A wall of sound slammed through the rehearsal room.
Yuki sat on the drum throne, drenched in sweat. Her arms were raised high, drumsticks poised to fall—
The door opened.
Her drumsticks froze in mid-air. Her whole body went still, and her mouth slowly formed an O.
Rie was playing bass with her head down and had not noticed yet.
Maki crouched in the corner, adjusting her effects pedals. A whole row of brand-new, single-effect pedals was neatly arranged on her pedalboard. Their silver metal casings reflected the fluorescent lights. Her attention was entirely on the signal cable in her hands, and she did not look up.
Masami stood in the center of the rehearsal room with her back to the door. She was adjusting the height of the floor microphone stand, her hands gripping the cold metal pole as she turned the locking knob with slight effort.
The moment Yuki stopped, the beat vanished. The bass and guitar cut off immediately. The sudden silence made Masami's hands pause.
She turned around.
Her gaze swept across half the rehearsal room and landed on the person at the door.
She froze instantly.
…It was her.
They had met after all.
Ever since Masami signed the contract, she had known this day would come. She just had not expected it to happen like this.
Her movements halted for about half a second, and she took a deep breath. She released her grip on the microphone stand and tucked her pick between the index and middle fingers of her left hand.
She stepped forward and bowed slightly.
"Milady, it's been a long time."
Yuki's drumsticks dropped onto the snare drum head with a clatter, bounced twice, and rolled to the floor. Her mouth was still in an O. Her gaze darted frantically between Satsuki and Masami. Her lips moved several times, but too many questions flooded her mind at once, and she could not piece together a single complete sentence.
"Mil… Milady… Uh… Masami, how… Who is this…?!"
Rie hugged her bass tightly and shrank back half a step. She recognized Satsuki—or, to be precise, she recognized that aura. It seeped from the marrow and belonged to a world completely different from this sweat-filled rehearsal room.
Maki finally looked up. She glanced at Satsuki, then back down at the row of effects pedals at her feet. Her fingers unconsciously shifted toward the pedalboard.
Itakura poked his head out from behind Satsuki and introduced her to the three of them in a low voice.
"This is Milady Saionji Satsuki. The daughter of the Saionji Family, and also…" He deliberated over his word choice, "…an important member of the S.A. Group."
Yuki's O-shaped mouth finally closed, only to open again immediately.
"Sai… Saionji?!" She jumped up from the drum stool, nearly knocking over the hi-hat stand at her feet. "The Saionji?!"
Rie quietly tugged at Yuki's sleeve, signaling her to lower her voice. Yuki remained oblivious.
"Everyone, it's nice to meet you. I am Saionji Satsuki. It is a pleasure to meet you all."
Her voice was not loud, but it carried clearly in the newly quieted rehearsal room.
"I heard a bit from outside just now. It has a lot of power."
"…Thank you."
Satsuki looked past the band members, each wearing a different expression, and her gaze settled on Masami. The young woman before her was much taller than she remembered. Her shoulders were broader. Several calluses from strings had formed on her fingers, and her nails were trimmed extremely short.
The Okura Masami of Seika Academy—the young miss in a finely tailored uniform, her chin slightly raised, her eyes full of arrogance—was gone.
In her place stood someone far more composed. A daughter? A lead singer? A band member? Whatever her identity, she now seemed more like an eldest miss than she ever had before.
A faint smile played at the corners of Satsuki's lips.
"Miss Okura Masami, I heard your single last month reached the top twenty on the Oricon charts?"
"Yes," Masami bowed slightly. "Thanks to the company's support."
…
Satsuki did not put on airs. She looked around the rehearsal room and her gaze fell on a folding chair in the corner. She walked straight over, pulled out the chair, and sat down.
Itakura's expression shifted subtly. The cushion of that folding chair was stained with a patch of sweat Yuki had flung, and it glistened slightly under the light. He opened his mouth to warn her, but Satsuki had already sat down. The hem of her wool sweater rested on the sweat stain. Itakura silently closed his mouth.
"How has rehearsal been progressing lately?" Satsuki asked casually.
Perhaps because Satsuki seemed so approachable, the girls in the band were no longer afraid of her. After learning her identity, they became excited instead.
This was the super big boss! If they could satisfy her, wouldn't they be able to switch instruments whenever they wanted in the future?
Yuki was the first to answer. Her voice was still astonishingly loud, and in her excitement, her tongue clearly could not keep up with her brain.
"Super good! —Except Maki is always stealing my drum beats—ah, no, I mean, we are practicing a new song recently—it's that, that, what's it called—"
Rie whispered from the side, "'Glass Highway.'"
"Right! That's it! Rie's bass fills are now completely on point. The senior monitoring the recording session last time even praised her improvement—"
Splash.
The water bottle in Rie's hand tilted, and water spilled onto the neck of her bass. She hurriedly wiped it, the tips of her ears turning beet red.
"Sor-sorry…"
Satsuki looked at the flustered Rie, then at Yuki, who was still stumbling over her words. Then her gaze shifted to Maki in the corner. Maki had been crouching on the ground with her hands protecting the row of effects pedals. She looked up, revealing a pair of extremely serious eyes from beneath the brim of her baseball cap.
"Excuse me," Maki's voice was flat, "could the company approve another original 1959 Marshall JTM45 amplifier for me?"
The rehearsal room went quiet for a second.
Yuki's mouth finally closed. Rie's hand stopped wiping the bass. Itakura gasped.
Masami immediately stepped forward.
"Maki…" Her tone was gentle, but the pressure in it was clear. "This isn't the time to bring that up—"
"Please allow me to apologize on Maki's behalf, Milady." Masami turned to Satsuki and bowed slightly. "She doesn't really read the room."
Satsuki looked at Masami.
Then she turned to Itakura.
"Make a note of it."
Itakura froze for a beat.
Satsuki repeated it. "1959 JTM45. Make a note of it."
Maki's eyes lit up.
"Thank you, Boss." Maki's voice was clearly half a tone higher than before. "I'll place you on my home altar to worship—"
"Ahaha…" Yuki had learned her lesson this time and rushed forward to cover Maki's mouth. "Thank you, Milady! Maki didn't say anything!"
Rie also mustered the courage to step forward and grab Maki's hand, keeping her from struggling.
Watching the girls tangle together, Satsuki couldn't help but smile.
"Miss Masami, you have a group of very good friends."
"Yes," Masami looked at the three of them helplessly. "They are very… lively."
"I won't disturb your rehearsal any further."
Satsuki stood up from the folding chair.
She walked to the rehearsal room door and paused for a moment.
She did not look back.
"Miss Masami."
"Yes."
"That match you lost to me back then."
Satsuki turned her face slightly to the side. The curve of her lips was shallow, but meaningful.
"Looking at it now… it doesn't seem like such a bad result, does it?"
Masami froze for a second.
The air in the rehearsal room suddenly grew heavy. The three rowdy ones quieted down, though they remained tangled together. Masami lowered her head, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up.
"Yes." Her voice was very soft, but every word was articulated clearly. "Thank you for your 'instruction' back then, Milady."
Satsuki did not leave.
"Then do you still hate me?"
The moment those words fell, the temperature in the rehearsal room seemed to drop two degrees.
Everyone's gaze converged on Masami.
A long silence followed.
Then Masami raised her head.
"I still hate you, Milady."
Yuki's face turned deathly pale. Rie instinctively reached out to pull Masami's sleeve. Itakura's Adam's apple bobbed, and his feet unconsciously shifted forward half a step.
But on Masami's face, a heartfelt smile emerged.
"But I am even more grateful to you."
She paused for a beat.
"And hating you is because that is what you taught me."
"That is a very powerful strength."
The air in the rehearsal room solidified for about three seconds.
Satsuki stared at Masami for a long while, and Masami did not avoid her gaze. Their eyes met across the rehearsal room like that.
Then Satsuki smiled.
A very light sound.
"It seems you really did crawl your way back."
She paused.
"Masami."
No "Miss."
Masami's eyelashes trembled.
Satsuki turned and stepped into the hallway.
Itakura followed half a step behind Satsuki, speaking cautiously.
"Milady… regarding Miss Okura just now, do you need me to pay special attention to her? For example, allocating more resources to her, or…"
"Do not do that." Satsuki did not look back. Her tone was flat.
"That would be an insult to her."
Itakura closed his mouth.
"You only need to ensure she can do her best. Allocate resources according to standard. Schedule programs as planned. No more, no less."
"Understood." Itakura nodded.
"Next, I am going to see Sachiko."
Itakura's footsteps paused for a beat.
He opened his mouth.
He wanted to say something but stopped.
In the end, he just nodded.
"I will arrange it right away."