A Guest in Their Own Story

 It was the first week after school started. Today was practice day, and as usual, I had to attend as if I were some kind of music instructor, listening to them play. But that wasn’t the only reason I was here today. We had a guest: Lyra.

After she mentioned wanting to come on the day of the festival—my birthday—I was the one chosen to inform her about our first practice since I had her contact info. We had left early that day, making sure we didn’t miss the last public transport home, and I had thanked everyone before parting ways. Aside from Ray and Noa, it turned out that everyone else lived in different parts of the city.

After Ray and I got home, we talked on the phone. While chatting about the events of the day, the thing that surprised me most was what Ray said about Noa’s behavior. Apparently, while they were on the metro, Noa had mentioned that Lyra usually didn’t do things like this. She had even apologized for staying silent about it. Ray had tried to get more out of her, but all Noa had said was that Lyra was a more introverted person.

Which, in my opinion, was complete nonsense, because her actions didn’t match that description at all. Maybe Noa was just describing her based on her own perception. I didn’t know.

Anyway, as I had said, I spent the rest of my summer break lounging in front of my air conditioner. Did I regret it? No. But for some reason, after that day, I found myself wanting to go out a few more times. Whenever I went to the market or stepped out with my family on the weekend, I kept thinking I’d run into Lyra. But not once did I see her. Not that running into her would have been likely anyway, but had I really gotten used to it or something?

Since classes had just begun, we wanted to get these practice sessions in early. Something important was coming up: the Cultural Festival.

It was scheduled for early November this year, which meant we had just over a month to prepare. Well, I say we, but all I did was listen to their music.

I had a feeling that if we could solve the transposition issue, the team would be much more motivated. And so, here we were, gathering on the weekend to try and fix it.

As soon as I arrived at school in the morning, I sent Lyra a message:
"Good morning. Did you come?"

It had been a while since I last texted her, and for some reason, the thought of seeing her again felt a little strange.

"Almost there," she replied immediately.

There were five of us in the conference hall. The others were busy setting up their instruments.

"You need to plug that cable into the system connected to the speakers," Ray said, pointing to the spot as he spoke to Yasu.

"Yeah, we know that much," Yasu muttered as he crouched down in front of the system near the stage.

Aside from Ray and Yasu, our vocalist, Aiko, and our bassist, Hiro, were here. They had just arrived and were in the back, unpacking their instruments.

Ray strummed his guitar with his pick. The sound came out way too loud.

"Turn that down, man! What are you doing this early in the morning?"

"I’m testing it, dude. What, you think no one else is going to do the same?"

They locked eyes, both clearly fired up.

"Then I should slam my drumsticks onto the drums at full force and make your head ring like a doorbell, huh?" Yasu twirled his drumsticks aggressively.

"What did you just say?" Ray, of course, was fanning the flames.

"Calm down," I said in a flat tone. They always bickered like this, but strangely enough, they were incredibly in sync when playing.

As soon as I spoke, they both quieted down. Did I really have that much of an effect on them?

At that moment, Aiko stepped onto the stage.

"Good morning, everyone!" she greeted energetically. She had her light brown hair tied in a bun and was wearing an oversized white t-shirt with loose black pants, looking like a perfect rock star.

"Morning," the three of us replied. Hiro also emerged from the back room with his bass in hand, and we exchanged greetings again.

"So, I heard we have a guest today?" Aiko turned her curious, smiling gaze toward me.

"Yeah, she should be here any minute now."

"I was pretty surprised when you guys said she studies music at an arts school," Hiro commented as he plugged in his guitar cables.

"I’m curious to see what she’ll say. Is she on her way?" Aiko asked, swaying in place excitedly. She had a way of spreading her energy to everyone around her, even in the morning.

"Yeah, she should be here soon—" Just then, my phone rang. It was Lyra.

"Ah, she’s here," I said, answering the call as I walked toward the entrance of the conference hall.

"You here?" I asked after picking up.

"Yeah, I’m in front of the building."

"Come inside. I’ll meet you."

"Okay."

I reached Lyra. I had seen her a total of three times before.

The first time, she wore standard casual clothes.
The second time, she had on a more homey outfit.
The third time, she was dressed in a yukata.

But today, she was wearing a floral dress. She had a delicate necklace and matching earrings. She looked like a proper university girl—like she was here for a date rather than to listen to music.

And she looked stunning.

"Hey," I greeted as I reached her.

"Hey," she replied with a smile.

"This way," I said, gesturing toward the stairs.

We walked up together. The building was completely empty. Since it was the weekend, we had only been allowed access for our music practice, which actually made it feel even better—more private. Aside from us, only a few other club members working on their own projects were around.

"Thanks for coming," I said. For some reason, I felt the need to say it, even though she had wanted to come herself. She could have easily decided not to.

"Of course. I was curious about what you guys do. And besides, it’s been a while since we last saw each other," Lyra said formally, nodding slightly. Then, she suddenly hesitated and averted her gaze.

By then, we had reached the conference hall doors.

"We’re doing what we can. We’re trying to be ready for the festival in early November," I said. Strangely, the club president was nowhere to be seen again, and once again, everyone was looking at me. How did I, someone who didn’t even play an instrument, end up being the one running things? I didn’t know, but I think they trusted me.

The club president was a senior, and whenever he was on campus and someone had a problem, he’d always say, "Ask Yuta. He’ll take care of it."

Seriously, was there a single responsible person in this club?

We stepped inside the conference hall.

Everyone turned to look at Lyra.

"Let me introduce you. This is our bassist, Hiro, and our vocalist, Aiko,"

"Nice to meet you. I’m Lyra," she said, giving a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you too. I heard you wanted to help. Thanks for that," Hiro said, offering his gratitude. The atmosphere was good so far.

"You're so pretty…" Aiko said, staring at Lyra with sparkling eyes.

"Aiko, you’re saying your thoughts out loud again," Ray nudged her with his guitar.

"Ah, sorry! Nice to meet you, and thanks for coming today!"

After a bit of small talk, Lyra and I took seats in the front row.

"What’s the first song?" she asked, curious.

Right, we hadn’t even told her about that yet. Today, we were mostly focusing on Lyola’s songs since those were giving us the most trouble.

"I chose 'Tonight' as the first song. It’s upbeat and energetic, so it’ll help them warm up," I said.

Aiko, overhearing, chimed in, "Great choice, Yuta! Let’s give it our best!"

Lyra, sitting beside me, suddenly changed. The cheerful girl who had smiled at me earlier was gone. She straightened her posture, clasped her hands in her lap.

She watched the team with a serious, composed expression.

She looked cool.

Yasu struck his drumsticks together.

 The music was about to begin...