Heavy Metal Reveal

“Mmmm, that was a good session,” said Saiki as she stretched her arms. I looked over the recorded tracks and confirmed that they were good. I then uploaded them to my drive and tucked it in my pocket.

Today’s session went by really fast. Once we packed up our stuff, we went up to the bar to get some drinks. As we sat drinking our glasses of juice, Kyo and Juri were nearby talking about a nearing concert. I saw Saiki’s ears perked up once she caught wind of the band they were discussing. She quickly put down her glass and turned to the other two. “Are they really having a concert here in Shinjuku?!” she asked them with sparkles in her eyes.

“Yes, at the recreational hall next to the soccer park,” confirmed Kyo.

“Are you a big fan of them too?” asked Juri.

“Massive!” replied Saiki

“Well I got two tickets right here,” said Juri, waving the tickets in her hand. “I was supposed to go with Nao, but I forgot that we already made plans for a dinner date that night.” She sighed depressingly.

“Couldn’t you both go to the concert for your date instead?” I suggested to her.

“Maybe,” she agreed. “If only we hadn’t made a reservation at a four-star restaurant one month in advance. Even if you told me to cancel, the cancellation fee would still cost me the equivalent of three live house concert earnings.”

“Then can I have them?” asked Saiki excitedly. Juri nodded and gave her the tickets. “Yippee!” she squealed.

“Well, good for you,” I told Saiki with a small smile.

“Say, wanna go together?” she suddenly asked me.

While she asked me this question, I was in the middle of sipping my juice. The question hit and it took me by complete surprise. I spat out my juice and got the counter covered in my spittle. “Huh?!” I replied with a quick turn to her.

Saiki laughed at my reaction with her arms clutching her stomach. “Did I surprise you that much?” she asked me, still laughing. She brushed away a tear and calmed herself. “I asked you if you wanna go with me.”

I didn’t know what to say. Should I accept her offer? But why should I? I mean, it’s not like we’re anything more than friends—. Right, we’re friends. Then that means this is normal, right? I should accept this invitation, right? I looked at the tickets in her hand and swallowed a gulp. “S-Sure,” I told her. I had my eyes diverted from hers and my cheeks became a little red from the embarrassment that came with that answer.

“All right, then! I’ll send you the time and place to meet later today,” she told me.

“The concert is this weekend, right?” I asked her.

“It’ll be the perfect ending to a long school week!” said Saiki cheerfully. She then received a notification on her phone, took a look at it, and quickly hopped onto her feet. “I’ll see you later!” she said and she rushed right out of the live house.

Once she was gone, Juri scooted up to me with her Cheshire grin and lightly jabbed my side and asked teasingly, “Ready for your date this weekend?”

“It’s not a date!” I protested with flustered cheeks.

“Hoo-hoo! I never thought I’d ever see the day you finally upgrade to getting yourself a girlfriend,” she whooped, clearly ignoring my previous protest.

“Like I said—,” I attempted emphatically.

“Hey, Kyo! Bring out the good stuff tonight! We’re celebrating Shiomi maturing to adulthood!” she told the receptionist.

“Congratulations, Shiomi!” said Kyo with a clap of their hands.

“Not you too!” I whined. “Geez!” I groaned and I quickly left the establishment. The atmosphere was getting too unbearable for me to stay any longer. As I was walking home, I heard a notification on my phone and opened it. It was a message from Saiki. She sent me the meeting time and place for this weekend: 3:30, Shinjuku Station. I was about to reply back when another message came from her: a large sticker of the Iron Rabbit mascot holding up a thumbs-up with a wink. Seeing that made my heart skip a beat at how cute it was. My cheeks became red and I was now at a loss at how to respond. I finally decided to answer back with a simple general response: “Okay”.

The weekend arrived and I had just finished uploading a new video when it came time to meet up with Haruto Saiki for the concert. I waited for her at the station just like last time. She arrived and we walked together to the recreational hall right next to the soccer park. As we walked, I noticed that she was a little more bridled than before. Her happiness was contained in her smile instead of oozing out of her in a massive aura like how it usually was.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Huh?” I asked, confused by her sudden words.

She glanced at me with her smile and said, “Thank you for coming with me.”

I had my breath taken away. My cheeks reddened and my heart was accelerating like a bullet train. This was the first time I had ever received thanks like this from a girl. And the fact that it came from Haruto Saiki, the school idol and real identity of Nijigami’s lead singer, only made this moment all the more surreal and bewildering. I quickly turned my head away with a frown and said, “S-S-Sure thing.”

We were almost at the venue when she suddenly asked, “Do you like the band? I forgot to ask whether or not you liked them and I don’t want to force you to come to see a band you didn’t like.”

I understood what she meant and said, “They’re not bad. I mean, I’m not totally into their style of rock, but I can tolerate this band’s music more than other bands of the same scene.” The band in question is called Naraka, and they’re a leader in the recent grunge-revival alternative scene of Japan. They have released four LPs and have quickly developed a global fanbase. They’re known for their introspective storytelling and clever one-liners embedded in their lyrics. Musically, they have a very strong grunge feel with a punky attitude and metallic rhythms. They’re not a bad band, and I understand their appeal, I really do, but I don’t particularly have a strong feeling for them on either side of the spectrum.

“What bands do you like?” she asked me.

I thought for a moment and began to list my top bands: Iron Rabbit, RevengeX7, Voodoo Pieces, Malice&Maim, Black Sunday, My Horizon, Triumvirate, Nijigami, GrEy, Memory Hall, The Progeny, and Gauntlet.

“Hmm? You have a pretty varied taste,” she said with a cheeky smile.

“Of course,” I told her with a slight arrogant tone. “I am a fan of music after all.”

We finally arrived and headed for the admissions station. After handing in our tickets, we went in and stood among the already large crowd. The instruments were already set up onstage for the band. It was ten minutes before the concert started. After about a five minute wait, the venue’s manager walked up to address the crowd. He spoke about how “happy it was for the venue to be hosting a band of this caliber” and that “it was an honor”. It was the same type of dribble you hear every time when you attend a concert by a big-name band at a smaller venue. Maybe the manager was actually trying to show his appreciation, but I’ve been to many concerts and witnessed the same thing over and over again that I pretty know every word they’re going to say.

Finally, the manager introduced the band and they took the stage. The crowd went wild with applause and cheers. Out of concert courtesy, I joined in, though my excitement wasn’t on the same wavelength as everybody else’s. The lead spoke to the crowd and told a little anecdote before segueing into the first song. Only bands as big as them can tell stories and transition smoothly into their songs without having to plainly introduce each track like us amateurs. I respect that.

The first song they played, “Jerks of Society”, was a punk-infused alternative song with angsty lyrics and social commentary. I don’t mind punk as a genre, but sometimes the lyrics feel a little too depressing for me. I mean, I get it that it’s all real stuff and about how our world works, and I understand the impact that they have on listeners, but the obvious and blunt lyrics that punk typically employs sometimes makes me cringe and I feel like I’m listening to a whiny kid throwing temper tantrums at adults. I don’t understand how Ikki can listen to those lyrics with a smile on his face. Music-wise, it’s not bad and I actually enjoyed the rhythmic aspect of it.

They played four more songs before taking a little break. During the intermission, I walked outside with Saiki to take a breath of fresh air. I glanced at her and could feel unbridled excitement exuding from her. She was no doubt enjoying the experience. This moment of wholesomeness made me smile. Soon, it was time to go back in.

The band introduced the next song and everyone immediately went wild like a herd of stampeding cattle. It was their most popular hit: “A Taste of Teenage Ambition”. I’ve listened to this song before a bunch of times and it’s actually my favorite work by them. Once the guitar riff came in, the cheers grew loud enough to drown out a speeding truck.

The singer came in and sang the angsty lyrics that everyone knew so well. The crowd joined in and sang along to each and every word. As I watched the band play and listened to the hypnotized crowd chanting the lyrics, there was one voice near my position that stood out to me above the rest. Curious, I turned my head towards the west. You would never believe what I found. I couldn’t even believe my own eyes! But standing there among the crowd, dressed in a plaid long-sleeve shirt over a black top with a pair of faded jeans, was the person I most least expected, no, certainly didn’t expect to see at this concert. It was none other than Koba Fumi.

Saiki had apparently noticed my reaction and turned to the see exactly what my eyes were focused on. She let out a surprised yelp and, out of excitement, carelessly yelled out, “Fumi!” Her voice managed to cut through the crowd because Fumi turned in our direction and her eyes widened in surprise and horror.

The concert ended spectacularly. Saiki and I met up with a reluctant Fumi after the show outside the venue. Fumi had her face turned away the entire time while her body shuddered with embarrassment. “I didn’t know you like Naraka,” said Saiki.

Fumi jumped at that statement and said with a very hard stutter, “W-W-W-What are y-y-y-you t-t-talking about?” She tried to put up a front with an awkward laugh, but it wasn’t fooling anyone.

“So you like alternative rock, huh?” said Saiki.

“How about you?” Fumi asked her friend. “Why are you here?”

“Me?” asked Saiki.

Fumi, who I was pretty sure ignored me the entire time out of spite, suddenly remembered that I was there and pointed accusingly to me. “Did you invite her here?” she asked me in a snarl-like manner.

“Me?!” I yelled back. I was really angry at being made the villain and was about to say something non-PG when Saiki intervened.

“Actually, I invited him here,” she told her friend sincerely.

“What? You’re lying,” said Fumi in disbelief.

“Naraka is actually one of my favorite bands,” Saiki told her. “Along with Iron Rabbit, Voodoo Pieces, Black Sunday, HiSS, Band-Aid, GrEy, and Lovebitz.”

Fumi looked at Saiki as if she was a ghost or some kind of alternate reality doppelganger. She was in shock after hearing the words exiting out of her friend’s mouth. It was the same exact way that I felt when I learned about all of this myself. “B-B-But I thought that you listen to, like, the popular stuff that Taka listens to!” said Fumi. “I’d never pick you for a rocker!”

“Right?!” I blurted out in agreement. I was just too excited to finally find someone who thought the same as me. But I quickly shut up when they both flashed me angry frowns.

“Why is it so hard to believe that I could enjoy this kind of stuff too?” groaned Saiki. “Music is music! I like listening to good music no matter what kind it is!” she declared.

Hearing Haruto Saiki say this only made my respect for her grow even more. It also made me feel ashamed of everything I had ever judged about her and about music in general, as it should. Oh, what a hypocrite I am.

A ding went off and Fumi took out her phone. After glancing at it with an irritated expression, her eyes grew wide and she quickly said, “I gotta go!”

“What is it?” asked Saiki

“It’s my dad,” said Fumi with what I gleaned to be worry in her voice. She immediately started running down the street.

“Let’s go!” Saiki said to me.

“W-What?” I asked.

“It looks like Fumi’s dad is in big trouble,” she told me. “Her house is very close to here. We should go help.”

Before I could give a reply, she grabbed my hand and dragged me along as we raced behind Fumi to her house. After turning around the block, we came to a large apartment building and ran up the stairs. We stopped at apartment 1E and Fumi fumbled with the key to unlock it. The key finally went in and she opened the door. We all entered the apartment.

The lights were off and it was very dark inside. But from what I can see with the little moonlight creeping in from behind us, I noticed that the floor was littered with bags and bottles. Fumi turned on the lights. She quickly took off her shoes and ran down the hallway. Saiki and I took off our shoes and waited near the entrance. I was consumed by anxiety as I waited with Saiki, who wasn’t any better than I, for Fumi’s return. Just what is going on? What happened to Fumi’s father? Is it something serious? Should we call an ambulance? The police?! I was seriously on edge.

And then we heard Fumi’s voice echo through the hallway and it sent a shock through our bodies. “You no-good piece-of-crap bastard of a father!” she yelled out furiously. I somehow felt a little relieved hearing those words. Judging by her reaction, it doesn’t seem to be anything serious. But Saiki and I still ran down the hallway anyway to check what was going on.

Once we arrived at the scene, we saw Fumi angrily holding a bottle of liquor above a drunken man. He had messy brown hair and beady brown eyes, very thick facial stubble, and a flushed expression on his face. There was no doubt that he was out of it. Add the way he was dressed to the equation: a dirty white undershirt with alcohol stains, blue basketball shorts, and a silver necklace with a shark tooth around his neck, and you’ve got your stereotypical deadbeat father. The man was looking at his daughter with bloodshot eyes, begging for the alcohol bottle in her hand.

“You texted me that you were caught in a dangerous situation and that it was an emergency!” she snapped at the man.

“Bu’ ‘twas a ‘mergency!” shouted the man, slurring his words drunkenly. “I was out o beer an I wante’ ya ta git some mo fo me! I cuht go out in my c’dition!”

“I thought that you were bleeding to death or something!” she screamed hysterically. “But all you wanted was more alcohol?! How drunk and lazy can you be?! And I’m underage! I can’t buy you alcohol even if I wanted to!” She had on a disgusted expression the entire time.

“Pwease, just han it o’er nice an e’sy,” slurred the man pleadingly. “I’m sowwy fah callen ya un’er false pretensees.”

“I think you’ve had enough for today,” Fumi told him.

“Pwease! ‘Ave macy!” begged the man. Fumi ignored his wishes and kicked him from under his chin. The man fell backwards and immediately conked out. Seeing how she didn’t hesitate at all to knock out her father only reinforced my fear of Koba Fumi.

Saiki and I exchanged terrified expressions after having witnessed that. Fumi noticed the looks we had and irritatedly said, “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He’ll wake up sober soon.” We parted ways for her to exit the room and she grumbled to herself as she walked down the hallway.

Fumi served us tea and we sat in silence in the living room. No one said a single word the entire time. We were suddenly shaken by the sound of a zombie-like groan. Fumi's father appeared before us with a dazed look on his face. “Hey, get me some water to—,” began her father in a clearer voice when he suddenly noticed me and Saiki and stopped. “Your friends?” he asked Fumi.

“What about it?” she snapped back at him.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

I could tell that the atmosphere was tense and I desperately wanted to escape this place and just go home. From where I was sitting, I could make out Fumi mumbling something under her breath—probably just another insult aimed at her old man. She let out a groan and said, “This is my father, Koba Nobunaga.”

“A pleasure,” said Mr. Koba.

“Same to you,” I replied in unison with Saiki.

“Over there is Haruto Saiki, my friend from school,” continued Fumi.

“Ah, so you’re the famous Haru I often hear my daughter talk to,” said Mr. Koba with a smiling nod of his head. And then he turned to me and asked, “And you?”

“Oh, he’s just a guy from school,” Fumi told him casually.

“I’m Shiomi Yoshiki,” I told him.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Mr. Koba casually asked his daughter.

“No!” Fumi, Saiki, and I yelled in unison.

“Whoa! Talk about a crowd, ha ha,” laughed Mr. Koba. He walked over to a little radio sitting atop a shelf next to the TV. He opened the tape player and closed it back with a nod of his head. He then turned it on and pressed play. Music blasted out of the speakers and I could immediately tell by the retro sound that it was classic punk rock from the mid-70s. As the music was playing, Mr. Koba reached into his shorts and pulled out a pack of smokes. He took one out and placed it in between his lips when Fumi quickly lurched forward and stole it from him.

“I told you not to smoke when there are guests around!” she chastised him. Mr. Koba simply replied with a depressed sigh. As if to comfort himself, he turned up the music a bit until it filled the entire apartment.

“Do you like rock because of your father?” I asked Fumi.

“Huh?” she replied back harshly. It was clear that she was irritated beyond relief. I didn’t mean to push her buttons any further, but it appears that I had unknowingly stepped on a landmine. She sharply turned her face away from me and said with a scowl, “So what?”

“N-Nothing,” I told her in a quasi-whimper.

“She gets her music tastes from me,” said Mr. Koba happily. “Listen kids, back then when I was in my prime, I was actually part of a famous band—.”

“Enough about your glory days, old man,” Fumi snapped. “You caused us enough trouble by making us believe your were in need of serious help.”

“Right, sorry,” apologized Mr. Koba with a slump of his shoulders.

“It’s fine, Fumi,” Saiki reassured her. “But we were totally surprised to learn that you’re a fan of alternative rock,” she said with a smile.

“T-T-That’s—,” attempted Fumi. Her cheeks grew redder than a bunch of chili peppers.

“Why didn’t you tell us that? It would be fun if we can talk to each other about music,” said Saiki innocently.

“Sorry,” came Fumi sadly. “I’ve always kept my musical tastes a secret from others. You see, I had a bad experience back then with my music and my friends at the time.”

“It was her fifth year of grade school,” began Mr. Koba.

“Hey, old man, you don’t—!” protested Fumi quickly.

“She had brought a CD to share with her friends,” continued Mr. Koba, ignoring his daughter’s plea. “They listened to it together and her friends told her that they liked it. But the next day at school, they started rumors about the ‘horrible, dirty, and brainless barf’ that she listens to.”

I immediately grew angry upon hearing that last part. I knew that kids do horrible things to each other, but to call someone’s music ‘horrible, dirty, and brainless barf’ is going too far! I was about to say something when Saiki intervened. “That’s horrible!” she exclaimed. She had completely read my mind!

“What do you kids listen to?” asked Mr. Koba curiously.

“We listen to that so-called ‘horrible, dirty, and brainless barf’ too,” Saiki told him.

“Yep!” I quickly added with a nod of my head.

“I see,” said Mr. Koba with a relieved smile. “I’m glad that you’re Masafumi’s friends.”

Saiki and I exchanged smiles when something strange about what he had said struck us. “Wait a minute. Masafumi?” I asked skeptically.

“That’s her name,” Mr. Koba said, gesturing to Fumi. Fumi’s cheeks looked like they were about to explode.

“I-I-Isn’t Masafumi traditionally a male name?” I asked Mr. Koba.

“Well, funny story,” he said with a chuckle. And he told us the story of how Fumi got her name. I felt very sorry for her, but the story was too much to not be entertained by. I’m not lying when I say that I have never heard a funnier story in my entire life than what Mr. Koba had told us. It was the perfect ending to a night full of surprises.