You / 君

On the following day, in homeroom, she headed to where Kohei was to tell him the good news, completely ignoring me until she finished her talks with him.

“Hey, class rep. About that thing from yesterday, Ishida said yes, so we’re both in.”

“Really? That’s amazing news! Meet me at the music club’s room after classes today.”

“Just one thing,” she got closer to his ear to whisper something, “About Ishida, there’s this one peculiarity. He is going to cross-dress on the night of the festival. Don’t ask why he’s doing it, just accept it and don’t tell anyone other than any additional musicians that will perform with us.”

“Please!”, she implored.

His chatty face switched to a more serious and shocked one after being caught off-guard by the word “cross-dress”. “We have a crossdresser in our class?” was what crossed his mind then.

“Ok. I promise I’ll keep it between us.”

“Thanks!”

When she returned back to my desk, I asked her a question.

“What was that?”

“I merely told him that you and I both accepted his proposal.”

“Not that. I mean what you whispered in his ear.”

“Oh, that was just me making sure no one but the ones performing with us knows of our little plan.”

“So umm… he knows…?”

“Obviously. And so will any other people who play with us.”

“Alright.”

On lunch break, we informed Kimura and Yokoyama of the music festival we were partaking in and the small but meaningful detail of my crossdressing. Let’s just say they were both shocked at first, but their female instincts got the better of them, reducing their reactions to those of shoujo manga fans when spotting fanservice. Still, they agreed to keep quiet about the detail, which sufficed.

Fast forward to the end of that same school day. Our class rep had once again left early. The difference was that this time we knew where to find him. When we got there, the door was wide open, indicating they were awaiting visitors. I was the first to come in.

“Hello. We’re here as you requested.”

Kohei and one of the two other members also present were tuning a cello. The remaining one was glaring at music sheets.

He dropped his activity to welcome us.

“Hey Ishida, Natsuko. The guy over there sitting at the piano is Tsugino, and the girl back there reading those sheets is Yumi.”

“Hey.”

Tsugino giving signs of life.

“Hi!”

A livelier welcome from Yumi, how relieving.

“And these two are Ishida and Natsuko, the two violinists we needed!”

“Mhm.”

More signs of life.

“Finally! I knew you could do it, Kohei!”

Consistently lively Yumi.

“They’ll be joining us here every day in the coming weeks until the day of the concert, so be sure to get along well. Oh, I nearly forgot, I’m sure you two want to know what we’ll be playing,” he rushed to get the sheets, struggling to find the ones he was looking for amongst the sea of paper on the ground, “Tada! Vivaldi’s Summer. The Presto only, to be more precise. We can’t play all of it since we lack the time.”

“Oh, amazing!”

Natsuko was pretty excited.

“And, before we get to work, it’s time to assign you roles. Ishida and Tsugino, you’ll be Violins 1 and 2. Yumi will be the Viola. I’ll be the Cello and… Natsuko will be the Main Violin, as she personally requested so.”

With the introductory part over, it was time to officially begin practicing.

“Everyone! Let’s get to work!”

In the following days, we met there at the same time each weekday until the night of the music festival. We adjusted our weekly club meetings so that we could attend both club activities and our music practice.

A week before the festival, it was time to do the second most important task regarding the preparations. Picking our outfits. Natsuko was brimming with excitement. For the wrong reasons. Even though picking your dress is usually a fun time, she was more so enthusiastic to pick the dress I would be wearing.

“Let’s go!”

We entered the store. Luckily for me, there weren’t many observant eyes inside, just the owner and the workers. Side note—it was a female clothing store, so my presence there could raise some eyebrows still, in spite of having a woman accompanying me.

“Oh, there’s the formal clothing section!”

“Be quiet, don’t raise too much attention!”

“Sorry. Anyway, let’s start with the main dish, the dress.”

“That’s a weird way to put it,” I thought.

As we walked towards that part of the store, a worker asked us if we needed any help, which Natsuko denied, trying to keep people away.

My eyes readily caught sight of an elegant white dress, similar to the one Natsuko wore five years ago on that night, only differing in color.

“I think I’ll take this one.”

“You were quick huh. Well, first of all, you need to… umm… try it on.”

In a lower tone, nearly whispering, I questioned her.

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Help me pick mine, and we’ll both do it at the same time, in the same fitting room.”

I nodded in agreement. We walked around the whole section multiple times until she finally decided on one.

“This one.”

She pointed her finger to a different white dress close to where I was.

“Really? Another white one?”

“I don’t know why you’re complaining, it raises less suspicion if the two dresses are of the same color. Come on, follow me.”

Ah, I see. Good thinking process. And so, I trailed behind her and we both entered a fitting room.

“Natsuko.”

“What?”

“I think you forgot a very important detail. We’re in the same room. And we are meant to undress in here.”

She covered her mouth to avoid screaming, ashamed of herself for not giving it more thought. However, she quickly moved past her embarrassment and replaced it with a smirky face.

“Ishida, that makes you a pervert.”

“It makes you one as well.”

“Fair. Well, it’s not like you’ll see me naked, you’ll just see my… underwear.”

“Yes, now hurry up, I promise not to look. If you don’t trust me, keep looking at me.”

“No, you go first. I want to see you in a dress so bad!”

That giggle carried hidden meaning and I wasn’t particularly amused by the thought of it.

“Fine.”

With my sign of approval, she began searching for something inside her purse and from there she picked up two silicone breasts. Yes, two artificial breasts. The kind crossdressers use.

“I’m not even going to ask how or why you have that.”

“How ungrateful of you. I bought them secretly for you.”

“H-Huh? Since when have you planned to have me cross-dress?

“Since I discovered you were transgender.”

“Ah, so it’s a fetish of yours.”

“If you consider simple curiosity a fetish, yes.”

“Yes, yes. Your turn to look away.”

We spent hours in that store, looking for the right sizes and whatnot.

In the end, we brought home the two dresses we picked initially along with two pairs of shoes.

Eventually, the day arrived. All five of us were getting ready to perform, as we were the first ones to do so. I could feel the anticipation in the air. Everyone eagerly waiting for the performers to come on stage. It had been years since I last experienced that feeling.

Inside the large hall, where all the noise was coming from, my parents and my three friends stuck together, searching for their reserved spots. Amidst all the confusion, Yokoyama found their seats.

“Over there!”

Once they were all sitting next to each other, they began talking about it, equally as impatient as the crowd.

“I want to see how Ishida looks! Don’t you want to as well, Yoko-chan?”

“Yeah!”

Naoto opened the flier he was given at the entrance.

“Ishida? I don’t know what you mean. It says Rei Kisaki here.”

“What? Even the name is different, they really went that far… amazing! It makes me even more excited!”

“Wait… wasn’t Natsuko supposed to be the Main Violinist? Here it says she’s Violin 1 instead. And Ishida is indicated as the main one.”

Naoto, aware of what was going on, clarified the matter for Kimura and the others.

“Natsuko changed her mind days after commencing practice for the festival, entrusting it to Ishida.”

Yes. No more than two days later, on a small break between classes, she requested some time alone with me. To tell me something important.

“Ishida, what do you think of playing the Main Violin?”

“What? Aren’t you already assigned to that role already?”

“I am. But I realized that I have taken the spotlight too many times in the past. So I want you to do it. It’s been a long while since you performed, hasn’t it? Then, I want them to see you, not me again. The day might be mine, but I want the night to be yours.”

“Natsuko…”

“So? Is that a yes?”

“Of course. I gladly accept this title bestowed on me by you, Lady Natsuko.”

“In current Japanese, please.”

“I’ll do it. Thank you, Natsuko.”

“Alright, then it’s settled. Don’t make me regret my decision, okay?”

Honoring her proposal for my participation in the concert and being true to myself, I also chose to wear the cherry blossom flower I had picked up back in early April on my hair.

Back in the hall, Yokoyama was interrupted by the additional noise from the audience due to our arrival on stage. Kimura swiftly commented on it.

“Here they come! Wooaahhh Ishida looks gorgeous!”

“I know right!”

The two girls were by far the ones making the most noise out of those five. They couldn’t contain their excitement.

We began tuning our instruments with the help of a pianist, one by one.

About two minutes later, the audience noticed we were all done, so the noise drastically reduced until there was virtually none, out of respect for the performers.

Kohei sat on a chair with the Cello. On his left were Yumi and Tsugino with their Alto Viola and Violin respectively in position, ready to play. Natsuko and I were next to those two with our violins yearning to be played.

The Quintet was assembled.

I will not disappoint you, Natsuko.

As I finished the sentence, my eyes opened wide, bow up in the air. In a matter of seconds, I nodded to the remaining musicians and lowered the bow, signaling the start.

It began with two potent unisons separated by a brief pause. A natural harmonic progression from tonic to dominant. A short introduction to the piece, preparing the spectator for the ride ahead.

And so it began, the real Summer.

Violin 1 and the main one broke the silence alone on their downward spirals, with Violin 2 following suit one compass later, defying the other two in a constant struggle to surpass each other, all this while the cello and viola served as the bassline. When all violins were synced, a succession of upward spirals attempted to counter the previous decline.

From the remainders of the clash, all three variations of the tonic’s arpeggiated chord announced an incoming change in the atmosphere.

Hence, the piece’s tonality changed, with the violins taking control of the harmony, raising the pitch of the melody to one which suited them better, the high notes.

The main violin took the spotlight for the first time, manifesting its displease with the ongoing feud in three clearly separated arguments.

In the plane of the audience, Yokoyama, beyond blown away by the melody created by her fellow high school students, let out a light “Woah!”, similarly to how a young child reacts the first time their eyes catch sight of something new.

The remaining instruments, understanding the situation as it was presented to them, joined the soloist’s cause, galloping alongside it to battle. Finding a surprisingly strong resistance, they attempted to fight back the enemy repeatedly, nonetheless still unable to achieve victory. Despite their best efforts, they valiantly fell to the ground, all battered and without any motivation to keep fighting.

It is at these moments that a leader must be able to inspire their people to keep fighting with hope and courage in their hearts.

Enter the second solo.

Meanwhile, Naoto, completely glued to it, was absolutely astonished by the beauty of it all. It was the first time he had heard me play the violin.

“Fly, Ishida, fly. Spread your wings and fly.“

If anything, that inspirational speech of strings got to him.

But he wasn’t the only one affected.

In this imaginary plane of existence created by the harmony, the soldiers stood up once again, unyielding to the horrors of war. It was a fierce battle, with neither side willing to give up. However, amidst it all, the commander realized the truth of their world.

War was inevitable. Conflict was inevitable. The very conflict earlier, before this battle, was the ultimate proof of it. Either side would end achieving nothing ultimately. Pride, glory, fame, it was all destined to go up and down again back to where it was in the beginning, ultimately amounting to nothing. But did that mean that everything in between was meaningless? Did that mean all the effort they put in throughout their lives was destined to change absolutely nothing in the end?

No! This can’t be how it all ends! I refuse to accept such a reality! Until we discover what lies beyond this battle, we can’t yield!

One final charge. One last attempt to defy this world’s twisted fate.

With this, the imaginary struggle for power ended, the curtain closed, and Vivaldi’s Summer came to a close.

The piece ended with an arpeggio leading to the final unison.

The audience applauded effusively, showering us with their love and praise.

The Quintet took one last bow.

I looked at the audience.

I looked at our three fellow music club members.

I looked at her.

There she was, at the center of the stage, like a kid who had just gotten a new toy to play with at Christmas, gazing in awe at the public. The people we made happy with our music.

So this is what a colorful world looks like. This is what you wanted to show me from the very beginning. That I, even if briefly, could see it too—the colors gracefully dancing in the air. But, you know, I wish you could show me a full lifetime of this. However, it's fine. I'll settle for this much now. I have you. That's enough.

I smiled.

“Thank You.”