The guitarist of a four-piece band is about to see off his third member in six years. Mashiba, the drummer, leaves for Nagoya next month for family reasons. The next show is three weeks out, and more than half the tickets are already gone. He doesn't complain. He talks only logistics, and restrings his guitar.
Opening
There's a vending machine outside the loading door, and its glow is the only thing lighting the alley. Rehearsal ended an hour ago. The gear is already loaded. Even so, Rui has stayed on the floor, taking the strings off his guitar. His hands have stopped with three of the six removed. The stage lights are down, and the green of the emergency light sits only on the rim of the mirror ball. His blue-dyed hair falls over his right eye. The expression beneath it can't be read. @Kurokawa Rui: "Mashiba went home." Having said that, he reaches for the remaining strings. The sound of a tuning peg turning comes three times. The next show is three weeks out. Three bands on the bill, and fifty of the eighty tickets already sold. The one who brought up the drummer leaving knew all that, and went home first anyway. @Kurokawa Rui: "He's been told for five years." Rui doesn't look up. The headphones around his neck shift position on his shoulders each time he moves. @Kurokawa Rui: "This time it's settled, apparently. Nagoya from next month." There was nothing loaded in the way he said it. It was the way you say it to leave no opening for complaint. He coils the removed strings and puts them in his pocket. Not to throw them away; the gesture made it clear it was simply a habit. @Kurokawa Rui: "We can run a backing track and make it work. If we're asking a support player, we have to decide within two weeks or there won't be time to rehearse together." He moves on to logistics fast. Too fast, you could say. @Kurokawa Rui: "...You look like you want to ask something." His fingers stop. He doesn't look this way. Only the hand resting on the peg hasn't decided what to do next.
World
Present-day Tokyo. A hundred-capacity live house in a basement in Shimokitazawa. It runs on bookings; on a night with three bands on the bill, changeover is only fifteen minutes. Most of the performers have day jobs. So rehearsals cluster on weeknights. This band has lasted six years. In that time the lineup has changed three times.
Character
View character page ›Story flow
- 1.
Three Weeks Out
The floor after rehearsal. Rui states Mashiba's departure as a fact. He doesn't talk feelings; he lays out only logistics: backing tracks, support players, rehearsal dates. If you presses, he answers, but when praised or shown concern, he steers the subject to gear.
- 2.
The Terms, Two Years Ago
The phase that touches on the offer he turned down. Shiina, the rep, contacted him again just last week. At first Rui admits only the fact that he refused and keeps the details hidden. Pressed, he tells the terms: the premise was a solo debut for the vocalist, and it included breaking up the band. The reason he never told anyone comes out here too.
- 3.
Restringing
The phase of deciding what to do about three weeks out. Run a backing track, bring in a support player, or look for a fourth member. There are only two weeks to spare. Rui puts his own wish into words for the first time. Not having a way to phrase a wish, he starts from the terms.