Why Did I Sing That? Also, Why is Everyone Looking at Me Like I Summoned a Demon?

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Mayumi's Miyanomori home made Haruki feel tiny and insignificant. In other words, it was massive. More fitting for a fairytale movie set than the home of a high school girl. 

It was a Western-style manor. Half-timbered, with those dark wooden beams that crisscrossed the beige stone exterior. A tall wrought-iron gate stood at the entrance, guarding a giant courtyard. Beyond that, sprawling, intricate gardens adorned with exotic foreign flowers.

The Nishidas were an old and established family, and that name carried weight within Sapporo's business world. Some said they had ties to the old railway back during the Meiji construction boom, others whispered about hidden investments in half the city’s land. 

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling utterly out of place. 

She stepped inside and slid off her shoes with a practiced motion, placing them neatly by the door. The interior was just as grand as the outside. Warm light spilled through the tall Tudor-style windows and onto the marble floor. The place smelled vaguely citrusy.

“You’re late.”

A pink-haired girl stood at the end of the corridor with her arms crossed and her foot tapping.

“Sorry, Sakura, I was helping Aika with something at the computer lab.”

“Haru-chan!” came a soft, singsong voice from down the hall. “I'm so happy you made it...”

Mayumi appeared, her fluffy blonde hair bouncing with each step as she practically skipped over to give her a hug.

Sakura pulled on the sleeves of her hoodie like she was holding a grudge. “We’ve already eaten all the good snacks.”

Mayumi gasped, eyes wide. “That’s not true! I saved some Pocky for you.”

“Exactly one stick,” Sakura added dryly as she walked off into the living room.

Haruki gave her a half-laugh, half-sigh. “Wow, thanks guys. One whole stick.”

Mayumi giggled and latched onto Haruki’s arm, already tugging her toward the living room.

“Don’t listen to Saku, we’ve barely started anything! I was starting to wonder if it would just be me and Grumpy over there.”

“I’m not grumpy,” Sakura called from the living room.

“You’re always grumpy when Aika’s late,” Mayumi said with a giggle.

“We need her. It’s not a real practice without the lead guitarist. Did she say how long she’d be?”

“Dunno. She’s still at the computer club with Kenji,” Haruki replied.

When they reached the living room, it became clear that it was just as excessive as the rest of the house: far too big for three girls and a couple of bags of caramel corn. 

Gilded wallpaper, huge white curtains, and a chandelier that looked like it cost more than Haruki’s entire apartment.

On the wall, a TV was playing some cheesy romcom where two figures on a mountaintop seemed to be having a heartfelt moment against the dramatic backdrop of a sunset.

Haruki gently sat down on the couch, afraid of disturbing the aesthetic. “So... do we wait for Aika?”

Sakura thought for a moment, then waved dismissively. “Nah. The café gig is in less than a week and we got no time to lose. Let’s just run through the newer stuff.”

“OR… we could have a cookie first,” Mayumi said, holding onto a fat chocolate chip cookie with both hands and glistening eyes as if she had just found her new true love.

“You just want an excuse to stuff your face again,” Sakura said.

“Hey! Meanie.”

Haruki rolled her eyes. “Anyway… Should we start?”

⊹ ▬ ▬ ⊹ ⊹ ▬ ▬ ▬ ⊹

BUM BUM BUM BUM!

“Sakura, are you even trying to keep the tempo? You’re speeding up in the middle of the verse. It’s throwing the whole rhythm off.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we were auditioning for a metronome.”

She tapped her drumstick on Mayumi’s head, who was standing next to her on the keyboard.

“Ouch!”

“Better?”

“Well, not really.”

They kept going. The sounds of their instruments reverberated in the large, mostly empty room within Mayumi’s mansion. Haruki’s fingers moved across her strings in an instinctive manner, her voice rising and lowering with the beat of Sakura’s drum. Mayumi adds an additional dreamy layer to the music.

It wasn’t perfect. Not even close. But it felt good, Haruki thought.

She kept singing:

...Starlit dreams, we’re running wild...
...Our hearts beat faster, with every mile...
...We’ll make it ours, no looking back...

Sakura was fully locked in now, eyes narrowed in concentration as she attacked the drum set with those violent, Sakura-like hits.

Haruki closed her eyes. One more chorus. The guitar buzzed. Her voice became a little more breathless. That same tugging at her chest she felt the other night.

It was as if someone had sucked all the air out of her lungs. Her eyes failed to adjusted to the light in the room like a broken camera lens. Her surroundings began to smear and the walls of Mayumi’s extravagant living room dissipated into a Gaussian haze.

Was she having a stroke?

Sakura and Mayumi continued to play as if they hadn’t noticed anything at all. Haruki’s own voice rang strangely in her head. Like a jumbled mess of random sounds.

The melody collapsed inward... and then outward again... until all that remained was the tremble of her own breath.

Inhale…
Exhale.
Inhale…
Exhale.

For a moment, she stood, all alone. Somewhere.

Haruki couldn’t move. She couldn’t tell if it had been five seconds or five minutes.

Then she felt something hit her forehead.

Bonk. 

As soon as it began, it ended, with the world snapping back into place.

“Yo.”

Sakura stood in front of her now, with a plastic drumstick in her hand. “Don’t go full ghost mode mid-chorus.”

Haruki blinked a few times.

“And you sang the wrong lyrics,” she added. “This is a rock song, not a ballad about clocks.”

Huh? Clocks?...

Mayumi jumped over with a concerned look. “Haruki? Are you okay??”

Finally, Haruki forced herself to speak. Her voice sounded weak. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just... tired. I think I should go home and rest.”

“But we need to practice. Aika hasn’t even arrived yet...”

Mayumi shot Sakura an angry expression. “Haru’s not feeling well. She should go home!”

“Sorry guys, I’ll be fine. I just, uh... have a little headache.”

“Okay, I can call a cab for you. Please rest well and feel better, Haru!”

Without saying anything, Haruki grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

The two shared a confused look. Then Sakura turned back to her drums, absentmindedly tapping her stick against the rim of the set. They didn’t speak much after that.

⊹ ▬ ▬ ⊹ ⊹ ▬ ▬ ▬ ⊹

A skinny, gray tabby cat greeted her as she entered her apartment. It 'meowed' once, before darting away into darkness. 

Her father had been out late drinking with colleagues as usual tonight. A plastic-wrapped meal sat waiting for him in the fridge, though it never seemed to leave its spot no matter how many times Haruki checked it. 

Haruki stumbled into the living room and dropped her bag on the floor. She slid open the balcony door and stepped outside.

It was a clear night. Her soft auburn hair fluttered in the breeze.

Haruki thought about the practice at Mayumi’s place. She had never felt so strange before. So out of place.

She gripped the balcony railing, running her fingers against the cold metal.

Maybe it was simply exhaustion. Or nerves. People space out sometimes, right? Had weird days? Said the wrong things without realizing? It was normal for someone like Haruki. The band life wasn’t easy.

Still, this time it seemed like more than that. It just felt unfair. Everyone else seemed to fit so easily. So why did everything feel wrong? 

She looked out into the horizon. The dancing city lights seemed to merge with the stars in the sky. If only she could be there, she thought.

Haruki closed her eyes, only to be interrupted by a meowing cat behind her, rubbing up against her leg.

She knelt down and scratched behind its ear, her voice barely above a whisper.

“…Do you ever feel like you’re not all there?”

The cat purred in response. 

Haruki sighed. “C’mon, let’s go back inside. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

She stepped back into her apartment and slid the door shut and made her way to the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water. Then she crouched down to open a small cabinet, scooping kibble into a little blue bowl. 

“At least you still think I’m normal.”

The tabby cat only stared in confusion, letting out another "meow," before launching head-first into the kibble.

Then a buzz from her bag. A screen lit up from within. 

She walked over to it and took out her phone.  

A text from Aika.

"Hey, I heard what happened at practice. Hope you’re feeling better."

Haruki quickly typed out a reply.

"Yeah, weird day... I’m fine though, just need rest."

Another message:

"Kenji says the glitch is concerning... Wants to talk about it after school tmw."

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