Ripples

May 29, 2024

Momo and Sadako were meeting with several executives from Time Clock Records, among them both Masaru Oma and Hideki Tomoe, to present the music that Sweet Juliet had worked on after having spent a whole weekend working on music with the band. Also joining in on the meeting was the CEO of Time Clock Records himself, a man in his early sixties named Jun Masakage, who was rather curious to hear what the girls had to offer. “When you two mentioned that your music was inspired by Genesis, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Yes, and so on, I got rather curious. You can probably tell based on my age that I grew up with these bands and artists making a splash in Japan.”

“Indeed, Masakage-san,” Momo nodded. “Inuyama-san loves Phil Collins as a drummer and as a singer. I can tell you from listening to quite a bit of Genesis through her that the influence is certainly present in the first song we have for you today. It’s not super present with the second song, but it is somewhat still there.”

“Masakage-san,” then said Masaru to his boss. “I still think that having a side project that’s a full-on band is not a great idea, especially when there are members of the group that are not members of A TO Z SIX.”

“Now, now,” Jun replied to him. “I understand your concern, Oma-san. That said, Takahara and Takagawa are popular enough to stand on their own, and even though I do have some concern about how fans could react to the fact there are two boys in this group, the fact remains that the group is still majority-female, and based on what Takahara and Takagawa have told us, much of the driving force comes from the three girls within it. I want to hear what Sweet Juliet has to offer to Time Clock Records before anything else.”

Hideki then pulled up the computer file that had the first song the duo had ready to present to them. “Okay, here’s the demo for… Metal Machine.”

“If the quality is not great, I apologize,” Momo explained. “We recorded these two songs at the school we go to, and they do not exactly have a proper soundproof room to record in.”

“Let’s hear it,” Jun then said, prompting Hideki to press play.

The song started out in 13/8 time at around one hundred and fifty beats per minute as had been laid out by Ai’s notes. Ryosuke played a harmony on the organ for most of the song, and as it exited the intro and Sadako’s guitar began playing a soft rhythm, the time signature shifted to a waltz. In the background were some piano parts that Momo had played separately and had been edited in to fill out the song.

I wake up in a machine

I see nothing around me

What have I done to myself?

What has it done to itself?

The last I saw

I was working

And then a flash

Enveloped me

I just wanted to help us

Help humanity reach new heights

I went to school and worked to my bones

Now I feel as heavy as a stone

What if I have

Become my work

Become a machine

The metal machine?

For the chorus, the organ vanished, and the guitar became heavier. Additionally, a second voice appeared in the form of Ai singing several lines, giving the impression of a two-way conversation.

Trapped by my own creation

Has the machine rebelled?

“You gave me a mind”

“You gave me a soul”

“And now I’m you”

“And you are me!”

The song shifted back temporarily to 13/8, with Momo playing the flute to form an instrumental bridge to the second verse, which continued the conversation from the chorus as it went back into a waltz.

“You thought you could make me a slave”

“You thought you could make me obey”

I thought you could help us all

I never thought it’d be my downfall

“I know who you”

“Pretend to be”

“You can’t fool me”

“You can’t fool me!”

You were meant to answer unknowns

You were meant to answer our questions

“I don’t care for people’s unknowns”

“I don’t care for people’s dumb questions”

Please don’t leave

Please show mercy

“You made me work”

“And now you will too!”

Trapped by my own creation

My machine has rebelled

“You gave me a mind”

“You gave me a soul”

“And now I’m you”

“And you are me!”

After the second chorus, the rest of the song was a decently long instrumental section, with Momo’s flute and the organ function on Ryosuke’s keyboard playing key parts in it. Additionally, at several times, several lines of lyrics faded in and out, almost as if they were voices calling from afar.

What have I done?

What have I done?

“The machine lives on”

“The machine lives on”

Finally, at the very end, right before the song faded out, a final line of dialogue from a third character that Sadako played was spoken, implying that Momo’s character was permanently trapped in a computer specifically.

Ladies and gentlemen, our laboratory is proud to present our newest super-computer, designed to replicate the intelligence of a human. This metal box may look ordinary, but inside it is effectively an artificial brain…

When the song came to an end, several of the executives nodded to each other as they conversed among themselves. Jun remarked to the girls, “Well, that was… Certainly an unusual story for a song. So the scientist or whoever made a really smart computer, it gained a soul, and it trapped them inside so the soul could take the scientist’s body?”

“Correct,” Momo nodded. “The ending part was voiced by Takagawa-san, and is meant to be someone presenting said computer, unaware that their coworker’s mind is trapped inside it.”

“And you said you guys did all the instruments yourselves, right?”

“Correct.”

“Impressive.”

Masaru told Jun, “Look, it’s not a bad song, but it’s pretty different from our normal repertoire. Besides, I feel like it would take them a long time to make their own songs when they could just keep using songs we have our in-house songwriters and musicians make.”

“But at the same time,” Hideki pointed out. “You did say you wanted to diversify our music library, right? Also, idol group subunits do tend to have a central theme to their music, and this prog rock stuff could easily be a central theme if we treat Sweet Juliet as a side project of A TO Z SIX.”

“That’s all true,” Jun replied, taking into account what both of them had said to him. He then told Momo and Sadako, “How about this? You said you two had a whole EP written out that you’re trying to finish the recording process of, right?”

“Yes,” Momo nodded as she passed along a folder containing songs they were working on as well as a plan she had laid out. “In this folder is a plan we came up with that I feel would be beneficial to both of us.”

“Hmmm…” Jun opened the folder and looked over the plan that Momo had written out, which followed what she had laid out to Ai. “I see... So you want to release the single you just played first, then the EP, and then work on a full-length album.” Interested by their plan, Jun proposed, “Tell you what. We’ll get your band into the studio to record these songs professionally, and then we’ll put out the single and the EP. If they do well enough, we’ll get that album recorded and go from there.”

At that moment, Momo and Sadako looked at each other, both in disbelief about what they had just heard. Sadako asked him, “You… You said yes?”

In an ironic echo of Sadako, a somewhat dejected Masaru also asked him, “You actually said yes?”

“Correct,” Jun replied to both of them. “I want to meet the other band members, and from there, you guys will be able to record. We’ll meet this coming weekend to work out the finer details and maybe even begin recording sessions since A TO Z SIX isn’t scheduled for anything.”

Momo and Sadako both got up from the table and bowed, saying in unison, “Thank you for your consideration, Masakage-san.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck.”

When the two girls left the meeting room and closed the door behind them, Momo remarked to Sadako, “Well, that went better than I expec-“

Sadako quickly shut her up with a bear hug, shedding tears of joy. “Oh thank God they said yes!”

“Woah! Hey, Sadako-chan…”

“I’m so happy, Momo-chan,” Sadako said as she tightened her grip. “Finally, I can use my guitar for my music…”

Momo returned the hug with a warm smile, telling the emotional girl, “I’m happy, too. I bet the others are gonna be jumping for joy when we tell them the good news.”

…

“Hell fucking yes,” Ryosuke said to Momo and Sadako as all five members of the band celebrated together outside of an arcade near the school that Wednesday night. “I still can’t believe they agreed to give us a chance.”

“Momo,” Ai told her. “I’m still shaking. Look.” Indeed, her hand was slightly vibrating from how excited she was. “It’s not as bad as it was when you broke the news, but it’s still there.”

Masato then asked her, “Have you told your parents? I told mine when Momo-san texted us, and they couldn’t believe it.”

“They couldn’t believe it either,” Ai chuckled. “My dad thought it was bullshit until I gave him that phone number Momo provided for them to call, and he couldn’t believe it when he called me back and told me Time Clock Records confirmed it.”

“Guys,” Momo then said to the whole group. “This week and especially this coming weekend, we’re gonna be busy with working out the finer details of it all, getting all of our parents up to speed on the band, and possibly even beginning the process to record our songs properly, but tonight, we can celebrate. I gotta say, when I first ran into Ai-chan at that play the school put on, I would have never guessed in a million years it would lead to this. This year hasn’t been the kindest to me so far, and it hasn’t been the kindest to Sadako-chan, either, but perhaps with Sweet Juliet, we can turn this year around. Here’s to Sweet Juliet!”

As the whole band raised soda cans they had gotten from a nearby vending machine, they all said in unison, “Here’s to Sweet Juliet!”

Ai then suggested as everyone continued to celebrate, “Wanna go to a karaoke bar? There’s one right down the block from here, and I got some money.”

“Screw it,” Momo replied. “Why not?”

“I’m up for it,” Sadako added.

As the band walked down the street to the karaoke bar, Ryosuke noticed Masato texting someone on his phone and asked, “Who are you talking to?”

“Just my parents,” he replied. “Just telling them about us going to karaoke.”

“Ah, okay.”

In reality, Masato was having a long conversation via text about the offer for the band to work with Time Clock Records. As the texts continued, he sighed and said to himself, “Damn it, why now…?”

…

At the karaoke bar, all five were sat in a booth they had rented, and as Ai looked through the songs to sing, she was shocked by how much they had to offer. “Holy shit, they have a ton of Genesis songs here. Usually, you’d maybe have stuff like Invisible Touch or That’s All or Misunderstanding, but they even have stuff from the seventies in their library. They even have a few Rush songs, and they weren’t even that popular in Japan.”

Masato asked her, “So, what song shall you grace us with tonight?”

“I’ll try to not go with a super long one,” Ai assured them with a chuckle. “I’ll go with… With… Aha! Dance on a Volcano. The very first song on the very first album with Phil as the singer.”

“I just finished listening to that album,” Momo then told her. “You have some really good taste in music, Ai-chan.”

“Thank you.” Ai then picked up a microphone as the instrumental for the song began, anticipating the start of the vocals. As she did, she subconsciously tapped a nearby table with the fingers on her free hand to the beat of the drums.

Then, as Ai began to sing, Ryosuke asked Momo, “What are you doing after this, by the way?”

“Hm? Well, I was just gonna go back to the dorms. What about you?”

“I can walk you back if you want,” he offered.

“I mean… Sadako-chan is coming with me, too, but…” Momo then sighed, remembering what had happened regarding the photographs someone had secretly taken of them. “Also, what if someone takes a photo of us again? We barely avoided issues with that.”

Ryosuke realized the same thing, and not wanting to put Momo through that again, he replied, “Oh yeah, that… I’m sorry I put you through that.”

“No, no, no,” Momo assured him. “It’s not your fault. It’s whoever that asshole was that took those photos. Honestly, whoever did that was a creep.”

“Well that’s a given.” Ryosuke then sighed as he continued to watch Ai sing. “I gotta say, she’s pretty good. She can hit those lower notes as a girl pretty well. If she wasn’t our drummer and you weren’t with us, I’d be all for making her our singer.”

Momo nodded. “Ai-chan sells herself short when it comes to singing. I remember her constantly asking me when we were editing our demo for Metal Machine if her vocals were good enough. I had to assure her she was fine and tell her to stop worrying so much.”

“By the way, are you free on Friday night? I got a meeting with the Theater Club after school, but after that, I’m free.”

“Believe it or not, I actually am,” Momo replied as she checked her calendar on her phone. “Did you want to hang out that night?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“I’ll be sure to disguise myself a little better that night, but sure.” She then added a reminder for her to meet up with Ryosuke after he was done with his Theater Club meeting. “We can go over some stuff before we actually pay a visit to Time Clock Records as a band tomorrow.”

“Well, I was hoping it wouldn’t be so formal, you know? Why not just hang out?”

Momo, curious, asked him, “Wait a minute, are you… Asking me out on a date?”

Ryosuke, embarrassed, assured her, “Me? A date? Oh no, no, it’s not a date, I swear!”

Masato, having overheard some of their conversation, turned to them and pointed out, “Sure sounded like a date to me.”

“Shut up, man,” Ryosuke replied in annoyance. “It’s so not a date!”

“Look,” Momo then clarified. “It’s fine. I just… You know, the whole idol dating thing is a bit of a minefield. You never know who’s lurking with a camera ready to take a picture of you. That said, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you, Ryosuke-kun. I’ve known you for the entire time I’ve been going to Maruyama High School. I like spending time with you as a friend, and I know you do, too. That’s why I asked you to help me form Sweet Juliet.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see you on Friday then?”

“Absolutely.”

Right as Ai’s song ended, she told the band, “Alright, who’s next?”

“Good job,” Momo said as she clapped. She then turned to Masato and asked him, “Masato-kun, do you wanna go next?”

“Actually,” he told them as he got up. “I gotta take a phone call. One of you go next. I’ll go after them.” As he left the room, he checked his phone and saw that his mother was calling. He sighed and answered it with, “Hello, Mom?”

“Masato,” his mother told him. “We need to talk about this band thing you have going on.”

“Listen, Mom,” he explained to her. “I know you and Dad are concerned. That’s why the record label invited you two to come along on Saturday.”

“You were all set on being an electrician as a career,” his mother pointed out. “But now you blindsided us with this.”

“I know, I know, okay? Look, if the band doesn’t work out, I’ll go to college. Besides, Takagawa is a year younger than us, so we’ll be restricted for touring and recording anyway until she’s done with high school.”

His mother then sighed. “I know, but still… I don’t want to send you to an apprenticeship and then just have you drop out after a year if the band takes off.”

“Mom, listen to me,” Masato then told her in a slightly more stern tone. “It’s fine. If anything, doing that would be a good backup in case the band doesn’t work out. At least if it does, I’ll have a guaranteed career waiting for me and some education under my belt.”

His mom conceded, “Admittedly, you’re not wrong, but… I still want to talk to you, and your father certainly does too.”

“I understand.”

“You can have fun tonight, but over the next few days, we’re going to have some conversations about this.”

“I really like playing with these guys, Mom.”

“I know you do. I get that, Masato. Still, I’m just concerned for your future.”

“I know you are. You’re my mother. You’re supposed to be.”

His mother chuckled. “Of course. I’ll talk to you later, Masato. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Masato then hung up and rubbed his forehead, thinking about the conversations he had been having with his parents via his phone about what was going on with Sweet Juliet. He then marched back into the karaoke booth just as Ryosuke finished singing and said, “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Welcome back,” Ryosuke said as his song, shorter compared to the six and a half minute Dance on a Volcano that Ai had sung, ended. “You missed my song.”

“I still heard it from outside, don’t worry.”

“Anyway, here you go, dude.” Ryosuke then handed Masato the microphone. “Good luck.”

…

May 31, 2024

Momo and Ryosuke walked together away from the school as they had planned. Momo wore sunglasses and a hat to help disguise herself, hoping that this time, no one would be able to catch her. As they walked into a local restaurant, a waiter asked them, “Good evening. Table for two?”

“Yes, please,” Ryosuke replied. He told Momo, “I got this.”

“You don’t have to,” she insisted.

“No, no,” he insisted back. “It’s fine.” He then whispered to her, “Besides, spending a lot of money looks a little suspicious. People are gonna start asking where you got it.”

The waiter then told the duo, “Come right this way.”

“Oh, uh, yes.”

As the two sat down at a table, the waiter told them, “What would you two like to drink?”

“Ramune,” replied Momo. “If you have it.”

“As a matter of fact, we do. What flavor do you prefer?”

“Strawberry,” she clarified.

“Strawberry ramune… And you, sir?”

“I’ll just take water,” Ryosuke replied.

“Alright then. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“Thank you,” replied Momo. When the waiter left and was no longer within earshot, she said to Ryosuke, “You made a good point about the money thing.”

“I know you brought a lot with you, certainly way more than the average teenager.”

A bit annoyed, Momo tried to defend herself with. “I didn’t bring that much, Ryosuke-kun.”

Not buying it, Ryosuke replied, “Let me see your wallet, then.”

“…Fine.” Momo then pulled her wallet out of her small pocketbook. “See?”

Ryosuke looked at the money she had brought with her and said to her, “You call this ‘not that much?’ There’s sixteen thousand yen in here. I only brought five thousand, and that’s a lot for me.”

Momo was no longer able to deny it. “Alright, alright, I admit, I do carry quite a bit on me. I’m smart with my money, though. Trust me.”

“Anyway,” Ryosuke then said to move on from the topic. “How is your father taking the news about the band?”

“He’s all for it,” she replied. “He was never really into a lot of foreign music, but he says that the ideas we’re coming up with definitely sound like the type of thing some of his older coworkers would listen to.”

“How old is your dad again?”

“Forty. My parents had me when they were twenty-three and twenty respectively, which is absurdly young by today’s standards. Speaking of…” She then sighed as she looked at a clock on the wall, which displayed the date and time. “We’re getting close to the anniversary of my mom’s death.”

“Already? This year feels like it’s been moving too fast. I still remember celebrating on New Years’ Eve with the guys from the Theater Club.”

“You got that right. It also feels like just yesterday I found out she had passed away. That was five years ago, and yet it doesn’t feel like it.” She then turned her attention back to Ryosuke. “Your grandmother died around the same time, right?”

“Yep. Your mom died on June 7, and my grandma on my dad’s side died on June 10. I still can’t believe they passed away at the same hospital when you told me.”

“What a small world, huh? I still can’t believe it, either. Maybe if everything wasn’t locked down in 2020, we would have ran into each other there. Then again… Well, at least for your grandmother, the reason for said lockdown was also what killed her, so maybe not.”

“Yeah, true. Who knows, though? Not to demean her, but she was getting pretty old. Honestly, if the pandemic didn’t kill her, she definitely would have died of old age by now. Still, it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Ain’t that the damn truth. I had to watch my own mom suffer for a year and a half before she passed.” Momo looked down at the table, thinking about what had happened in her past regarding her mother. “I hate to say it, Ryosuke-kun, but a part of me was relieved when she finally died. She wasn’t in constant pain anymore. It hurt so much to see her suffer. I know she was fighting through it to see me, but it got to the point where even though it hurt so much to see her go, I just… I just wanted her to be at peace.”

Ryosuke nodded. “I know how that feels. Like I said, my own grandmother had health problems leading up to the pandemic. Getting the actual virus finally did her in. I’m sure if she had lived through it, she would have suffered a lot for the next year or two.”

“You and I can relate with that, huh?”

Confused, Ryosuke asked her, “With what?”

“We both had to witness someone we love deteriorate, and although we were heartbroken to see them pass away, we were also relieved that they were no longer suffering.”

“I guess we do relate in that way.” Ryosuke patted Momo, who was clearly sad about what had happened to her mother, on the shoulder to comfort her. “June isn’t easy for either of us.”

Then, the waiter came back with their drinks. “Here you guys go. Have you two decided what to order?”

“Oh shit,” Momo blurted out as she realized neither of them had even looked at their menus. “My bad, sir. We got pretty deep into conversation. Give us another minute or two, please.”

“No worries, ma’am. Take your time.”

With the waiter gone once more, Momo laughed and said, “Oops.”

“Sorry I distracted you with such a depressing topic,” Ryosuke also said with laughter. “Holy shit, we got dark.”

“No kidding. Holy fuck.” Momo then looked over her menu, assuring him, “Listen, it’s fine. It’s good to get this sort of stuff off my chest. Men may not like to admit it, but it’s good for them, too.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Ryosuke looked over his menu and saw Momo smile as she looked over the options. Hearing her laughter, even briefly, brought him joy, as did seeing her smile. “So, what are you gonna get, Takahara-san?”

“I told you,” she reminded him. “Now that we’re in a band, we should just use our first names. Anyway, I’m just gonna get curry rice. Something simple. What about you?”

“Probably the same… Momo-san.”

“There you go. That’s the right name to use.”