Warmth

Sunrays were warming up the concrete tiles of the schoolyard. Masaki and Kazuki sat on a bench in the shade, trying their best to avoid getting sunburned by the late-afternoon smoldering heat. On Masaki’s lap sat his laptop, on which he was furiously editing some new track he was working on. He hadn’t been able to concentrate much on his work since the whole confrontation with his Dad a couple of days ago. Even though the whole producing-a-band thing didn’t work out, Masaki kept himself busy producing. Although he couldn’t motive exactly why and what for. Producing tracks is just what I tend to do… Even so, it was no wonder his new track wasn’t working out exactly as he wanted.

His friend Kazuki must have noticed his frustration and talked to him.

“He Masaki, can you let me hear what you’re working on?”

“Sure… it isn’t any good thought”

He passed his headphone over to Kazuki and hit play.

Kazuki started enthusiastically bopping his head and gave him a thumbs-up.

“This is a real bob Masaki!”

After listening to the whole thing, Kazuki passed the headphones back.

“You made a really good track there, it sounds like something an indie band will play.”

Masaki sighs.

“Good is not good enough, I only do amazing tracks”

He opened a menu and hit a key. A popup showed up on the laptop.

“Do you want to delete this track?”

He moved his pointer to the confirm button.

Kazuki noticed and looked shocked.

“Wow, Masaki, chill out, don’t waste it like that.”

“Too late”

Masaki had permanently deleted the track from his laptop.

He can’t let himself get comfortable with mediocre work like this. If he still wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a professional producer once graduating high school, he should continue topping his previous work time and time again.

He angrily smashed his laptop closed and put it away in his bag.

When Masaki looked straight ahead again, he notice the group of popular girls had sat down on a bench across from them. Among them was Akane Ishihara, who was… smiling in his direction?

Masaki looked around to see who it could be, but the only people sitting on this side of the yard were him and Kazuki. She must have noticed him slamming his laptop. When Masaki turned back to face the girls, she was chuckling at him. How embarrassing! She must have noticed him turning around. He blushed a little and looked away.

“Joh, Masaki”

Kazuki was whispering in his ear.

“Look, Kitamura-san, she looks like a real angel in the sunlight.”

“I feel she has come to take me to heaven.”

Masaki sighed.

“I already said I am not interested in girls like that.”

“Please keep your fantasies to yourself, it’s pathetic.”

But Masaki couldn’t help but look at the group of girls once more. He could see that Akane was now busy looking into a mirror, applying some mascara. I guess that is what it’s like to be a popular girl. She had to constantly worry about keeping up appearances, Masaki thought. After all, she didn’t want to be seen as a nerd like him… It’s the cost she has to pay.

Kazuki stood up from the bench.

“Hey Masaki, I have to go home to help my mom sort out some stuff.”

“Do you want to walk home together?”

Masaki shook his head.

“I have other plans, I’ll head in the opposite direction.”

The two of them walked to the school’s gate together and then both of them went their separate ways.

“Alright Masaki, see you later then!”

X

There was a little record store located a couple of blocks from the school, that Masaki visited sometimes after school. It was well hidden away in the basement of the owner’s house. A place Masaki only knew the existence of because his father showed him. Unlike the big record store in the shopping district, this store carried a lot of records from unknown artists. There also was a good second-hand, vintage section. All in all, it was the perfect spot to find hidden gems Masaki could use for reference or take samples from to use in his own work.

Masaki walked down the slope to the store’s entrance.

Even though the store wasn’t massive by any means, it compensated for that by being filled to the brim with racks full of various CDs and various other media. Since it was located in the basement, the store had a certain dark but cozy atmosphere. A handful of people were browsing the shelves for hidden gems. At the front of the store sat the owner behind the register.

“Good afternoon Tsuchiya-san, how are you doing today?”

“Fine, I guess.”

The owner was an elderly man that had been in a popular rock band in the 70s. He had since then retired and opened this store to share his passion for music with others.

“I got some new releases that might interest you in the back.”

“Thank you, I’ll take a look.”

Masaki made his way through the aisles to the back section of the store. He browsed a big bin with releases of some bands whose names he had never heard before. He picked one of the CDs and popped it into a stereo system set up for people to get a preview of potential new music. He grabbed the headphones and skipped through some of the CD’s tracks.

Not that bad.

After listening to a couple of CDs, Masaki picked a few he liked and moved back toward the front of the store. While walking through the aisles, his peripheral vision picks up something out of the ordinary. A girl with long, red locks wearing his school’s uniform. Not something Masaki usually sees in this shop. Wait a second… Is that? The girl turned around. It was no one other than Akane Ishihara. What in the hell was she doing here?

When Akane saw Masaki, she waved at him.

“Hey Tsuchiya-kun, how are you doing?”

“I didn’t know there was a cool store like this so close to school.”

Wait a second…

She would never have just stumbled upon such an obscure store randomly.

“Did you follow me here?”

Masaki asked her half-jokingly.

“That is not how you greet a lady!”

She winked and pulled her tongue in a teasing way.

After which she did the pointing index fingers against each other thing.

“I might have been stalking you… just a little.”

“Are you reporting me to the police?”

Masaki didn’t know what to think anymore. She must have left her entourage to follow him from the schoolyard all the way here. She was already staring at him earlier at school. Does she actually like me? No... no... that can’t be. There must be some other explanation for this.

“What do you want from me?”

Akane was silent for a second.

“Hmmmm..”

“I don’t know how to word it exactly… I am just curious about you - I think.”

She looked a bit awkward. Way different than her usual cool and stoic nature. Masaki’s feelings were confirmed by her trying to change the conversation quickly.

“You have a great taste in music.”

Akane said while pointing at the stack of CDs Masaki was holding.

“Let me take a look.”

She grabbed the top CD from the stack Masaki was holding and took a closer look.

“Wow, you're into Silver Pulse?”

“I heard they had just recorded their first single, this photo looks awesome.”

Masaki was surprised, he had never heard of the band before.

“You know them?”

“Yes, they are from this city. We performed with them once at the live house.”

Oh yeah, that’s true. She is in a band.

She is so cool….

Masaki couldn’t help but swoon a little.

“It looked interesting so I grabbed it. There are some more in the back if you want one.”

“Please show me!”

Akane clapped her hands - she looked all excited.

Masaki showed her the back section of the shop.

“Here is where the owner keeps his best stuff.”

He grabbed a cd and handed it to her.

She seemed really happy with it.

“You surely know your way around this place, Tsuchiya-kun.”

“I wish we could make our own record and sell it here one day…”

Silence filled the room.

Masaki didn’t know what to say to this, this would be a good moment to offer her the business card, but… he was too scared, feeling uncomfortable by this sudden encounter. Regardless of that, he had already rejected her band and wasn’t going to produce a band until he graduated high school anyway.

Luckily, Akane broke the ice.

A mischievous expression formed on her face.

“Can you tell me your first name?”

“Masaki… but Tsuchiya-san is fine.”

She glimpsed and teasingly said.

“Okay, Masaki-kun.”

I shouldn’t have told her…

“Well, I think it’s time for me to go home.”

“Wait.. wait!”

“I have one more question, what were you doing just earlier with that laptop of yours?”

Masaki tried to shrug off the question.

“Just some nerdy stuff, girls like you don’t care about.”

She looked a bit disappointed.

“Girls like me? Is that how you think of me…”

Oh no, I did mean for her to feel that way.

“Ishi..”

But she didn’t let him finish his sentence.

“I think it makes sense - you must really think I am just some bimbo that does only care about her appearances.”

A sigh escaped her mouth.

“You're not like that Ishihara-san. You are way more interesting than those other girls. You are smart, have great taste in music and you are in a -”

Masaki quieted his voice and whispered.

“a secret indie band.”

An adorable little smile formed on her face.

“Really? You really think that?”

“I am sorry about what I said earlier. Just like you, I have a little secret that I carry around on that laptop, that I am not willing to share with you.”

Akane was completely silent.

“So now, please let me pay for these CDs, I have to go home.”

He turned his back to her and started walking towards the counter.

Just then, Masaki could hear Akane mumble.

“Who are you really, Masaki Tsuchiya..”