Chapter 16 Section 7

Sooner or later, I have to say it, Zhigui thought.The more familiar you become in the future, the harder it will be to talk about it, and you can't always hide it.Naoki feels that such a relationship is more ideal in order not to make the other party feel unhappy, and to set a certain distance as if nothing had happened. "It's about my family. I have an older brother and no parents." "What's the matter, brother?" Terao asked. "In prison. Robbery and homicide. Fifteen years in prison." Because it was in a recording studio, his voice was extraordinarily loud.Terao and the four of them stared at Naoki dumbfounded.

Zhigui looked at them in turn, and then said: "If you have anything to do with such a person, nothing good will happen. I like your music and let me listen to it from now on, but it will still be uncomfortable if you do it together." The bassist, guitarist and drummer turned their eyes aside and lowered their heads, only Terao was still staring at him. "When did you go in?" "I was arrested in the autumn of the previous year and went to prison last spring." "That's fourteen years!" Zhigui nodded.I don't know what the point of this question is.

Terao looked at the other three partners, then turned to look at Naoki: "That's right. Really, when it comes to people, no matter who they are, they all bear their own hardships!" "Because of these things, I..." "Wait!" Terao's expression seemed to be a little bored, and he stretched out his hand, "I understand what you said. I think it's enough for that guy, and you are too pitiful. But, your brother's matter has nothing to do with you What's the matter! Doesn't this matter have nothing to do with the band?" "I'm glad you can say that, but I don't want to be pitied."

"It's not sympathy, and it's not that you are in prison. What's the use of sympathizing with you. If your brother is in prison, your brother can't make music. Is there such a law? No, there's no need to care so much, right?" Naoki looked at Terao who was speaking earnestly. What he said moved people to tears, but he couldn't accept his words as they were.Although what he said was not a lie, but the truth, but maybe it was just a momentary self-satisfaction, Zhigui thought.It was the same in the past. After the incident, I also had friends who cared about me, but they all left in the end.It's not that they are bad, everyone takes themselves more seriously and doesn't want to get entangled with people in trouble.

"Why are you hesitating!" Thinking anxiously said, "We just like your song and want to work with you. It doesn't matter what happens to your family. Do you still care that our relatives are not in prison?" "It doesn't mean that!" "In that case, stop rambling on about those boring things!" "Boring words?" Naoki stared at Terao. "Boring! For us, the most important thing is making good music, everything else is boring. Nothing to say, right?" In response to Terao's question, all three nodded. However, Naoki remained silent.So, "Okay, let's do it!" Terao clapped his hands.

"Let's take a democratic approach, the minority obeys the majority. Who is against Takeshima joining the band?" No one raised their hands. "Then what do you agree with?" Of course Terao said, the other three also raised their hands.Seeing this, Terao said with satisfaction: "Out of the five people, four are in favor, no one is against, and one abstains. Is there anything else to say?" Naoki frowned, confused, "Is it really possible?" "You, didn't you sing John Lennon's "Imagine", imagine a world without discrimination and prejudice." Terao laughed.Zhigui almost shed tears.

The reaction of Yusuke Terao and the others is completely different from that of others who Naoki told Tsuyoshi in the past. There are not many people who show blatant indifference or sudden changes in attitude, but most of them are like the manager of a foreign restaurant. , A wall was quickly built, but the walls built by different people were thick or thin. But Terao and the others don't have that kind of feeling. The reason may be that they still need themselves in their hearts. This is a happy thing.If it wasn't someone named Naoki Takeshima, whoever it was would appreciate knowing that everyone wanted his voice.

wrong! There is another person who knows Naoki's situation and has not built any walls, and that is Yumi Shiraishi.Although I think she will probably not take the initiative to approach me again, but every time I see her on the bus, she still greets me without any hesitation as in the past, making people feel that she is someone I have known very well before. One day during his lunch break, he was lying on the lawn listening to his Walkman when he felt someone sitting beside him.When I opened my eyes, I saw Yushiko's smiling face. "What have you been listening to lately? What is it? Conversational English?"

"What's the matter, music." "Huh? Zhigui-kun also listens to music? I thought he was studying after becoming a college student." "Study is of course learning, but sometimes I also listen to music." "Oh, that's right. What music? Rock and roll?" "Ah, almost." He replied ambiguously.I haven't fully understood the genre of music yet. Yushiko snatched the earphones from Naoki's ears and put them on her own ears. "Hey! Give it back to me!" "Can't I listen to it? Hey! It's a song I haven't heard before..." Her expression changed when she said this.Turning from eyes full of surprise to Zhigui, "This, is it Zhigui?"

"Give it back to me!" He wanted to take back the headset, but she twisted her body and avoided it. "That's incredible, Naotaka-kun, are you working in a band?" "It's not me doing it, it's someone who asked me to join." "It's amazing to be able to do vocal music!" Yushiko covered the earphones with both hands, and her eyes were shining. "Okay!" He finally returned the earphones. "Since when?" "About two months ago, everyone else has been doing it for years, how is it, okay?" "The performance is pretty good, and Naoki-kun's song is even better! You can be a professional!"

"Don't say stupid things!" boring!Naoki made that expression.But in my heart, I was more confident because of Shizi's words.In the past two months, he has completely become a prisoner of music.He is happiest when he sings in the studio.I feel how wonderful it would be if it continued like this for the rest of my life!This idea is of course connected with a dream, which is to become a professional musician.This dream is also shared by Terao and the others.It is also the greatest joy to share the same dream with friends and have a lively conversation. "Do you always listen to it because you also think it sounds good? Are you happy to hear it?" "That's not the case. I'm checking for bad singing, and I don't have much time until the live concert." "Concert? Will there be a concert?" Yushiko's face suddenly lit up. Realized that I had talked too much, but it was too late.Yumiko endlessly asked about the concert.When is it?Where are you playing?Do you have a ticket?How many songs do you want to sing?Zhigui succumbed, and answered her questions one by one. In the end, she even took away the four tickets he was carrying. Of course, the tickets were paid to him on the spot.Originally, it was a joy to sell the tickets, but Zhigui didn't want to owe her any favors, and didn't want to cater to her enthusiasm for him. "I'm definitely going! Wow! I'm so happy!" As if she didn't notice his heart at all, Yu Shizi was having fun. There are only a few days until the recital, and it overlaps with the face-to-face teaching time at the university, so it is very difficult to adjust the schedule.But Naoki tried his best to participate in practice as long as possible.The cost of the recording studio cannot be spent in vain. Although it is shared equally by the number of people, it still has a considerable impact on the cost of living.However, he feels that if he loses this, there will be no point in living. Music has taken away more than half of his heart. Taking Naoki's joining as an opportunity, the band changed its name. The new name is "Cosmic Light", which originated from Terao's failed movement. He himself originally wanted to simply do an "X" symbol-like movement on his chest. It is very similar to Ultraman's posture when he emits cosmic light. I have repeatedly denied it and said: It's not like that!On the contrary, it became more interesting and became the name of the band. After meeting several times, the members other than Naoki and Terao are also completely familiar.They called him by his first name, and he called them by their pet names.What's interesting is that Terao has always solemnly called his surname - Takeshima.He probably called it hard to change from the beginning. Two hours after contacting, when he drank cheap wine with them, this was Zhigui's most relaxed moment.Let's talk about girls' things, complaints about part-time jobs, fashion things--the things that young people in the world usually talk about, and Naoki naturally joined in the middle.This can be said to be the first youthful time since Gangzhi's accident.The band members are like the wind, bringing something sparkling to Naoki from a world he hasn't touched for a long time. No matter how stupid things five people talk about together, they still come back to the same place, which is music.What kind of music do you continue to create, what goal are you aiming for, and what you need to do to achieve it.Sometimes the debate was very heated.If you drink a lot of wine, you will even make a fuss and almost fight.In particular, Terao and drummer Koda tend to get hotheaded, often shouting: "I quit!" "Do as you want!" Such scenes.At the beginning, Zhigui really sweated seeing this situation, but gradually realized that this was just a routine program, he smiled and ignored them, and just waited until the excitement of the two of them passed. Zhigui feels that they are all single-minded in taking the road of music.Except for Terao, none of the three went to college, and they were constantly looking for opportunities while working part-time.Terao was just making a gesture for his parents and making a name for himself in the university.Every time I think about this, I feel a little guilty.But I also thought that I could not drop out of school no matter what.He knew that graduating from college was the only way to motivate his brother in prison. I told Gangzhi about starting music.It is estimated that he may be worried, so he deliberately wrote in advance "to the extent that it does not affect his studies", avoiding the idea of ​​professional development, and intends to keep it a secret in the future. If he wants to disclose this matter, he will have to wait until his official stage performance is successful.If you have your own CD, you can give it to your brother.In that case, maybe Gangzhi would be very happy and keep him from knowing until then. The new group's first performance was at the concert hall in Shibuya.Zhigui, who was extremely nervous, went blank as soon as he got on the stage.When Terao introduced him as a new member, he didn't understand anything, as if his answer was wrong.Perhaps it was more amusing, though, as the roomful of guests laughed. The performance started before the tension was eliminated.Naoki seemed to see nothing in his eyes, only the voices from his companions flowed into his ears.Furthermore, through his repeated practice, it has reached the point where he will reflexively utter when he hears those voices, and he sang selflessly. Later, listening to Siwei's speech, after he uttered the first sound, the audience suddenly fell silent.Then, after the first verse was sung, the guests began to beat the time with their hands and sway their bodies to the music. "They were all dumbfounded. They must have never expected that we still have such a secret weapon." Terao said proudly. The first and second songs, Zhigui gradually stabilized while singing, and began to see that they were basically full, and they also saw their bodies shaking with their songs. Four people took the front seats, waving desperately.At first I thought it was a regular visitor here, but when I found out that one of them was Yu Shizi, I was a little embarrassed.Like she brought her friends and took the front seat, please the other three chanted in unison to have an orgasm.The most expensive gaze met Yushiko only once, and her eyes were brighter than usual. The memorable first concert ended in success, and the applause for singing again could not be subsided for a long time.Terao and the others said that there had never been such a scene. Booked a second showing right away.Meanwhile, Terao suggests recording an audition tape. "Send it to the record company. I've made a few before, but it's meaningless if I don't sing with Takeshima." It is said that a total of six songs are planned to be included.They are all original, and almost all of them are composed by Terao.There is a song that Naoki is responsible for writing the lyrics, but he doesn't like it himself. "Is the vocal part of the six songs all Naotaka?" Koda asked.His father works in an advertising agency, which can be said to be their only window into the music industry. "Of course it is, otherwise there would be no cosmic light characteristics, right?" Terao asked bassist Atsushi and guitarist Kenichi for their opinions.The two nodded slightly. "Exactly this." Koda said again, "Speaking of features, I think we still have two singers, and both of them must be excellent, so that we can show that we are the strongest. It's just that Naoki sings alone, It doesn’t leave a deep impression on people, and it doesn’t show our characteristics.” It sounded like Koda was still worried about Naoki.However, Naoki felt that what he said was right, and in fact, he also felt that since he joined, the lead singer of Terao has become much less. "There is a gap between me and Takeshima, as I said before." Terao seemed a little impatient. "Maybe that's the case. There are many bands with outstanding singers. If you want to stand out in this band, you must not be different from others." "Can't you do a little trick?" "It's not a gimmick. Yusuke used to be a singer, and at that time he also aimed to be professional. Isn't there a company that is interested in us?" The argument started again.I don't know if it is the influence of his father, Koda tries to explain the theory of success, but Terao is a little emotional. As a result, another vote was adopted. Four people, including Naoki, advocated that Terao should be the lead singer for two or three of the six tracks. "Takeshima, you have more confidence in yourself, okay! If you don't have a thick skin, you can't be a singer." Terao reluctantly agreed with the four of them.