A Light In The Town: III

ALYX City University of the Arts

ALYX City University of the Arts Music

ALYX City University of the Arts BIBLIO Music Guitar Performance

I spent my evening tapping away at my phone, entering random combinations of words to see if she had any sort of digital footprint. I had tried searching on social media but all I really had to go off was a first name, and even then there seemed to be few dozen people going by Alyx in the Yokohama area, and most of those accounts were private. Eventually, I just started checking random accounts and reading their profile, sometimes scrolling through their feed if it seemed promising. The first twenty or so profiles showed up nothing, and I was starting to feel a little creepy, but then I found something promising.

The account was pretty bare. The name was generic, and the profile bio just said "Trying to live comfortably." The location, "Beyond." Rather trite. However, the only posts on the feed were reposts advertising other bands, or music events at small venues. All of them local. It felt like it was a good chance this was who I was looking for. But now what? I couldn't exactly send her a message, I had no good excuse to. If she had posted her own music, then I would have an easy topic I could ask her about. As it was, it was basically just a random anonymous account in a see of millions of random anonymous accounts.

As I was about to exit out of the page, there was an update.

One new post. Tap to show.

I checked the time, it was already well past midnight. Quite late to be posting, though I had no room to judge anyone else for being up and on their phone at this time on a Sunday night. I tapped, it showed. It was a photo of a poster. The details were a little hard to make out, but it seemed like it was for a show that started at 8pm this Thursday.

Come see my friends band perform @VIBEZykhm (they definitely didnt make me post this or anything…)

Whosever account this was, they were having fun. But it was getting late, and I had to be up early for school tomorrow. I saved the post's URL to my notes app and set my phone down far away from the bed.

***

The school year started, but it felt like nothing much had changed. I was classmates with Mari again, and I was in a different class to Yuri and Kaede again. It would have been nice to be together in the same class, but it wasn't as if it made too much difference. We couldn't talk during class, after all, and there was nothing stopping us from eating lunch in a different classroom.

The first week back didn't really feel like the first week back. Our first day was the entrance ceremony, followed by a bunch of official stuff that had to be done, and then the next few days were just half-days taken up by tests. Tomorrow, we would get our test results back and start classes proper. But before then…

Adv 3000¥ / Door 4000¥ / Student 2000¥ (High School/University, student ID required)

I was surprised to see that they did have a discount for high school students. I had assumed it would be an intimidating place to visit, but if they offered discounts specifically to high schoolers, then that suggested to me that I would not necessarily be unwelcome. Plus, it was a week-night, which I assumed would mean a more relaxed crowd.

This is weird, isn't it? Isn't this kinda like stalking?

No, it is fine. It is good to experience new things. I don't even care if I bump into that girl, I just want to enjoy the music.

Part of me had hoped they would have sold out, then I would not have a decision to make. I decided I would buy a ticket. I had nothing else planned for the day, and exploring new things is always a worthwhile endeavour, even if I didn't meet her. And I wasn't only going there to meet her. She hadn't even posted anything since the other day.

The website didn't state how long the performance would be, only that the doors would open at 7pm and start at 8pm. I guess the types of people who usually go to these sorts of places already knew how long the band would be playing for. The venue seemed to be pretty close to the train station though, so getting home wouldn't be an issue even if it did last for a few hours. I would just have to let Mama know I would be late back. Before then, though, I had six hours to kill.

I decided I would first go to the venue so I knew where it was. Of course, I knew where it was, but I just wanted to check. Once I had an idea of the area, I could then find something to do. Following my phone's map, I found the place with only some difficulty only ten minutes from the station. It was underground, underneath another bar. The sign pointing to it had faded, and so I passed it a few times before I realised where it was.

The street was full of bars, izakayas, ramen shops, karaoke places and other such businesses. I imagined this place got quite busy at nights. Hopefully this being a Thursday and not a Friday, it wasn't so bad. It was not that I was worried about anything happening, I was just worried about standing out too much in my school uniform. It could even lead to someone phoning my school and reporting a delinquent out late. Not that I had anything to fear, I was here for a legitimate reason, and would not be doing anything illegal that I should need to explain myself over. Plus, Mama had given her permission. In a way.

It was only 2pm, so most of the businesses on this street were still closed, and this wasn't really a natural place for a high schooler to be hanging around for too long. I decided to walk back to the station, where there were plenty of stores and cafes in which to waste time in a more suitable environment. Thankfully, as the adults would still be working, it was easy to find a cosy corner in the cafe. One drink an hour and the staff would leave me alone, and I could study or read my manga all I wanted. That was how I spent most of my time, though I can't say the studying was too productive. Too much thinking. After a bit of window shopping, I got some curry. It was 6:30pm now.

It's nearly time.