Of course Eiichi had seen guitars before, and he knew there were large, bulky kinds that were made entirely of wood and used for folk or country music, and he knew about the electric kinds, like the one in Yukichi’s hands, but there was something strange about this one. He knew that guitars were supposed to have six strings, but this one looked like it had seven. What made it even more strange was the rod sticking out of that weird device that held the strings in place at the back. He couldn’t really remember ever seeing anything like that before.
Yukichi finished off the verse by making a harmonic, dissonant sound with three notes, and then his fingers took off, playing a momentary solo where instead of making use of the pick in his right hand, he used one of his free fingers to tap hundreds of electric notes, while the fingers of his left spidered up and down the neck. He finished it off by making a sweeping motion with the pick while his left hand spiraled down and then up.
He punched out the low string and let it ring while the backing guitar on the speaker played the rhythm repeatedly.
Yukichi’s hands made the sweeping motions again, while one of the accompanying guitarists on the speaker harmonized with his melody.
From Yukichi’s output, Eiichi had a feeling something even more intense was about happen. This was Yukichi’s favorite part.
The speaker went silent, Yukichi played a few free notes, a malfunctioning computer noise quickly faded in, and then things took off. The speaker exploded with all instruments playing together in a procession of split-second notes and beats, in symphonic unison with a single melody line from Yukichi.
Yukichi’s output oozed with pure determination, the sensation of going beyond one’s capabilities, surpassing human limits.
The song was all instrumental. Through Yukichi’s fingers, the instrument had its own voice.
Yukichi closed it off by playing one long scale, with his outstretched left hand crawling steadily up the neck while his right tapped more notes, and then went back into the hard-hitting main rhythm.
Eiichi listened to a lot of music, most in the metal genre. However, a lot of his tastes drifted towards 80’s, 90’s and some modern metal. He had never heard a style of music in the genre that incorporated so much without the use of vocals. He had seen his favorite artists on music videos and playing live, and had been fascinated with their abilities, but he had never seen a consistent performance like this, that had been centered around one instrument, and had created such an overwhelming sensation without the use of lyrics.
Noda herself was rather impressed with Yukichi’s skills and the entire display, and despite the music not being her taste, her output bubbled over right next to Eiichi with admiration and adoration.
They waited until the song came to an abrupt close as Yukichi finished playing one of the same sweeping riffs from before and then chugged the main rhythm to a stop.
Eiichi read that Yukichi was tired, but happy.
Noda began clapping her hands frantically, and Yukichi’s output shot up to a level of panic, making Eiichi touch his head.
“Bravo! Encore!” Noda beamed.
Yukichi whipped around to face his unnoticed audience, his eyes darting about. Eiichi could tell he couldn’t recognize them, because his glasses were still on the desk.
“I...I...I-It wasn’t anything special.”
His hand darted to them, and they waited for him to place them on his face.
He looked at Noda, and then saw who was standing next to her.
“Oh, Senpai!”
He got off the table and bowed with the guitar still in hand.
“Kid, I may have said I’m your senpai, but you don’t have to call me that.” But Eiichi still returned the gesture.
“This is your kouhai!?” Noda pointed.
“Like I said, he—”
“Oh! He’s so small and adorable!” Noda had lost all control.
She rushed over and wrapped her arms around Yukichi, nuzzling his hair while his face turned red.
“He-He’s not a pet!” Eiichi snapped.
“He has the cutest little face!”
“He’s not a child either! Lay off Noda, his ego can only take so much abuse.”
Maybe Yukichi’s mistake had been putting his glasses back on. They did make him look younger.
Though, after all the questioning and strain he had been experiencing from Noda, it was nice that she had found someone she could unleash her affections on. Funny how she could just switch gears like that.
Noda rubbed closer and Eiichi picked up, while Yukichi’s wavering and dizzy output was embarrassed beyond anything he had ever been put through, he was liking it. He likely felt her breasts pressing firmly up against his back as well, causing him some more amusing ardor.
Noda eyed Eiichi from her facial perch upon the crown of Yukichi’s head, “Well you may not think much of him, but I think he’s the cutest, most talented boy in this school.”
“I never said that!”
From his slouched position under Noda’s weight, Yukichi blinked and looked up at Eiichi.
“I want to thank you again, sen—”
“Uugghh...” Eiichi gave him a doltish look.
“E-Eiichi...ever since last week, people haven’t been bothering me.”
Noda released him. “What’s this about?”
“Eiichi saved me last week from some guys.”
“Oh he did, did he…?” She turned her attention on Eiichi and stared at him.
Eiichi patted the air. “It was just a minor thing, nothing to lose your head over.”
“No, no it wasn’t...” Yukichi mused. “They would always beat me and take my money, and he stopped it. He asked me to hang out after school with him from time to time. People would stare, but after that, they stopped harassing me.” He became excited. “Everyone stopped writing on my desk and trying to trip me in the halls! And I haven’t seen those guys in days!”
“That might be because they got expelled.”
“Even so, you helped me!” Then he lifted the guitar, gazing upon it. “I always wanted to share this music with people, but I knew if I tried bringing my guitar to school, someone would steal it. So I never did, until now. I was still anxious about it, but I knew as long as people knew I was your friend, they would leave me alone...”
This was something that Yukichi put his passion into, even if he had to use it as a way of escaping his troubles. He must have spent days in his room practicing, letting it make him forget about the things he dealt with.
“So thank you. Thank you very much, senpai,” Yukichi beamed.
Eiichi felt himself tensing up and leaning back.
He tried to relax. “Y...You’re welcome, Yukichi...”
“I am in your debt. If there is anything you need of me, you’ve got it.”
Eiichi cast his eyes down. What was he supposed to do with that? How many kids his age got to hear those words directed at them? Especially for someone in his standing. He only did what he knew was right.
He stared back at Yukichi. “Just keep doing what you love, Yukichi. And let no one tell you otherwise.”
Yukichi’s output floated with the same determination he felt while performing. “I will.”
Noda had been watching this as well, and there were fluctuating changes in her mood.
“So, did you compose all that?” she asked.
Yukichi chuckled. “No. No, I wish. I just play a lot of covers right now. My hope is to write some of my own songs. I have some ideas I’m working on, but I have nothing to use to record them on or create the backing tracks. If I just had a band, that would be nice.”
“Let us know when you want to show something you wrote,” said Eiichi.
“I don’t listen to any of this stuff, but I would love to hear another one!” Noda chimed in.
“You would!?”
“Yeah! You’re amazing!”
“O-Okay...” Yukichi blushed and then sat back in his former spot on the table. “I’ll try not to
mess up too much, I’m not used to playing in front of people...”
“That’s okay, go on! We got an eye and earful earlier.” Noda grabbed a chair and sat.
“And when we’re done here, we’ll help you carry your things,” Eiichi added. “It must have been tough getting them here.”
Yukichi remembered sweating on the way to school while lugging the guitar and amp in the cool spring weather, his paranoia mixed with his toil.
“Y-You don’t have to—”
“Seriously, I insist.”
Yukichi’s mouth twitched into a light smile, “Okay...thank you...”
“Yeah! Don’t worry about it! Go on! Go on!” Noda urged.
Yukichi stole a look out the window before readying the guitar in his hands and messing with his phone. “I really like playing this one when the sun is setting and the clouds are all orange like this.”
“Oooh, isn’t he the dreamer?” Noda smiled at Eiichi, as if this bore some significance to him.
A bass beat began playing on the bluetooth speaker that sounded muffled, with a pulsing rhythm. A distorted guitar riff began fading in and the music exploded with Yukichi playing the same riff, accompanied by a surreal symphony of heavy guitars, drums, and mystical synthesizer sounds. To Eiichi, it almost sounded like something from a fantasy RPG soundtrack.
Despite his quiet, well-kept nature, the music was a striking contrast, revealing a side to Yukichi less known to others.
Eiichi P.I., Vol. 1 Page 23
