Sayonara Piano Sonata Chapter 8

I grabbed my bass and escaped from the classroom immediately after school, heading straight towards the roof. Once I got there, I saw a girl in her uniform sitting on the wired fence, looking towards the sky. Her hair was caressed by the winds, and she seemed to be in a pretty good mood. It was Kagurazaka-senpai.

"Isn't that a little too slow, young man? The after-school bell already ended."

"No, it's Senpai who's too early......"

Lessons were still ongoing, so how could she get here before the bell finished ringing?

"The melody of the time signal at the factory opposite of us overlaps with the chimes of our school at this time, resulting in a coincidental and intriguing polyphony. I really hoped you could listen to it, young man."

"Haa." Speaking of which, it's a little too dangerous for you to be sitting at such a high place, right?

Senpai jumped down from the fence and landed right in front of me.

"Have you decided to join our club?"

"Well......" I removed the bass that was slung across my shoulders and leaned it against the fence. I was slightly hesitant with my words. "I'll need your help to learn the bass, but as for joining the band......"

"Why?" Senpai arched her beautifully-shaped brows.

"Because I just want to win back that classroom so I can listen to my CDs. I'm not playing the bass for Senpai's sake."

"But you came here quickly according to my instructions."

"That's simply because I'll need Senpai's help if I want to teach Mafuyu a proper lesson."

"So by needing my help, you're referring to me teaching you how to play the bass. You're using me just like I'm using you, right?"

The way she put it was rather blunt, but I still nodded my head honestly. If it meant winning against Mafuyu, I couldn't care less about my image.

A smile appeared on Senpai's face.

"Mmm, I see. You no longer have the expression of a loser."

Her smile wasn't as theatrical as usual—instead, it was an extremely natural smile. I was shocked.

"Isn't this fine? I've already predicted that you'll be joining us anyway. So let's begin!"

Senpai squatted down and took out a bunch of stuff from the backpack on the floor: a mini-amplifier with batteries in it, the cables for the amplifier, and replacement strings for the bass.

"...... But, why do we need to practice on the roof?"

"Young man, what do you think is the first step in training for the basics of bass?"

She directed the question at me as she took the strings out of a bag and unwound them.

"Hmm—isn't it practicing the finger crab walk?"

It's a sort of repetitive practice of the basics. The player sets a fixed tempo and begins pressing on the frets in order—moving from the index finger to the little finger—then plays out each scale in order. Because the left hand moves horizontally inwards little by little, some people call it the finger crab walk. Sounds noobish, but it covers the basics of guitar playing. However, Senpai shook her head.

"There's another thing that needs to be done before that. It's the reason why I called you up to the roof."

Senpai pulled the string tightly by its ends.

"I've set up a tightrope from here to the roof of the opposite dormitory using a string. You shall walk on it to the other side of the building."

I was stunned. I nearly dropped the bass as I was taking it out from its case.

"...... Eh?"

"You can't be a bassist if you can't entrust your life to the strings. I'll be here praying for your safety. You'd probably die if you fell off, so you better prepare yourself mentally first."

"No, no no no, what the heck are you talking about?"

"My my," Senpai shrugged.

"To become a bassist, it is necessary for you to undergo special training that puts your life at risk. You mean you don't know? Even the most famous bassists of Japan had undergone all sorts of training with their lives on the line. For example, they'd knock their head repeatedly with a tin can, or expose themselves to the blazing fire of a gas explosion...... and so on."

"So the famous bassists of Japan whom you're referring to...... are?"

"The deceased Ikariya Chosuke." [TLNote: Wiki page here]

"The Drifters is a comedy group, isn't it!?" I slammed the bass case against the ground. [TLNote: It's the Japanese band/comedy group, and not the English one.]

"The Drifters is a band as well! They were the opening act for The Beatles' concert. That's really rude of you, young man."

"I know that, so stop trying to change the subject!"

"The thing about the tightrope was obviously a joke. The first thing you should do is change the strings of the bass. Since the instrument has been in the store for quite a while, the elasticity of the strings has gradually slackened."

T-This person is just......

I didn't think there was any point in saying anything, so I just changed the four strings in silence.

"The real reason for me calling you up to the roof, is that!"

Kagurazaka-senpai pressed against the fence and pointed downwards. Without even looking at where she was pointing, I understood what Senpai was referring to—as the sounds of the guitar entered my ears. The classroom that Mafuyu practiced her guitar in was right beneath us.

Then again, I had taught her how to soundproof the room with the towel, so why could I still hear the sounds of her guitar? The carefree melody was Ravels'