Music and Metal

when Monday rolled around, it was back to school for Taro.

He pulled up to campus on his golden and black hover-bike. He got off the machine and headed towards class. On his way, Taro noticed groups of students standing around in the hallway and chatting about something on their phones. It wasn’t unusual for a piece of media to go viral overnight. An article on a celebrity, a late-night game or competition. It was completely normal for groups of friends or fans to want to get a head start on discussions shortly before morning courses began. However, even in class, the murmurs continued.

“Have you heard it? Oh my God, it’s so good.”

“I just love the way she sounds, it’s so unique.”

“I agree, she sounds amazing.”

“Oh absolutely.”

Taro went to take his seat just as curiosity took over him. He wanted to know what everyone was talking about. He pulled out his phone and looked up the trending list for the day. Number one was something about star Airi. Number two was about the upcoming music festival. And number three was something that caught Taro’s attention almost immediately.

(New vocal rendition of star Airi’s hit single (Taking Over,) by unknown artist, Music and Metal.)

Taro recognized the title of the song from when Kokoro performed it at the indoor Karaoke they had at his house. Taro could still remember the way Kokoro had sang it, the way her voice blended seamlessly with the symphony and frequency of the music playing on the boombox. There were moments during the song when she had her eyes closed, and in those moments, it was almost as if the girl sitting in the wheelchair was just a husk and the real Kokoro, her soul, was now part of the music coming out of the machine. It was not until she opened her eyes at the end of the song that Taro got the sense she was back in her body.

Still overwhelmed by the need to know, Taro clicked on the link and was redirected to a music streaming website for people who performed covers of popular songs. Trending at number five on the list was the unknown artist, Music and Metal.

Taro stuck his earbuds in and hit play. He wanted to get a feel for what the hype was about. And as soon as the artist started singing, Taro’s eyes shot open in disbelief.

***

Kokoro was already seated in her spot at the front of the class when a bunch of her classmates walked in.

“No joke, I literally might be the reason this song is trending as much as it is. I’ve listened to it maybe a hundred times now.”

“Same. I’ve had it on repeat since the weekend. I just love her style.”

“Do you think star Airi might end up reacting to it? I mean, in just a few days look how much views it has gotten.”

“I won’t be surprised if she does, but I guess we just have to wait and see.”

Kokoro was only half focused on the conversations between her classmates. She had her tablet out in front of her, trying to finish up a painting before the teacher came in. but then, …

“Hey, Kokoro,”

At the mention of her name, Kokoro looked up from her tablet to find three other students standing in front of her. All of them girls.

“You’re a fan of star Airi right?” the girl in the middle asked.

A bit surprised, Kokoro nodded her head in response. She never really had casual chats with her classmates before.

“Great.” The girl in the middle said, smiling. “So, have you listened to the new cover someone made of Taking over? It only came out about a day ago but it, is, fire, I promise you.”

Kokoro shook her head in reply. If it only came out during the weekend, then there was a good chance she missed it. She spent her Saturday hanging out at Taro’s, and her Sunday spent cleaning the orphanage.

“Okay well then you have to listen to this.”

Without warning, one of the girls shoved a pair of headphones down on Kokoro’s head, fixing it to her ears. The abrupt nature of the action left Kokoro a little annoyed, but before she could react, the third girl tapped something on the tablet she was holding and music began to play.

Kokoro would have easily taken the headphones off if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to come across as rude. She allowed the song to play on, and when the artist doing the rendition began singing, Kokoro’s jaw dropped, and her eyes widened in shock.

It was her.

In the song.

It was her voice.

But how?

***

It was lunchbreak and Tomomi was meant to be stuffing her face right about now. But she wasn’t.

As if she was being interrogated, Taro sat on one end of the cafeteria lunch table across from her, while Kokoro was seated on the other side. Both of them were eying her with suspicious looks on their faces.

“So, what exactly is the problem?” Tomomi asked, as she casually stared back at the two of them. She wasn’t mad, she wasn’t nervous. She was just hungry.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Taro asked, accusing her of something. Tomomi could see his shoulders were tensed as he spoke, the way he screamed while whispering at the same time. It was obvious he was the nervous one among them. And she completely understood why.

“I’m afraid you have to be more specific Mr. Yamato,” Tomomi said, puffing out her chest and crossing her legs on the table. “I do a lot of things.” she added, twirling her hair on her finger.

“Please keep your legs off the table. People eat their food there.”

“Sorry.”

Tomomi turned her attention to Kokoro, and she could see the older girl was trying to hide an amused expression on her face. Tomomi smirked at the sight, glad to see her friend in such a mood following the viral news that was circulating the school.

During the weekend at Taro’s house, before Kokoro came out to sing in the living room, Tomomi intentionally set the boombox to record as a memento of Kokoro’s first time singing after thirteen years of silence. Regardless of how the performance went, Tomomi had still planned to keep the recording to share later. But then, her plans changed.

She no longer wanted to keep the recording between just the three of them. She wanted to share it with the world.

After Kokoro sang so beautifully, Tomomi became convinced other people needed to hear it. So, deciding to keep it a secret, she waited until she was back home before uploading the recording online.

It cost her quite the hefty sum in order to get Kokoro’s song promoted to as many people as possible, but at the end, it was worth every penny.

“So, that’s why I didn’t tell you guys.” Tomomi said. “Because you are going to say something about the government finding out about your device, and you are going to probably agree with him because your hormones are out of control.”

Kokoro immediately turned red in the cheeks while Taro flashed a nervous smile and pretended to scratch the back of his head.

“Typical.” Tomomi thought, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms.

“But seriously though,” Tomomi continued. “Look around K, everyone is talking about your song. Everyone likes it.”

At her request, Kokoro took a second to glance around the cafeteria, where many students were still chatting about the unknown artist, Music and Metal.

“I know this does not exactly align with your dreams of one day getting the chance to do this professionally, and I know you can’t really take credit since you are going to have to be hiding your face every time you release a new song moving forward.” Tomomi said. “But I know music means a lot to you, and I know performing in front of a large crowd is also part of your dream. So, until your boyfriend here figures out how to make that happen without getting the three of us thrown in jail, would you please consider doing it this way?”

It took a while, but Kokoro finally responded to Tomomi by sending a text message. Tomomi switched on her phone and read the message.

“I love you. And incoming.”

Before Tomomi even knew what was happening, Kokoro had already circled around on her wheelchair and had successfully caught her off-guard with a hug.

“And I love you too, you big softy.” Tomomi whispered, smiling and hugging Kokoro back.