The Light Music Club

"Good morning, Tachi-kun!"

I waved back cheerily to the girl that had greeted me at the school entrance. I still couldn't quite believe that things had turned out this way. Only a few days had passed since the karaoke session, but it felt like it had been a lifetime ago. Iwasaki had grown into the habit of greeting me whenever we spotted each other in the mornings. I'd never even dreamed of the day when she would be this happy to see me. I had to keep reminding myself that this was actually real.

While Shinohara's underhanded plan of attack had caught me off guard, I had to admit that it had worked out for the best. Even Nakamura was in agreement that it was a step in the right direction. Though she made it clear that she thought things were moving a little too fast, and that for now it was best to take things slow and just enjoy the new norm, all that relationship stuff could come later.

One of the other new changes in my life was that I no longer spent lunch on my own. The five of us from the other night had been regularly meeting up to eat together each day since. Today, we had grabbed a table in the canteen and Inaba sat down next to Iwasaki, laying her bento box onto the table. She always brought her own homemade lunches, and today was no different.

“Wow, I wish I had cooking skills like yours,” commented Shinohara, staring down at his own store-bought lunch.

"It's really not a big deal," replied Inaba, "it's just something I enjoy doing.”

I peered into Inaba’s bento box and was amazed at just how neatly everything was laid out. It looked like it could have been made by a professional.

"It looks good," I said.

"How do you make it look so perfect?" Nakamura wondered.

"Practice. It's nothing special. My Mom's better at it than I am, and even my sister has got me beat."

"Still, you could easily work as a chef if you wanted," Nakamura said, "I don't think you should sell yourself short."

Inaba gave a sly grin upon hearing that, but quickly righted herself and thanked Nakamura for the compliment.

I had grown used to Inaba's personality by now. When we had all first started hanging out, I wasn't quite sure what to make of her. To be honest, I had found her quite intimidating. Not only was she the eldest of the group, but she was also the current president of the light music club. She always seemed to carry a stern air about her. But after spending more time with her, I realised that this wasn't the case at all. Sure, she was a little on the strict side, but she would do anything for the people important to her.

“Oh, I just remembered. Would you two like to come watch us practice this afternoon?” Inaba directed towards myself and Nakamura.

“Sure, that sounds like fun. What's the occasion?” Nakamura asked.

“Well, the school's Culture Festival is coming up soon, isn't it? We’re planning to perform one of Iwasaki's songs to promote the club.”

I noticed Iwasaki blushing slightly at her mention.

“Sure, we'd love to, right Tachibana?” Nakamura nudged me in the side.

Ouch, I got the hint, you didn't need to poke me quite so hard, Nakamura!

“Er, yeah okay. As long as it's fine with Iwasaki-san too,” I asked.

Iwasaki nodded happily in reaponse, “of course.”

That's good, I thought to myself. It seemed like she's starting to feel more comfortable around me now. It was a far cry from how awkward our earlier interactions had gone.

After classes had ended for the day, Nakamura and I made our way up to the light music clubroom. When we entered, we didn't find the same happy-go-lucky atmosphere like the last time we had stopped by. Instead, the three members all looked detected.

“Um, what's happened?” Nakamura was the first to break the silence.

“They're gonna close down the club!” Shinohara yelled angrily.

“What?”

“It's not set in stone yet,” Inaba sighed, “but apparently three members is not enough to warrant spending any of the club budgets on us.”

“It also means we aren't allowed to participate in the Culture Festival.”

“But isn't the festival a great chance to gain those new members?” Nakamura asked.

“It doesn't matter. If we aren't an officially recognised club, our slot is going to be given to someone else instead,” Inaba explained.

What a hopeless situation they had been placed in, I thought to myself. They had all seemed so pumped up about the festival when they mentioned it earlier today. There had to have been some way to fix this.

“W-what if we joined?” I accidentally blurted out my train of thought.

An intense look appeared on Nakamura’s face as she sharply turned to me and gripped me by the shoulder, a little too tightly.

“What are you saying? You don't even know the first thing about music, don't be stupid!”

“No it could work,” Inaba butted in, “you wouldn't even need to actually do anything. You could just put your names down as phantom members.”

“Yeah, and you already hang out with us a bunch anyways,” added Shinohara, “so nothing would actually change much.”

I looked at Nakamura expectantly, awaiting her response.

“Fine,” she groaned, letting go of my shoulder, “we'll both put our names down. Would that be enough?”

Inaba nodded, “five members should be more than enough to get them off our backs.”

***

“I thought we agreed that we'd take things slow,” Nakamura said, pulling me to the side after we had left the clubroom.

“I just… wanted to help.”

“And what would you have done If they had forced you up onto the stage with them?”

“...I didn't think that far ahead.”

“Clearly,” she groaned, “if it had come to that, I would have been dragged up there as well, you know!”

Ah, now I understood why she seemed so angry over this. I hadn't even stopped to consider Nakamura before I had acted so impulsively.

“I'm sorry, really.”

“Whatever, it actually worked out fine this time. Just… think things through in future before you act, or at least consult me about them first. That's what our partnership is for, isn't it?”

“Yeah, you're right.”

“As long as you understand,” she sighed again, “I'll see you tomorrow, ok?”

And with that, Nakamura disappeared from view. I collected my thoughts and started to make my way to the school's entrance myself. What greeted me, was yet another hurdle on top of everything else that had happened today.

It was raining.

Not even a light shower, but a full on downpour. Worse still, I hadn't bothered to bring my umbrella with me today.

“Well that's just perfect,” I moaned to no-one in particular.

“What's up, Tachi-kun?”

“Huh?”

I turned to the newly arrived voice to see Iwasaki collecting her things from her locker.

“Ah, uh… I kinda forgot my umbrella.”

“Well, I have mine,” she said, brandishing a deep red umbrella from her locker, “which direction are you heading in?”

I was sharing an umbrella with Iwasaki. I repeat, sharing an umbrella. Our shoulders were practically touching. I tried moving subtly to the side, but when she saw this she assumed I was just not getting enough of the umbrella's shelter so she moved even closer.

Gah!

I was going to have a heart attack if this kept up!

“Hey, um…” she began.

“Y-yeah?”

“I was hoping we'd find a minute to be alone like this. I, um, wanted to thank you…for earlier.”

“Oh, it was nothing really.”

“You must really care about your friend to help him out with his club.”

“Oh, Shinohara?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I want to help him out,” I continued, “but I was doing it for all of you. It's been…quite a while since I've felt like I really fit in with a group. When I heard you guys were in trouble, I felt like I had to help. I probably didn't think it through enough first though…”

I trailed off mid sentence, my mind drifting back to Nakamura’s ranting.

She smiled, “you're a good person, Tachi-kun. More so than someone like me could ever be.”

“How so?”

“To tell you the truth, a part of me felt relieved when I heard we wouldn't be able to perform. I knew it meant Inaba-senpai and Shino-kun would be disappointed, but I could only think about myself.”

“That's not true,” I countered, “you’ve always been someone that helps others no matter what. It's natural to suffer from stage fright, but that doesn't mean you're a selfish person. The others certainly don't think that of you either.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, “I think you're right. Inaba-senpai only invited you two along today to help me get used to performing in front of others. I have a feeling it's the same reason why Shino-kun brought you along to Karaoke the other day as well. Everyone's trying everything for my sake, I really don't want to let anyone down.”

“You won't.”

“How can you be so certain of that?”

“Because you've got everyone on your side, including me."

“Thanks, Tachi-kun,” she smiled softly.

“Ah! This is me,” I said, pointing down the street towards my family's apartment. She bid me farewell and carried on down the pavement with a noticeable hop in her step. She seemed to be in a much better mood than she had been. I'm glad I was able to cheer her up, even if it was only by a little.

It was then I realised that I had still been standing absentmindedly in the rain, my clothes already drenched through.

“Crap,” I muttered to myself as I rushed up the stairs to get inside.