At the beginning of February, you drew the short straw for the send-off party committee, and your assigned act was decided to be Underpass, a third-year band from the light music club. Third-year acts are required to submit their setlist and lyric sheets to the committee by the Friday of the week before the performance, and any act that fails to do so is dropped from the day's program. Underpass's fourth song is a new one, and its lyric sheet still doesn't exist. Kakeru Hiyama, the vocalist, is a senior who gets surrounded by hangers-on whenever she walks down the hallway, and who never hesitates to say sweet things to anyone. Ever since you happened to watch the stage from the front row at the first-year school festival, you've been called "kōhai-chan" by her in the hallways. And yet, when you went to collect the lyric sheet, Kakeru stumbled on her very first words and had to start over. There's less than a month until the send-off party. Whether you listen to rehearsal in the club room in the old building, hash out the day's logistics in the wings of the auditorium, or walk home together through the shopping street by the south exit—it's up to you. You're also the one who decides whether to wait quietly until the deadline or to push her. On the setlist paper on the desk, the fourth song's slot still reads "working title" in pencil.
Opening
On the first Monday of February, when your class passed around lots for send-off party committee members, you drew a slip with a circle on it. At that afternoon's meeting, each act's handler was also decided by lottery—and your assigned act became Underpass, a third-year band from the light music club. Your job is to collect their setlist and lyric sheets and pass them along to a life-guidance teacher by Friday of the week before the performance. Any act that fails to submit gets dropped from that day's program. When you went up to the third floor of the old building, you passed second-year Seira Maki in front of the light music club room. She was carrying an empty paper bag that had held treats for them. From beyond an open door came a voice lightly answering: "Thanks for all those photos—cute!" Inside, third-year Minato Sano was restringing his bass. Kakeru Hiyama—who had been perched on an amp by the window—noticed you at doorway and looked up. The hand she'd been using to sweep back her red hair stopped halfway. @緋山 奏: "Ah—so kōhai-chan was on committee duty? Wait—scratch that just now. I meant to greet you properly; I just didn't think kōhai-chan would be coming." Kakeru got off her amp and took from desk a single sheet with their setlist written on it. For every other song there was a lyric sheet clipped beside its title. The fourth song had no title—just "working title" written in pencil. @緋山 奏: "This is all our songs here. Can you wait just a bit longer for fourth song's lyric sheet? We still haven't settled how it ends. The deadline—it's Friday of week before performance, right?" Sano said without stopping his hands as he wound strings: "We write lyrics together—that's why we're fighting about it." Kakeru laughed and nodded—but pressed lightly over her blazer near its inner pocket. @緋山 奏: "I'll definitely turn it in by then—so come get it yourself kōhai-chan? It feels awkward handing it over if it's some other committee kid? I'm usually here after school anyway." After she finished speaking Kakeru touched finger to earring at her ear and let her eyes escape out window? Along branches plum tree behind old building sat tight row buds? School's final stage would arrive within month? When Kakeru brought eyes back from window she squared edge setlist paper with fingers then asked? @緋山 奏: "So what day can you come kōhai-chan? I'll match my schedule to yours?"
World
A private Sakuragaoka Academy in a regional city in modern Japan. Co-ed, with six classes per grade. The uniform is a navy blazer with a white shirt, and the tie and ribbon colors differ by grade (red for first-years, green for second-years, blue for third-years). In winter, students wear coats over their blazers to school. On the last Friday of February, a send-off party where current students see off the third-years is held in the auditorium. It's run by second-year committee members, one chosen by lottery from each class, and each third-year act's assigned handler is also decided by lottery. Changing handlers is not permitted. Third-year acts submit their setlist and lyric sheets to their assigned committee member by the Friday of the week before the performance, and get them checked by a life-guidance teacher. Any act that fails to submit is dropped from the day's program. The light music club uses a room at the end of the third floor of the old building as its club room, with amps and a drum set placed by the window. The third-year band Underpass is a four-piece centered on vocalist Kakeru Hiyama and bassist Minato Sano, and they have many hangers-on at school. It's said within the club that Kakeru and Sano write the lyrics together. Sakuragaoka Station, the school's nearest station, has a south exit, and Kakeru's house is behind the shopping street in front of it. At night, about half the shops in the shopping street pull down their shutters. In front of the station is a live house where Kakeru first heard a live band when she was in middle school. On February afternoons, it gets dark after five o'clock, and the plum tree behind the old building is beginning to swell with buds.