Many Too Many

June 4, 2024

“It’s settled,” Hideki told the band after they had wrapped up a short hour and a half of recording in the late evening. “We’ll be doing six shows at Fox Lounge to kick off the band’s debut, and then we’ll go on the road with A TO Z SIX as their opening act for the Summer 2024 tour. To top it off, the executives have okayed the release of Metal Machine on June 20 as your first single.”

The entire band responded to the news by celebrating and hi-fiving each other. “Hell yeah,” Masato said as he and Ai shared a hi-five. “We gotta celebrate this!”

“You bet we do,” Momo replied to him.

“I’d love to,” Ryosuke replied. “But I gotta be up earlier than usual tomorrow, and besides, it’s already pretty late.”

Ai then pointed out, “Who said anything about celebrating tonight? We can celebrate it on Friday instead.”

“Me and Momo-san free after seven-thirty in the evening,” Sadako replied to her. “We have a short interview to record with A TO Z SIX after school, but it should be done after that time.”

“That’s fine,” Ai assured her. “I can make it work.”

“Me too,” Masato added. “I’ll make sure I got nothing important going on that night or the day after.”

“I’ll send a text to everyone when me and Sadako-chan are free,” Momo said. She then turned to Hideki and bowed to him, telling him, “Thank you for sticking by us. We will not disappoint you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied with a warm smile. “By the way, during that interview you and Takagawa-san mentioned, you two are free to mention Sweet Juliet and Metal Machine.”

“I figured that would be the case. We gotta get the word out there that we exist, after all.”

“Everyone,” Ai then said to call the attention of the band. “I have something I’d like to say. We’ve worked our asses off these last few days, and we’re going to keep working our asses off when we go back into the studio tomorrow and on Saturday. However, I can tell you now that our efforts are bearing fruit. Not only are we close to completing our first EP, but I wish to work on songs for our first full-length album starting with our next session. I already have several ideas to bring to the table, but I want to open it up to everyone in the band. When we meet again tomorrow, if you have any ideas for a song, speak up, and we’ll make it work.”

“Sounds good to me,” Momo replied to her. “Will that song about the Green Man be among them?”

“Indeed, The Tragic Tale of the Green Man will be among those songs.”

“I’ve been itching to work on that one,” Ryosuke replied to Ai. “The story you came up with was really good. Same with the lyrics.”

“I figured you’d like it, especially since I want a keyboard solo in it.”

“Say no more.”

“Sounds like you guys are taking this pretty seriously,” Hideki nodded. “You’re very focused on your music. I like to see that. If the songs you guys have already worked on are any indication, then I’d love to hear what your first album will sound like.”

…

June 7, 2024

On the set of a TV show, all six members of A TO Z SIX were filming prerecorded interviews with the host, a woman in her forties, all of them doing so individually. As Yuna came back from her interview, she told Momo, “You’re up, Takahara-senpai.”

“Alright,” she replied as she stretched her arms and then finished a bottle of water she had left on a small table nearby.

“Before you go,” Miyako then asked her. “So, um…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you and Takagawa-san going to announce that subunit on the show?”

“We are,” Momo replied, unsure of why Yuna’s tone of voice seemed worried. “Is something wrong?”

“Well, um…” Yuna blushed as she turned away slightly.

“Speak up,” Momo told her. “Don’t be afraid to say it, whatever it is, Yuna-chan.”

“Promise me you won’t forget us,” Yuna then blurted out. “Please!”

Those words stunned Momo. The idea that she would forget A TO Z SIX seemed so foreign to her. Sure, there were times she wished she was not an idol anymore, but the idea she would just abandon the group and pretend she was never in it was preposterous. Any issues she had with being an idol were certainly not the fault of any of A TO Z SIX’s members, especially not Yuna. “Oh, um… Why would I forget you guys?”

“Well, you’re going into another band,” Yuna explained. “And, um… I’m afraid you’ll leave us behind. I just… I don’t want that to happen, Takahara-senpai.”

Now Momo understood what she meant. She clasped Yuna’s hands together with her own to comfort her. “I see… Listen, Yuna-chan, as of right now, I’m in no position to leave A TO Z SIX. Sure, I’ve had problems before, but you girls all mean a lot to me. I love making music, whether it’s with this group or Sweet Juliet. At the end of the day, even if I do end up leaving A TO Z SIX in the future, I would never forget any of you. Even if I do leave, I want to still be your friend. The same goes for Sadako-chan. We would never forget where we got our start in music, even when we’re old ladies.”

“Woah…” Yuna blushed, in awe at Momo’s looks and her words.

“What prompted you to ask such a thing?”

“Well, um… You’ve been busy with that new band you’re in. We haven’t really seen you outside of dance practice, rehearsals, or these events like we used to. I was… I was just worried, I guess.”

“Don’t be. It’ll be fine.” Momo then turned away to walk out of the break room they were staying in. “Now, I have a band announcement to make. Wish me luck.”

As Yuna looked on and Momo walked through the door, she said to herself, “Takahara-senpai…”

Miyako looked at Yuna and assured her, “She’ll be fine, Yuna. Don’t worry about it. Subunits aren’t uncommon in larger idol groups.”

…

“Thank you for coming into the program, Takahara-san,” then said the host, who was excited to speak to her. “Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty of things, I just want to ask, how is your day going so far?”

“It’s going wonderful,” Momo replied with a smile as she always had done during these interviews. “I’m glad to be here.”

“Excellent. Now, for those of our viewers who might not know, I understand that A TO Z SIX will be putting out a new EP soon, and it will be the first EP with your newest member.”

“Correct,” she nodded to her. “Schoolgirl’s Dreams will be coming out on July 1, so less than a month from now. As you’ve already heard from the single we put out recently from it, it will contain our newest member, Yuna-chan. She’s really proven herself as an idol since she started in February, and all of us are proud of the work she’s done in taking over from Kanon-chan.”

“I thought she sounded very good on that single, even if she was largely in the background,” the host replied. “I asked her already if she’ll have any songs as the center, and she said yes. Is this true?”

“Indeed. She’ll have one center song on the EP. In fact, it’ll be our next single release. Speaking of releases, I actually have an announcement I would like to make on your show.”

“Oh?” Although the host had been told that an announcement for new music was going to be made, she had not been told the specifics. “What would you like to announce?”

“Recently,” Momo explained. “Me and Sadako-chan have been working on music of our own. For the past month, we have collaborated with three of our friends, and we have formed a band called Sweet Juliet. On June 20, Sweet Juliet will be putting out its first release in the form of a single. Additionally, on July 20, we will be releasing an EP of our own.”

The host was very curious as to this announcement. “A band, huh? With you and Sadako, correct?”

“Indeed.”

“So could it be a subunit of A TO Z SIX?”

“From a certain point of view, we could be, although we have three members who are not in A TO Z SIX.”

“Interesting. It’s always fun to see artists branch out of their comfort zone. What kind of music will this band make?”

“Sweet Juliet will be focusing on rock music,” Momo explained. “Specifically, we will be making progressive rock. We, uh… We take a lot of inspiration from foreign bands such as Yes and Genesis. We also like Japanese progressive rock and math rock acts, such as Flower Travelin’ Band, Shingetsu, and Tricot. Our drummer in particular is obsessed with Genesis.”

“Those are some very old names, Takahara-san.” The host was surprised to see an idol like her talk so relatively candidly about bands far older than her. “Who is your drummer?”

“She’s a girl I know named Ai-chan,” Momo replied, careful as to not reveal too much information about who she was or where they went to school. “We had known each other in passing, but recently, we became good friends, and she introduced me to all this wonderful music. She also writes a lot of our songs, although our keyboardist also does, too. In fact, Ai-chan wrote our first single, which is called Metal Machine, and our keyboardist wrote all the songs on our upcoming EP, which is called The Theatre Tapes.”

“Metal Machine and The Theater Tapes, huh?”

“Yep. The Theatre Tapes is actually a collection of five songs, all of which have a central theme of being about a play held in a theatre. Two of the songs actually lead into each other at the end of the EP. We do have plans to release a single from it eventually, but to get the best possible understanding of the story in the EP, I’d highly recommend listening to the entire thing front to back when it comes out.”

“Sounds like it’ll be an interesting listen, then. Are all the girls in this group also idols?”

“Actually,” Momo replied without thinking about what she was saying. “Me and Sadako-chan are the only idols in it. Ai-chan is not an idol. The other two, our keyboardist and our bassist, are actually boys named Ryosuke-kun and Masato-kun.” As soon as she finished her sentence, Momo felt a chill go down her spine, having just acknowledged the existence of boys in the group.

“Boys… Now that’s something.” The host immediately saw an opportunity for a juicy line of questioning. “A few weeks ago, some pictures reportedly got leaked of you walking with a boy. Was this boy one of your bandmates?”

Momo paused for a few seconds as she processed how to answer her. She knew that if she answered the wrong way, it would anger a certain subset of A TO Z SIX’s fans. She darted her eyes around the room before then answering the host the best she could. “He is one of my bandmates. If you’re about to accuse us of anything hidden, I’ll have you know that my relationship with everyone in A TO Z SIX and Sweet Juliet is strictly platonic and professional. My heart is dedicated to our fans.”

The host replied, “I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything, Takahara-san.”

“I just wanted to put it out there, because I know some people would have. I want to nip it in the bud before things get out of hand. I barely avoided that happening a few weeks ago, and the last thing Sweet Juliet needs is that happening to the band right as we’re starting.”

“I understand. It’s best to get out ahead and nip it in the bud, I agree. That said, do you have any concerns about the fact there are two boys in the band?”

“Not at all,” Momo shook her head. “I don’t think there’s an issue at all. We know our true fans will respect us, and for those who are worried, I have no plans to leave A TO Z SIX at the moment. This is purely a side project for the time being. Now, if in the future I do decide to graduate from A TO Z SIX, I am fully confident the rest of the group will be able to carry on without me. All of the girls in our group are amazing when it comes to singing and dancing, and I couldn’t ask for a better idol group to be a part of. Even when I become an old woman one day, I will look back at the memories I’ve made with these girls fondly. Besides, even if I graduate, I’ll never truly be gone. Graduation isn’t a farewell, it’s a see you later.”

…

Around eight in the evening, all of Sweet Juliet met up outside of a movie theater. As they looked at the times for movies being shown, Masato saw one he was interested in and said, “How about that one? It’s an anime film about childhood friends.”

“I’ll start bawling my eyes out if we see that,” Momo told him. “I’m a sucker for childhood friend romance, Masato-kun. Unless you wanna see my ugly cry, and I mean ugly cry, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Ryosuke then saw another poster and said to the group, “How about this one? It’s an American action movie that just came out. It’s R-15, so we all should be able to get in even if we aren’t adults.”

Momo saw the poster and said, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of this one. A lot of people online said it was really good. Wanna give it a watch?”

Sadako replied, “Why not?”

Momo then asked Ai, “Ai-chan, what about you? Is this movie good?”

“Works for me,” Ai replied. “Let’s watch it.”

…

“Come on,” Momo said as tears fell down her face while the group walked out of the movie theater, lightly punching Ai’s shoulder in annoyance. “You guys told me it wouldn’t be so sad!”

Ai replied, “How was I gonna know the dude’s mom gets murdered halfway through the movie?”

“I mean,” Masato said in Momo’s defense. “It was a pretty sad part of the movie. I just didn’t expect Momo-san to have such an averse reaction to it.”

Ryosuke had a feeling he knew why Momo had reacted so strongly to the protagonist’s mother being killed, since he knew what had happened to Momo’s own mother. However, he was not sure if anyone else in the band knew the truth about it, so he kept his mouth shut. “Yeah, it sure was something…”

Momo then clung onto him, prompting him to blush in slight embarrassment. “Ryosuke-kun, that movie was so sad…”

“I know, Momo-san,” he replied to her as the band kept walking down the street. “I know…”

“By the way,” Sadako then asked the group. “What time is it?”

“It’s ten-twenty at night,” Ai replied to her. “We don’t have to go into the studio until later tomorrow, so we could hang out a bit more. What do you guys wanna do?”

“Let’s go do karaoke again,” Sadako cheerfully suggested. “That was really fun last time!”

“I’m up for it,” Momo agreed, now feeling better. “Some singing practice is always good.”

“On that note,” Ryosuke then suggested. “I want to try something.”

“What is it, Ryosuke-kun?”

“What if we all tried to harmonize with each other on a song?”

Curious, Masato asked him, “Are there any songs you can think of where five people could harmonize?”

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Ai threw out as a suggestion. “But I feel like that’s been done to death, although it certainly has plenty of vocals for five people. Hell, Queen themselves couldn’t even do that middle part live with four people on stage.”

Sadako replied to her, “They didn’t? Hang on, how?”

“They just left the stage and let it play from tape with a light show, and when the part of the song ended, they came back out and played the rest of the song live.”

“Okay, yeah, but I meant ‘how do you know that?’”

“Sadako,” Ai pointed out. “I’m a walking musical encyclopedia about bands I like. You should know this by now.”

Feeling a challenge coming on, Sadako chuckled and asked her, “Oh yeah, then what was, uh… Uh… What was the first song on Genesis’s first album?”

“Which one?”

“Their first. That’s what I said.”

“Yeah, but you could either count From Genesis to Revelation or Trespass as their first album, since they both sound radically different from each other, and the band barely acknowledges the former. Anyway, the answer to both is Where The Sour Turns To Sweet and Looking For Someone.”

Sadako was stunned. Momo laughed and told her, “She got you there.”

“How… Did… I don’t even know the first song on our first album as a member of A TO Z SIX!” Sadako was flabbergasted. “How many times have you listened to their albums, Ai-senpai?!”

“To be fair,” Momo pointed out. “It was a long time ago, and we’ve put out so much music since then that I’m not surprised you forgot. I know the answer, by the way, and it’s Life of Love.”

Sadako facepalmed as she admitted defeat with, “Okay, okay, fine, I admit, you are a musical encyclopedia, Ai-senpai.”

“Thank you very much,” Ai confidently replied.

…

Ai had just gotten done singing another Genesis song, having gone up as the second person to sing. As she put the mic down, she told the band, “While the deep cuts are good, sometimes, it’s nice to just belt out a hit. Besides, Jesus He Knows Me is one of my favorites out of their hits. So, who wants to go next?”

“I got an idea,” Momo then said as she got up. “Ryosuke-kun, get up here.”

“Wait, me?”

“Yeah, you,” she said to him with a chuckle. “I need a male vocalist for this one. It’s a boy-girl duet.”

“Hang on, let me see.” Ryosuke then got up and saw the song Momo was selecting, which, much like Jesus He Knows Me, was another English-language track, although in this case, it was not by Genesis. “What is this? Ain’t No Mountain High Enough?”

“Yeah,” Momo replied. “It’s a really old song. Our grandparents might have heard it.”

As the original song played in the menu, Ryosuke began to pick up on the song a bit, recognizing it. “Hey, I think I’ve heard this before.”

“It was a huge hit in the sixties and early seventies, so you might have heard it in a movie or a video somewhere.” Momo then hit play to begin the song. “Good luck, Ryosuke-kun.”

“Hopefully, I don’t fuck this up too bad.”

As the song began to play and Ryosuke did his best to sing the first few lines Marvin Gaye had sung despite not knowing the song too well, Momo smiled and held in a chuckle before singing Tammi Terrell’s lines perfectly, albeit with an accent of course. Ai remarked to the other two, “I’m shocked she knows this one. This song’s almost sixty years old.”

“She’s known it for a while,” Sadako explained. “She saw it in a movie a few years ago and fell in love with it. It’s a good song, to be fair.”

“No doubt it is. Marvin Gaye was a great singer. It’s a shame what happened to Tammi Terrell, though.”

Masato, curious, asked her, “Who was that? The female singer?”

“Yeah,” Ai replied. “She got brain cancer not too long after this song came out, and she died a few years later.”

“Wow, that sucks,” Sadako replied. “I didn’t know she died from that. Momo-senpai told me that neither of them were alive anymore, but she didn’t tell me that.”

“Marvin Gaye didn’t fare so well either. He got shot by his own dad during an argument in 1984. Both of them had their careers cut short by tragedy, but you’ll find plenty of stories like that, whether it’s here in Japan or over there in America.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Sadako then heard Ryosuke and Momo nail the chorus, and as she looked on, she began to see that the two perhaps had a deeper connection than she thought. Perhaps a part of her felt a bit disappointed by this, but she still did not know if the two felt anything beyond friendship for each other.

Masato snapped her out of her thoughts by commenting, “Well, at least Ryosuke got the chorus right. Those verses were bad.”

“Oh, uh, right, yeah…”

“To be fair,” Ai pointed out. “I doubt he really ever knew the lyrics before tonight. The chorus is easy. Duets are hard when you don’t know the lyrics, especially when you don’t exactly know when to sing and not. This one changes back and forth a lot.”

When the song came to an end, Ryosuke felt bad about not knowing much of the song. “Sorry I fucked that one up real bad, Momo-san.”

“No, no, you’re fine,” she assured him. “You sounded great on the choruses. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to redeem yourself tonight.”

“I sure hope so. Those verses were atrocious.” As they both put their microphones away, Ryosuke told Momo, “You sounded beautiful.”

“Why thank y-“

Both of them then realized what Ryosuke had said to her, and quickly turned away from each other as they took their seats next to each other. He had just told Momo that her voice sounded beautiful, and while Momo knew that her singing was top-notch, to be told that it was beautiful by a boy she was close to made her feel a wave of emotions. Ryosuke, for his part, awkwardly tried to break the tension by saying, “So, um… Sadako-san, did you want to go next?”

“Sure thing,” she replied, noticing what had happened between the two of them. She quickly stood up and grabbed a free microphone before going to the booth’s computer to choose a song. However, her expression was less one of joy and more of a subtle sense of sadness. Perhaps she had realized that maybe, just maybe, Momo and Ryosuke actually did see each other as more than just friends. If they got together, she should have felt happy, but instead, she knew she would feel a sense of jealousy and sadness. Putting all of this aside, she chose a song and sighed. “Okay, here we go…”