while my cheeks turn bright red.
'Why were they talking about...Oh, shit, I just have a dirty mind,' is all I think before bursting out laughing, my dirty thoughts still present in my mind. Both boys jump from the loud noise coming from behind them, and while one of them looks at me, wondering when I got here, the other just looks at me confused and disappointed, apparently not knowing the inappropriate double meaning of 'peg', making me laugh even harder. He only looks back to Mafuyu, sweat-dropping at his stupidity with guitars.
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Sitting at my desk, scrolling through my phone, I suddenly become bored.
'Damn, I like breaks but they get boring real fast,' I think as I put my phone away and begin to look around the classroom, trying to find something to look at. My eyes finally stop at Uenoyama, who is looking at his phone with a fraction of a concerned look on his face.
'Must not like what he's looking at,' I think to myself as class begins once again.
Occasionally I look over at Uenoyama during our English class, not worried that I would fall behind. It looks like he is drawing a guitar and labelling it, but it's hard to tell from so far away.
"Ito, since you seem to be so distracted with other students, I assume you know what's wrong with this sentence?" I hear the teacher say, making every student turn to face me. The teacher smugly smirks, assuming I don't know shit because I never answer in class.
I sigh, take in a deep breath, look the teacher dead in the eyes, and say "Please don't assume I'm an idiot sir, I see what you are trying to do and I won't fall for it." His jaw slightly drops, but I continue, "The past tense is wrong. It's not 'I didn't knew', it's 'I didn't know', kinda like how I didn't know you enjoyed embarrassing your students so much. In the future, please don't assume anything about anyone." I look around and the other students seem to pick up bits and pieces, but not the whole conversation.
' 'Cause when you assume, you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'' I'm tempted to say, but know I'll get in trouble if I do. After the teacher picked his jaw off the floor, the bell rang, and I quickly packed up my things and made a beeline for the door, quickly heading to the shoe lockers. Even if I didn't say anything inappropriate or insulting, he may still give me unwarranted detention because I talked back, even if I was the only one talking.
I quickly change shoes and leave the school property, heading home.
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"Ok, what song shall I listen to and practice with today?" I ask myself as I sit on the floor of my room, my snare sitting in front of me, my drumsticks laying next to the drum, and sheets of music spread out on the floor. Mom managed to print some music off for me while she was at work yesterday and I am currently looking through the piles, trying to find one that I can easily count with and one I can try to imitate the drum noises with, only using my snare.
Soon a song title catches my eyes and my face brightens, knowing it was and still is one of my favourite songs to listen to. Even though the lyrics bring up a few memories, I still really like the beat. Thinking about it, I remember at first the drumming is pretty simple, however counting the beat can be a bit hard, but I still decide to search the song up. Once I find it, I put my earbuds in, grab my drums sticks, and press play, getting ready to count in the beat.
(Line Without A Hook by Ricky Montgomery, like usual, video at the beginning. Ngl, if you're not a musician you might have a hard time reading this part. Also, know that I am not a drummer, so I'm trying my best to describe what I have learned about drumming)
I don't really give a damn about the way you touch me
When we're alone
'Shit, I forgot it started off fast right way. Ok, just hit the drums when you hear it.
You can hold my hand
If no one's home
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight" I whisper to myself, trying to find the rhythm of the music
Do you like it when I'm away?
If I went and hurt my body, baby
Would you love me the same?
Again, I whisper "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two three, four, five, six, seven, eight," while realizing there is about one drum hit once every count of eight.
I can feel all my bones coming back
And I'm craving motion
Mama never really learns how to live by herself
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight," I continue counting, messing up my drumming when there is a change in between the stanzas.
It's a curse
And it's growing
You're a pond and I'm an ocean
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight" I say, realizing the drumming is about to change.
Oh, all my emotions
"One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight." I notice the slight pause in between the count of eight, so I have to just continue my counting. The basic drumming stops, so I focus on my counting until it comes back again.
Feel like explosions when you are around
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." The counting goes back to its original pace as the drum comes back into play.
And I've found a way to kill the sounds, oh
In between the two verses, the counts 'One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight,' come back, continuing halfway through the verse, until I hear 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight' again and can finish the verse with the same beat. Even though there are breaks between when the drummer hits, I can still expect when to hit.
Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
In this part of the chorus, the beat is hard to find because the only sounds you can hear are the singer's voice and a light twinkling in the background. However, if you carry on the counting from the verse, finding it isn't so hard. I wait for 7 counts of eight before.
Crying at the lake
In this line, the counting stays, but I have to get the drum beats to match as well.
Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden?
Oh, and if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
The beat parallels what it was at the beginning of the song, with the counts staying consistent and with me hitting the drums every count of eight. I wait for 3 counts of eight before I hear the second verse start.
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa
I said no, I said no
Listen close, it's a no
For three of the lines, the beat stays the same as it was, following the chorus. Other than the first line, where I hit the drum on every word, I hit the drum once every count of eight.
The wind is a-pounding on my back
Counting remains the same, as well as when I hit the drums, but I notice the background drumming has stopped
And I found hope in a heart attack
The drumming comes back to normal, as the beat and the timing from the snare remains the same.
Oh, at last, it is past
Like the line before the last one, the background drumming fades and I can hear cymbals clearer.
Now I've got it, and you can't have it
Back to the normal timing and hitting
Baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
Crying at the lake
Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden, oh
And if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
The chorus is the same as the last one, with me needing to occasionally change up how often I hit the snare, but it stays the same for the most part. Once the final line of in completed, I keep the continuous counting and hitting up 4 counts of eight before the bridge.
Darling, when I'm fast asleep
I've seen this person watching me
Saying, "Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Tell me, is it worth it?"
Again, the counting and beat remain the same. After the last line is said I stay consistent with my counting and hitting for 8 counts of eight until the next line begins.
Because there is something, and there is nothing
There is nothing in between
And in my eyes, there is a tiny dancer
Watching over me, he's singing
The counting and hitting remain the same, but that is the only thing heard. Any of the drummings that I'm not doing has disappeared and all you hear is someone hitting a drum once every count of eight, the singer singing, and a bit of twinkling behind him.
"She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a boy"
I stop hitting the drum and continue counting the beat.
He's singing, "She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a line without a hook"
As I continue counting, about halfway through the line, I begin to hit the drum with every count for 2 sets of eight until it rests when I hit the chorus.
Baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
Crying at the lake
Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden, oh
And if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
As I hit the final chorus, a feeling of familiarity falls on me as I repeat what I had done in the previous ones. It felt easier now that I had gotten used to it, but it still was challenging for me.
Once I hit the final beat, I drop my drum sticks on either side of the snare and flop to my back, my brain slightly hurting. Playing the drums requires focus and being about to remain consistent, both take lots of practice and since I'm in the beginner stage everything is new and difficult for me.
'However, I believe I can do this,' is my final thought before I pass out, sprawled across the floor.
3rd POV (a few minutes earlier):
As Himiari, Y/n's mother, walked through the apartment door, she heard a drum being hit. Smiling, she walks into the kitchen and listens to Y/n play, not bothering to ask them to stop, even if she normally would.
'Just like their father,' she thinks while smiling.
Meanwhile...
"We're gonna go have a smoke," Haruki says as he and Akihiko head towards the door.
"Sure," Uenoyama says, pausing for a second before speaking up again. "Oh, Kaji-san, Haruki-san," he says, making the two blondes look back at him. "Um...it is okay if I bring Sato and Ito next time?" Uenoyama awkwardly asks, confusing the blondes.
"Sato? Ito?" Akihiko questions before Haruki answers.
"Oh, Mafuyu-chan and Y/n-chan?" Haruki reminds him, almost in a question-type way.
"Oh!" Akihiko responds.
"It's probably better if he just plays as much as he can at first, instead of overthinking stuff," Uenoyama explains as he begins to rub the back of his nape. "And I thought he'd have an easier time playing in a studio..." he finishes, making Akihiko and Haruki smirk and smile.
"So you decided to look after him, huh?" Akihiko smugly says.
"Why do you want Y/n here though?" Haruki asks, bringing up a good point. So far, all Y/n has done is laugh their ass off and insult Uenoyama in English.
"I think they play the drums," Uenoyama answers, leaving Haruki a bit shocked and Akihiko with a neutral face, already knowing this. "They brought a snare to school today and if I think back to the day you first met them, they knew more than an amateur would know about bass guitars. Either way, they might help me teach Mafuyu better than I could by myself," he finishes, bringing up the first-day Mafuyu and Y/n met his bandmates.
"You think Akihiko might teach them something as well?" Haruki says, not asking anyone in particular.
"I doubt I would, but sure, why not?" Akihiko speaks up, approving the idea of having two amateurs in their studio.
"Yeah," Haruki joins in, agreeing with the teen's approval.
Back to Y/n...
Unknown to them, Y/n begins to sneeze like a kitten in their sleep, unknown to them that they were being talked about in a studio.
I'm sorry if you couldn't understand what I was trying to explain during the practicing scene. To briefly explain it, Y/n was counting the beat while copying the basic sounds of the drum. I'm pretty sure I'll know how to play the drums by the end of this book, be prepared. I don't know that much about them, I was just using my memory of what my brother did when he played the drums.
I know this chapter was a step down from the last one, so I'll try to make the next one good.
Have a good morning/evening/night,
-Kyra
(4016 Words)