Heavy Metal Truth

Soon, it was time for the school festival. I was dressed as Timmy Cage, a retired English guitarist who was prominent during the mid-60s for helping to bring British rock to the mainstream. And if you’re wondering if I was the one who came up with this—I wasn’t. My uncle was the one who made the suggestion. It was something about how my hair is very easy to work with and that I possessed the same body frame as him. In order for the costume to work, I had my hair in a long ponytail, which meant that I had nothing to cover my eyes. To combat this problem, my uncle gave me pair of sunglasses. Anyway, I played the role as a waiter for the café. I’ve said it before that I’m not good when it comes to dealing with people I don’t know. And this was a weakness for me. As embarrassed as I am to say this, I completely sucked. I was too afraid to look the customers in the eye and unintentionally gave them a bad impression of me, I was so nervous that I often tripped on my own feet when walking through the classroom, and I often got the orders wrong. I had caused a lot of problems for my class that they decided to send me to the back to help with the dishes. And I don’t blame them at all.

When it came time for my break, Ikki joined me. He was dressed as Fozzy Furlough, a British singer who was a pioneer of the heavy metal genre back in the early-70s. He had his hair ironed to make them more straight and wavy and he wore the singer’s iconic teashades. Ikki was also a server, but he did his job way more better than me. Like I said, despite being somewhat an outcast just because he associates with me, Ikki can fit in very well with the normie crowd if he wanted to.

“How’s the dishes?” he asked me.

“Good,” I told him. “How’s the serving?”

“Couldn’t be better!” He looked around and then brought his shades down a bit. “Listen, about the concert, it’s going on right before the end of the festival.”

“You mean we’re the last ones to perform?” I asked him anxiously.

“Exactly.”

“Did you specifically asked for this?” I asked him accusingly.

“To be honest with you, I would’ve, but it was already decided by the committee,” he told me. “We’re going after a band called ‘Metal Heroes’.”

“‘Metal Heroes’? What kind of name is that?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied with a frown. Suddenly, our classmates called for us. “Oh, break’s over.”

Our class's historic cosplay café had a good amount of customers. The prices weren’t bad and we managed to sell a lot of stuff—business was pretty good. Even though I’m now a dishwasher, I still did my job as well as I can. It was better than being a server since I didn’t have to deal with customers anymore. It would’ve been worse if my uncle saw my poor performance. Man, he would’ve never let it go if he saw me fall over and get orders wrong. He may be a cool uncle, but he can be very cruel sometimes.

My shift was done for the day and I quickly got out of my costume. I walked out of the classroom and found Ikki waiting for me. We walked together through the hallway and went inside some of the other classrooms and took part in their activities. We played a few games, saw a few presentations, watched a few short films, it was pretty alright for the most part. Ikki and I then went to get some food and had yakisoba.

While we were eating in the front courtyard, we watched the festival come alive. “Say, what do you want to do after this?” he asked me.

“I don’t know,” I told him.

“How about we visit Ai’s class? She said that her class is doing a haunted house, right?” he suggested.

“Sure. Whatever,” I replied.

We finished our yakisoba and walked back up to our hallway. We walked over to Ai’s classroom and stood in front of it. It looked like there was no one going in yet; we didn’t see a line or anything. Ikki and I exchanged glances and we both walked in, one after the other.

The classroom was dark and our path was illuminated by a string of lights set up on the floor. The lights themselves were dim, but gave just enough light for use to make out the path. With the dim lights, I could make some shapes and decorations such as wooden signs, talismans, tombstones, coffins, cages, and cauldrons. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t the least bit scared. And no, it’s not because I’ve been desensitized by listening to rock and metal or because I watch horror movies on a daily basis just because I’m a fan of rock and metal. Not every rock and metal is like this. And horror isn’t even my favorite film genre!—I like action-comedy films and musicals!

As we walked down the path, we were surprised by the students dressed as monsters. Yes, surprised—not scared. There was a zombie, a headless ghoul, a ghost, a kappa, a vampire, and a witch. Now, they gave me a start, I’ll admit that; but they didn’t give me a scare at all. We came to a corner and I could see the end. As we turned the corner, Ai jumped out to scare us by yelling, “Listen to my cursed music!”

She was dressed in a torn leather overcoat with black boots, black and white makeup on her face, a broken-necked guitar strapped to her back, and a giant red gash on her head. I admit, she looks kind of cool like this. But did she scare me?—Nope.

Ikki, on the other hand, actually jumped back with a yelp. He clutched tightly onto me and I almost fell over. Ai saw this and leaned forward with a, “Boo!” Again, Ikki jumped back. This time, however, he pushed me back and we both fell onto the ground. Ai quickly broke character and rushed up to help me. “Yoshi-kun!” she cried. She pulled Ikki right off of me and helped me up to my feet. “Are you alright?” she asked me.

“Yeah,” I quickly told her. I immediately made my way to the exit. Ikki exited right after me and breathed hard. Ai had also followed after us and her makeup looked even more gruesome in the daylight.

“What are you guys going to do now?” she asked me.

“I don’t know yet,” I told her.

“Ooh! Why don’t we go see a film together?” suggested Ai.

“Don’t you have to stay here and scare people?” I asked her.

“I can take care of this,” she told me. And a few minutes later, she had her makeup wiped off and was dressed in her school uniform. She had apparently told her classmates that her shift was done. “Alright, let’s go!”

As we turned around to go wherever Ai would lead us to, we came face-to-face with Haruto Saiki and her friends. Saiki looked like she was dressed as Marianne Montrose, an American actress from the 60s. Fumi was undoubtedly cosplaying Jane of France, and Taka wore an aviators outfit reminiscent of Emily Reinhardt. I met Saiki’s eyes and she didn’t avoid me this time. She then turned and was about to enter the room when I suddenly spouted out: “Are you ready for the concert this evening?” She stopped upon hearing my question.

I had heard from Ikki that he had managed to convince Fumi and Taka to ask Saiki about singing at the concert this evening. But he never did get an answer back from them concerning her answer. I assumed that she had definitely said no and thought nothing more of it. But now, when I saw her and she didn’t try to avoid me, the question just poured out of me. I guess there was a small part of me that still wanted to believe she had said yes.

Saiki turned her face to the right so that I can see her profile. “Yes,” she told me with a small smile. And then she walked in with her friends following closely behind her.

She said yes. Haruto Saiki said yes! She was going to perform at this evening’s concert! Hearing her answer made me smile and I was doing somersaults of joy inside! I guess it pays to stay optimistic! And then that’s when I started to think about the reasons why she could’ve agreed.

Was she doing this to convince her mother? Does she think that she can even convince her? Does she even know that her mother is going to be there? Or maybe she’s doing this for the opposite reason? Is she doing this because she knew that this would her last chance to play rock or sing in a band? Is this going to be her farewell show? I let those questions stew inside and I began to feel a little unwell. I know, I was stupid to have done this.

The evening came a little quicker than I had anticipated. Most of the events were now wrapping up and everyone were lining up to enter the auditorium, which was where the concert was being held. I was standing backstage with Ikki and Ai. For this performance, Ikki was going to play drums and Ai would be playing bass. That’s right—remember when she said that she had started an all-girls band while she was in Okayama? Well, she had also picked up bass and was the band’s bassist and lead singer. Anyway, I was handling the guitars, and Saiki, wherever she was, is the singer.

The first few bands that played were all pretty good and the concert was off to a good start. The crowd enjoyed the music, there hadn’t been any kind of technical difficulties of any sort, and everything was going smoothly. When the current band finished, they got off the stage and everyone waited patiently for the next band to step on. The next band was the one before ours, the one called “Metal Heroes”.

Five minutes passed by and they haven’t made an appearance yet. Everyone was starting to grow restless. The MCs were really struggling to calm down the audience. Just when the audience were about ready to get up and leave, the auditorium doors opened and the most unexpected group of people entered. This group of people, which elicited surprised reactions from everyone in the room, consisted of the following: Uncle Shu, Juri, Mr. Koba, Kyo, and Haruto Ichiko. My uncle led Haruto Ichiko to a seat that had been set aside for her in the front row. And then he made it up the stage with everyone else.

The MCs were confused by what was going on. Uncle Shu took the microphone and said, “We’re ‘Metal Heroes’.”

“Oh, um, are you all not students?” asked one of the MCs.

“The signup sheet didn’t specify that only students can sign up and perform, did it?” asked my uncle.

“Um, no,” replied the other MC.

“Then we can play, right?”

Both MCs exchanged glances and then shrugged their shoulders. They walked off the stage and let the band take their positions. My uncle was playing guitar with Mr. Koba, Kyo was playing the drums (something that I didn’t know about them before), and Juri was the lead singer and bassist. She took the microphone and said out loud, “Are we all ready to rock?” The audience were still shocked about everything that was happening and didn’t know how to respond. Juri shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, get ready, cause we’re going to rock hard! We’re Metal Heroes, thank you for having us!”

They played their song and it was like nothing that I have ever heard before. It was introduced as, “See the Light, Hear the Music”. The guitars were driving and had a nice crunch to them; the bass was steady but rhythmically interesting at the same time; the drums were very technical and carried a very nice dance-oriented but progressive leaning beat. When the lyrics came in, Juri’s voice took on a different shape than her singing-voice with T.C.I. This time, it was more open and large, carrying operatic undertones but with the same rock-sensibilities as her T.C.I voice.

As I watched them play, I also stole a few glances at Haruto Ichiko. From the beginning, she didn’t look the least bit impressed. But as the song progressed and the music became interesting and the lyrics got more thought-provoking, I saw her expression change a bit. It was very subtle, but I saw her face loosen up a bit. At first, I had expected her to remain tight-faced throughout the entire thing—that was the impression she gave me ever since the first time we had met. But seeing her change, even if it was just very miniscule, reminded me that she was indeed very passionate about music. This gave me some hope. If she was capable of changing, then maybe we can accomplish what we had set out to do.

When it came time for the guitar solo, my uncle slayed it. He was on fire! He got the crowd going wild! His fast arpeggio runs, his precise string-skipping, his funky bends, his smooth sweep-picking, his compelling harmonics, it was a masterpiece within a masterpiece! But what intrigued me even more was when I saw how captivated Haruto Ichiko was with my uncle’s solo. It was the same look that someone has when they see a virtuoso for the very first time with their very own eyes.

The song came to an end and the crowd burst into applause. The band bowed and promptly got off stage. I can’t believe that my uncle really came to play guitar at my school—and I still can’t believe it! But it happened!

Now, it was our turn. Haruto Saiki still hadn’t appeared yet and I was getting a little antsy. When it came time for us to take our positions onstage, the auditorium door opened and Saiki entered with Fumi and Taka beside her. The duo quickly helped escort Saiki onto the stage. She walked up to join us and got behind the microphone. Our eyes met and I gave her a little nod. She nodded back and then turned to the crowd. “Good evening, everyone,” she addressed the crowd. She looked around the room and then she immediately became silent. I followed her gaze and noticed her mother staring back at us with a disappointed frown. To be honest, that scared me very much, too. But we can’t lose this battle, not when we have gotten this far.

I stepped up to Saiki and whispered, “It’s okay. I’m right here with you.” She looked at me and I gave her a reassuring nod. She smiled and nodded confidently to herself. “What song do you want to play?” I asked her.

“Love Shadow,” she said.

Hearing her said that made me smile. That was the song that we wrote together for my ITube channel. I nodded and told the other guys what we were playing. They immediately understood and we got ready to play. Ikki gave us the count-in and the song began.

“Inside the void are emotions/Manipulating what we do. We are slaves in their possession/It’s no different for me or you. Dark or light/Black or white/There’s one emotion that trumps them all. Love divine/Love is mine/Love, it cannot fall. There’s no light shining on my love/Hidden in the dark, I’m the queen of black doves. I’m no different than the people up above/I just have a…shadow love. Our minds are filled with temptations/The devil is calling you. We are slaves to his suggestions/It’s no different for me or you. Heaven or hell/Infernal divine/There’s one emotion that trumps them all. Love divine/Love is mine/Love, it cannot fall. There’s no light shining on my love/Hidden in the dark, I’m the queen of black doves. I’m no different than the people up above/I just have a…shadow love.”

As we played the song, I looked at Haruto Ichiko to gauge her reaction. Despite the critical expression she wore, I noticed that she was actually following the story of the song. But most importantly, she was listening to her daughter sing. I watched her listening with her ears wide open. Seeing this made me even more confident in our plan. The song progressed and by the time of the second chorus, I saw Haruto Ichiko change completely, which threw me off for a short second. She was watching us now with a small smile. It was very subtle, but it was a smile! She was actually smiling! I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing!

After the chorus ended, we played the instrumental break before the guitar solo. As we got closer and closer to the solo, the only thing running through my mind was: ‘How should I play this solo?’; 'Should I play it like how it was on the original track?'; 'Should I change a few things just to shake it up?'; 'Should I add some neoclassical flair to impress Haruto Ichiko?' As these questioned turned in my mind, I realized exactly how dumb they were and stopped. Why was I thinking them anyway?! I shouldn’t let my nervousness control me just because I was about to play a guitar solo in front of Haruto Ichiko. I should just play it based on how I feel. Yes, this is what any other guitarist would do.

Finally, the solo came. I took the chance to let my emotion take over and play whatever it wants to play. I played triplet arpeggio runs, tasty blues licks, pleasing harmonized chords, provocative pinch harmonics, and neoclassical phrasing. It all came together to become this raw, emotional solo that displayed every emotion I had in me right here and now. Once I was finished with my part, we continued on with the last part of the song. We finished the song and the crowd erupted into a massive roar of applause. It quickly became a standing ovation and we were just blown away! I looked over at Haruto Ichiko and saw that she, too, was surprised to see such a reaction from the crowd.

The concert ended and everyone left the auditorium to head to the folk dance on the track field. As I finished putting my guitar away, Saiki came up to me and pulled me into a hug. I was very surprised by this action, but it reminded me very much of how she used to be. “That was fun,” she told me cheerfully.

“It was,” I agreed. “Were you nervous at all?”

“At first,” she said with a tilt of her head. “But you were there for me.”

“And I always will be,” I told her sincerely.

“Saiki!” called her mother from downstage.

Saiki and I exchanged anxious glances. I let out a sigh and said, “It’s fine.” She nodded and went down to meet her mother.

As they were talking, Uncle Shu came up to meet me. “That was a very good show,” he told me with a thumbs-up.

“Thanks,” I said with a nod. “You didn’t tell me that you were going to perform at the school. How did you do it anyway?”

“Oh, let’s just say that the principal is a big fan of mine,” said my uncle with a cool smile.

“How did you manage to convince Haruto Ichiko to come?” I asked him.

“Just some convincing and high school memories,” he told me cryptically. I didn’t know what he meant by that, but I decided not to press any further.

I turned my attention to Saiki and her mother. They were talking and it looked to be very important. I didn’t want to interrupt and just watched from afar. After about a few minutes of serious discussion, both mother and daughter looked up at the stage. At first, I thought that they were looking at the instruments or stage design or something. It took me about a minute to figure out that they were both looking at me. Saiki held up her hand in a wave. I replied back with a wave of my own and an awkward smile. Haruto Ichiko looked at me with the same critical eyes as before and I brought my hands back down to my side. Her eyes then softened a bit and she flashed a very tiny smile. I saw this and couldn’t believe that it was real. I took this as a win and smiled back. And then the Haruto family left the auditorium together.