EPILOGUE: Right Here, Right Now

🎸

The audience awaited.

Last-minute technical difficulties.
The band’s usual liveliness, replaced with an anxious energy.

Mostly because of Kenji.

He was leaning over a rickety ladder with a look of intense concentration.
His face was completely consumed by dust and oil.

“No, no, no… this stupid  thing was working perfectly fine ten minutes ago!”

Sakura was standing nearby, watching him struggle. “How could you mess up the center spotlight, Kenji?!”

“I know! The goddamn light is messing with me!”

“More like you’re the one messing with it,” Aika shot back.

“Just... just give me a second!”

The two girls face-palmed.

Haruki watched the struggle with an amused smirk. But deep down, she was nervous. She’d done it a thousand times before, yet still the anticipation always made her stomach flutter.

Mayumi, who had been standing quietly in a corner, walked over to Haruki, lightly placed her hand on Haruki’s shoulder and gave her a sweet smile. “Hey, everything’s gonna be okay, you know?”

“Yeah... Thanks, Mayu.” Haruki smiled back. 

Mayumi gave Haruki a friendly pat on the head, then returned to her keyboard.

The sound tech guy appeared at the side door, tapping his watch. “Hey! You’re on in 30 seconds!”

“Dammit Kenji, we’re out of time. Just fix it!” Aika blasted.

“Almost there! Promise!”

One by one, each light began to dim.
The curtains began to part.

The four scrambled to their places. 
Haruki took her usual spot at center stage.

Five.

The pressure was unbearable. 
Her friends were counting on her. The judges were watching. 
Everything had been building up to this very moment.

Four.

She looked at her callused fingertips.
What if she hadn’t practiced enough? What if… No.
She couldn’t let doubt take control of her.
Even if they didn’t win, she’d still give it her best shot. 

Three.

She closed her eyes and let it all dissolve to nothing. 
The anxiety, the expectations, the uncertainty...
Right now, none mattered. All that mattered was that she was here.

Two.

She was here because she belonged here.
Nothing could take that from her.
Not even the cosmos.

One.

With a desperate, last-second adjustment,
Kenji managed to twist the dial just right, and—

“GOT IT!"

FWOOSH!

The spotlight flared to life, shooting a beam directly onto Haruki.

“Representing this year’s Hokkaido Youth Music Grand Prix finalist…HARMONIC DISTORTIONS!”
「今年の北海道ユース音楽グランプリファイナリストを代表して…響けディストーション！」

The audience stood from their seats and gave a grand, welcoming applause. 

Her eyes opened again. 
She felt the heat of the spotlight on her face.
The strings were waiting. 
Just her, and her guitar.

A final, deep inhale.

She didn’t know how long this would last. She didn’t care.
Because right now, she was here.
And that was enough.

Her fingers slammed down hard onto the strings.
And the world exploded back into sound.

—Dedicated to the stories that inspired us—

🎸