Nameless Love Story ~ 03

[ "Mugendai no yume no ato no~ Nani mo nai you no naka ja~" ]

What do you think of the "underground"? Was it dark? Was it hot? Was it like hell? Well, in here, definitely it's hot like hell because...

The large mass of people gathered in this little space.

They do not have a large stage, so they allocated themselves in a small room with enough space to play as a band. Most of the audiences have predicted that it'll be hot, therefore nobody really wore too much in this place.

And so was the people on stage - dressing casually and sweating... but their faces were all happy. Everyone in this room was passionate for the music, enough for them to endure the heat and the suffocating space.

All their eyes focused on the center.

"THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR COMING TO OUR SHOW!!!"

"UWOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!"

The one with the blonde hair screamed into the mic, swiping away her trademark pink bangs to the side as she looked towards her enthusiastic crowds. Her grin was wide as she felt everyone's energy flowing in this room, as they came for her and her band...

"Once again, to those who just came in here... WE ARE NAMELESS DEAD MONSTER! And we're here to ROCK-YOUR-WORLDDDDDDD!!!"

"WUOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The guitar stormed in as the drums blasted away; fingers danced through the keyboards and another heated music exploded through the room.

This is Nameless Dead Monster, and with them... their passion of music.

Everyone down the stage rocked and jumped with them, screaming out as they enjoyed their heated music. Some sang with them, and some screamed for them. There were all sorts of passions going on down the stage, but they were all moving according to the music that they listened to.

Then there's a certain black haired who seemed out of space.

She didn't join the rest of the crowd in their crazy antics - rather, she stood on the side and looked towards the stage. Her eyes darted through the instruments, while her ears trying to filter out the noises from the audiences as she tried  hard to focus only on the music itself.

"YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

But as the singer reached the climax of the song, she couldn't help but smile at it.

"I told you you'll be alright," She mumbled softly to herself. No one else could hear her in this room filled with loud music. She stayed until the music ended, and the band finished up their numbers.

Even though she hated how packed this place was.

= = = = = = = = = =

"Thank you for coming!"

"Thanks for the help."

"Thanks for your support!"

The show ended, and most of the people already left, save for a few friends and supporters where they helped out with the cleaning up. The blonde let out a large sigh of relieve, and dropped to her knees as she finished packing up her own things. Her red eyes glanced through the room, and she found who she wanted to see.

"TSU-CHAN~"

She screamed and leaped down from the stage, rushing over to her best friend and housemate. She immediately gave her a hug, and squeezed her tightly. "You came!"

"Yeah..." The black haired one smiled with tireness, while patting on the blonde's back. "I can't believe you're filled with energy after those numbers of songs you did..."

"Well... to be honest, I don't," They parted soon enough, and Rika just laughed dryly. "I lost my breath in the, uh, 5th song."

"I noticed that, your pitches were off," Tsubomi snickered. "But hey, it's way way waaay better than your first show."

"Oh, the black history..." The singer slapped her head and covered up her face. "That was the worst. And it's only like, what, 4 songs? Ugh..."

"Glad you make it to 5 then?" Her friend grinned, patting on her back again. "I guess it's time for 6 then?"

"Yeah-"

"Oi Rika! I need your help here!" One of the band mates screamed from the stage.

"ALRIGHT!" And Rika just screamed back at them, but immediately changed her tone towards Tsubomi. "I'll see you later, ok?"

"Mmm. You need any help from me?"

"Nah, I'll be fine!" She grinned back at the taller lady, before running back towards the stage.

= = = = = = = = =

"See ya tomorrow!"

"See ya!"

As Rika's finally done with everything, she grabbed her stuffs and leaped down the stage. She ran towards Tsubomi's who's currently playing with her phone while waiting for her arrival.

"Let's go!"

"Mmm."

Then she kept her phone back, while followed Rika home.

"You know, I think that the 7th song can be much better..."

"You mean the arrangement? I knew it's a lil' bit too empty..."

"Do you think you can add some flute sounds back there?"

"Eh~ That's so much works! But I guess she can try-"

And they chatted all the way back.

Yet another day of the two musicians.

Two supporting friends.

Nameless Love Story ~ 02

Tokyo Geidai.

While the university itself includes all subjects of arts, the Music Department itself is something that one would die to go in for. Many great musicians came from this department, especially famous composers like Hamauzu Masashi, Hamaguchi Shiro, and Iwasaki Taku. They aspired more young musicians to join their ranks in the music world, and became one of the beacons that light up their world...

...that's what made them wanted to study in Tokyo Geidai.

"Rika."

"Hmm?"

"Could you help me out in this part?" Tsubomi showed Rika another part of the score in her laptop, and pointed at the guitar's part.

"...Tsu-chan, sometimes I really wonder who's majoring in Composition - you, or me?" Rika sighed, and sat down with her housemate.

"Well... I'm a pianist, not a guitarist."

"And you expect me, a drummer, to know better?"

"At least you're in a band! You should know more than I do!" Tsubomi pouted, crossing her arms. "Plus, you're a songwriter!"

"...a songwriter doesn't make me know better, Tsu-chan," Rika made a bemused face. Unlike previously where she could hastily type in stuffs and alternate the score, this time she had to think. "Uhhh... what kind of guitar pattern you wanted?"

"Uh. I don't know."

Pause.

"Well. That's why you're helping me out here, right?"

Another pause.

"..." Rika sighed, thinking about other possibilities. "Do you want me to call my guitarist up and take a listen of this?"

"Noooooo nonono!" The composer made a disgusted face, unmatched with her usual elegance. "He's gonna ruin most of the things... so nope."

"Well, you can always be steady enough and reject anything that you don't like..." The songwriter smirked, leaning back to the sofa. "I mean, that's what I do when he's doing something weird while I'm singing."

"...you're definitely closer to him, in which I'm not, obviously," The black haired rolled her eyes, hands heading towards Rika to take the laptop back. "I'll just have to think of something myself then."

"Orrrrrrrr we can always ask... Youtube!"

"...wat."

"Well, it's an option right?" Rika grinned, without giving back the laptop to the composer. She typed in "guitar patterns" in youtube and... "VIOLA! Look! So many videos that you can choose from!"

"...are you sure this is gonna work?" Tsubomi was skeptical though, looking at the titles being "Guitar Strumming Patterns for Beginners" and "Guitar Accompanying Patterns for Beginners". "I mean, we're not learning guitars-"

"Well, our job here is NOT to learn how to guitar, but how to USE the patterns in the songs!" The blonde didn't cared about her friend's objection, and pressed on one of the link... and links after links after links until both of them get it.

Or get BORED of it.

= = = = = = = = = =

"Phew! I told you it'll help!"

"Well, without you explaining how they can be added in... I really don't think I can do it," Tsubomi smiled in defeat, giving Rika a cup of chocolate, as she sipped in her own cup of green tea.

"Hahaha~ That's just because I know more about the band stuffs more than you do... speaking of which!" The songwriter took out her own laptop from her bag, and load some files up. "I need YOUR help on my part too! We're gonna try to do something that's like a techno-choral thing... So help me out with the choral part?"

"...are you the singer now, or I'm the singer now?" The composer smirked and mocked back at Rika.

"Hey hey hey, I'm the lead singer of Nameless Dead Monster, which is an underground ROCK band just in case if you have forgotten about it. Obviously you knew better in classical movements."

"Hey, you're a graduate of Tokyo Geidai. Don't say you didn't study these while you're in your first year," Once again, Tsubomi didn't drop her mocking tone, as she poked at Rika with the same... no, wider smirk.

"S-Shut up! It's not like I know the difference between composers and songwriters, ok?!" The blonde pouted back at the black haired one, who stabbed on her wound. She remembered those days getting scolded by a lot of people and looked down by the others since she has no idea what she's doing... plus the fact that her style was different from the others. "Besides, I didn't really understand the music world before I entered university anyway..."

"Yeah yeah... And you wasted a year of your life."

"S-shut up!"

"Hehe~"

And another day of the two music graduates.

Two bickering friends.

Nameless Love Story ~ 01

The beginning of another normal day: The sky was clear, and the day was filled with brightness. Everyone on the street was walking around, doing their daily jobs as usual. Shibuya, as Shibuya always was, a busy city filled with mass of people. Everyone who lived in this city has gotten so used to the noisy and busy moments that they forgot about how it was when it's silent and serene.

Walking amongst the people was Katagawa Rika, a short girl on her 20s. Her hoodie covered most of her flamboyant hairstyle of blonde-base with pink highlights on the right. Each steps that she made were following the tempo that she listened through her earphones.

[ "Dare mo kizutsuketakunai to omotta no ni...~" ]

She softly whispered and hummed to the song, and as busy the famous Shibuya cross was, nobody cared about her singing - whether it's good, or bad. They were busy with their own schedules - some of them even did the same as Rika did - popping in their own favorite tunes into their ears. It's as if the visuals don't matter to them, while they lived in their own music world of their own choices.

She skipped through the mass of people, and as she crossed the road... she became a little bit impatient. As the tune changed, her expressions changed too. From a blank faced that she had previously, she's now having a beaming smile on her face.

[ "Mezameta kono nankahen no seeeeeekai e~" ]

She screamed out the first phrase of the changed tune, as a few walkers DID noticed her, and shot an eye towards her. However, most of them still didn't care. Rika's eyesights weren't bad, therefore she noticed those people...

But she didn't care.

She has confidence about her own talents.

Once again, her steps followed the upbeat tune, and moved hastily across the many buildings. As she reached a grayish apartment, she stopped. Grinning once again, she hopping her way towards the 2nd floor - without panting - and danced towards the purplish door.

"I'm back~"

She exclaimed as she opened the door wide, taking off the plugs from her ears.

"Hmm? Oh, welcome back."

The one who responded was an elegant lady in long black hair - common for most Japanese ladies. She's typing on the keyboard frantically as her eyes did not leave her laptop screen. Her name is Minamoto Tsubomi, the other occupant of this unit.

"Whatchu writing?" Rika hopped across after she taken off her sports shoes, and looked into the screen from behind the black haired lady. In the laptop screen, unlike usual words when one typed onto the keyboards...

They're filled with musical notes.

"Mmm... Another song... I need to hand them in by tomorrow."

She replied after a slight pause in between, while her fingers didn't stop. After she finished a phrase though, she stopped. Her head dropped backwards while she sighed, resting them on the other girl's shoulder.

"You wanna listen?"

"Sure!"

Thus both girls smiled at each other, before linking the laptop towards the mobile speakers in front of them. With a press on the spacebar, the music started to play. The start was haunting, yet beautiful. The strings accompanied the vocals as they soon reached the climax where the drums came in...

...and then Rika frowned.

"Uh, Tsu-chan, I... don't think that's a good idea."

"...sigh. I know that. That's why you're here, right?" The black haired lady grinned back at her housemate. "You're the drummer, so you should know that."

"Eh, I've already long stopped practicing on 'em... but sure, I gotcha," Rika scratched her hair sheepishly, while sitting down next to Tsubomi. She took the laptop over, and started to alter the drums part. Tsubomi said nothing, and just looked at Rika. Her face seemed to be blank, but there was no hint of worry in there. "There, that should do it."

She played it once more, and this time... both of them smiled.

"It's nice that I have a drummer friend. I don't need to work so hard on this myself," Tsubomi sighed in relieve, stretching her arms for a bit.

"Heh, remember to pay me my share! And tonight's dinner's your turn!" Rika beamed back at her, poking at her housemate's arm.

"Yeah, yeah... cabbages, right?"

"Yes!"

And that, was the daily life of the two musicians.

Two great friends.