Chapter 41

Today was the day.

We were all standing in Shibuya, carrying the guitar cases on our backs and other bags that a band crew would hold. Of course, none of these actually had any instruments in them. They had guns and other weapons for Marie to use when the fighting started. We were waiting on the street side, waiting for the scramble cross signal to start. The lights all started to change on each lane and I looked over at everyone, nodding to them. As the lights changed, and the signal to walk came up, the four of us charged into the middle of the crossing, Tsuki and Ichiro unfolded the large and thick sheet that had the storage spell on it. People were eyeing us and giving us strange and confused looks. Some delinquents were making rude gestures at us, but I couldn’t blame them. We were currently disrupting the peace and flow of the scramble cross, causing hundreds of people disruptions in their day. Once the sheet was fully unfolded, I started our little show.

“Good afternoon people of Shibuya! I am sorry to interrupt your day, but we have something we need to show you all. I’m sure you’ve heard of magic tricks, but what if... that magic was real?”

A murmur started in the crowd. A few people started talking about the train station incident a few weeks back while others were scoffing and trying to get around everyone to the other side of the street.

“My good friend here will demonstrate here that seeing is believing. Ichiro, if you would.”

Ichiro walked up to the front and, without saying a word, crouched down, put his hand on the sheet, and then in one swift motion, rose to his feet, throwing his hand in the air. A brief moment passed as nothing happened. A slight worry crossed my face, but then the sheet started to glow, and out of it appeared a pop-up concert stage. The crowd started to clamor, some clapping and others shouting. It was a mix of cheers, irritation, and confusion.

“See, my friends? Magic exists. And to show what it can do, we decided to put on a show for you. Don’t worry, it’s not a magic show.” I looked over at Tsuki who was setting up her drum set, which was pulled out of a storage sheet, on the stage. “That would be really lame, wouldn’t it?”

Tsuki winked at me and we all got on the stage. We started to hear more people in the crowd become restless and annoyed. I decided I needed to do something to keep them interested. I conjured several orbs in my hand and tossed them into the air, giving them magical properties to float in the air like water orbs. A few people gaped in awe at the sight, but I wasn’t done yet. I then put my hand in the shape of a gun, a small flame sphere forming at the tip of my finger, and I shot out a tiny fireball at each of the orbs. On impact, they all exploded into a colourful display.

“Whoa, fireworks! But how did they do that?”

“I don’t know, is this a hologram?”

“No way, it has to be drones or something.”

The crowd started to cheer and shout, trying to figure it out. I threw more fireworks into the air, exploding them to applause and cheers. Then, Marie grabbed the mic and shouted out to the ground.

“Alright, you motherfuckers!” My eyes went wide at the profanity, mainly because she was saying English curses to a crowd of Japanese citizens. “Time to melt your faces off with metal and magic! So, strap in and open those ears, keep your eyes open, because we are... the Dragon Riders!”

“Dragon Riders?! I don’t think I like that-” I tried to protest the name as I shot more of the firework orbs into the sky and exploded them.

“ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR~!” Tsuki shouted, interrupting me, as she started to bang the drums in a melodic tune.

Ichiro followed suit as he started to play his guitar with surprising expertise. He also completely dropped his usual awkward and improper hunched over posture to one that was full of charisma and energy, moving to the rhythm of the music and interacting with the growing hype of the crowd. I stared in awe and bewilderment at the tonal change of both Marie and Ichiro, but was taken out of my trance by someone shouting at me.

“Ryu! Fuck! Stop playing with yourself and get to strumming!” Marie shouted out.

She was in complete rockstar mode and I just laughed as I whipped out the storage sheet I had, throwing it into the air and my guitar falling out of it in the air, landing in my hands. I let out a laugh as I realized they changed my guitar from a standard V style body, to one that was more angular. I think these are called Warlocks. But, what really made me smile was the headstock being changed to one in the shape of a dragon’s head. They really were going all out with the dragon theme. I threw the guitar strap around my shoulder and started to play, syncing up with Ichiro and Tsuki. Once we finally caught our rhythm of one of our songs, Marie started to sing.

The crowd was instantly captivated. A few people here and there left, but most people stuck around to watch our impromptu concert, and they were now cheering us on. Marie was more energetic than I had ever seen before, swinging her hair around as she sang. When a part of the song came in where she switched from clean vocals to fry-scream vocals, the crowd erupted in cheers. Whenever I had a quick moment, I would explode more fireworks in the air. As we got deeper into the song, Tsuki started to manifest the halo-like crest behind her, shooting out pink orbs to hit the firework orbs still in the air, igniting them. What impressed me about that was that she never stopped playing the drums, even for a second.

The crowd was going wild. I couldn’t tell if they thought our magic was real yet, but I didn’t really care. Something I felt embarrassed about while planning was now the only thing I cared about. It was fun. It was the first thing I have done that wasn’t for the explicit goal of killing Yukino. While it still had an ulterior motive, it was nice to experience just this. Something enjoyable with the people I cherish.

We eventually reached the end of our first song, and Marie shouted out to the crowd again. I smiled and shook my head as it again had western expletives, but I think the crowd was into it at this point.

“Fuck yeah! Shibuya, tell us how you feel!” She shouted to the crowd while pointing the mic to them. The crowd responded with cheers and Marie threw her arms up. “Alright, this next one might be a song you’ve heard before, but we decided to cover it. And remember, there’s no special effects going on. This is all. Pure. Magic.” She winked at the crowd and a few of the boys in it shouted that they loved her. “Careful, the dragon might not be happy with you if you say that.”

She nudged her head in my direction and I was glaring at the people who said that with dagger eyes. I also made it so fire started to ignite around my eyes, to increase the intimidation factor. In reality, though, we planned for this, and I was just playing along. The boys let out audible gasps as they saw the fire around my eyes. I smirked at them and we started up the next song with Ichiro leading us in with a quick rhythm, and Tsuki quickly followed in. The song we played was a cover of a song from an old independent video game project that got immensely popular worldwide. I had never heard of it before this, but it had something to do with the silhouette of a girl eating a fruit or something like that.

The moment that Ichiro started playing, the entire crowd erupted in even louder cheers. I guess it was way more popular than I expected. I nodded to Ichiro, this song being his idea. Then, Marie threw a piece of spell paper into the air and after a few moments, it exploded into a million little pieces of colourful confetti. That, in conjunction with the firework orbs, made our show a truly dazzling spectacle. Then, she started to sing the song, and the crowd screamed. All I could think was that Marie’s voice was beautiful. I finally joined in, adding a heavier guitar to the song.