"There really isn't a single one left," Tsushima Kagami muttered under his breath.
"Really?"
"Really!"
Yukinoshita Shizuku looked at him with skepticism, though she didn't press him for a sworn promise the way she had last night — the one where she'd made him swear he wouldn't lie to her.
The two were exchanging quiet whispers on the side.
Just then, Hiroi Kikuri suddenly spoke up.
"I heard Shizuku-senpai ntion during tea earlier that you not only play bass, but guitar too — and that you write songs."
"And I never even got to see you play bass that night."
"Could you play sothing for us?"
Hiroi Kikuri's eyes were sparkling with pure, starry-eyed wonder — the exact face of soone utterly starstruck.
"Wait, Kagami, you compose songs and play guitar too?"
"Didn't you say you couldn't?"
Sayuri chid in with sudden surprise.
"Kagami-kun, you're unbelievable!"
"If you could do all that, you should've said so sooner!"
"Co on, show us what this 'fuwa-fuwa, doki-doki, kira-kira' thing you kept talking about actually sounds like!"
Machida Sonoko excitedly grabbed Tsushima Kagami's arm from the side.
Kosaka Akane looked at Tsushima Kagami with shining, eager eyes.
If Kagami steps up himself, maybe we'll finally get so inspiration!
"Kagami, you can't keep hiding everything up your sleeve. You called here to form a band and then ran off yourself —"
"You won't even let us watch you play."
"Do you really consider a brother and them your friends?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka wasted no ti appealing to his sense of loyalty.
Tsushima Kagami gave a helpless glance at Yukinoshita Shizuku, who was smiling quietly beside him.
Just last night she'd made him sing for her and her alone — and now here at the light music club's little tea party, she'd gone and revealed that he'd written her a song and perford it just for her?
Ijichi Seika and PA-san both took hold of Tsushima Kagami and pulled him to his feet.
"We've seen what you can do with our own eyes — no way we're buying that 'I only know a little bass' nonsense."
"And Shizuku already told us — you wrote a whole song and played it for her yourself."
"This light music club practically exists because of you."
"You can't play favorites!"
Kosaka Akane leaned in too.
"That's right — you're the one who told us to go find that 'girly feeling.'"
"So if you know what kind of music gives off that vibe, you have to see it through to the end!"
And just like that, Tsushima Kagami was dragged up onto the stage by a crowd of girls.
He scratched the back of his head.
"It's just... kind of awkward, performing up here like this."
"Everyone here is one of us — what's there to be awkward about?"
"Get on with it already."
Sayuri called out cheerfully from her seat.
"Fine, fine."
Tsushima Kagami figured he'd just get it over with as quickly as possible.
Ijichi Seika lifted a guitar off its stand and draped it over him.
Tsushima Kagami was just about to start playing when Hiroi Kikuri suddenly asked,
"Senpai, do you want us to back you up?"
Tsushima Kagami paused, and looked over at Hiroi Kikuri, PA-san, and Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"You're okay with that?"
All three nodded together.
"Play out a lody — we'll try improvising an accompanint."
Tsushima Kagami gave a nod and switched his effects pedal over to overdrive.
He launched into a powerful strumd solo riff, running through it a few tis, until Hiratsuka Shizuka, Hiroi Kikuri, and PA-san each found a groove that fit the style and feel. All three looked over at Tsushima Kagami and gave a nod.
He ran through it once more, and the keyboard, bass, and drums all cut in together.
Then Tsushima Kagami channeled his inner ani energy, doing his very best to channel Hirasawa Yui's signature ditzy, innocent, sweet, and bubbly singing style.
And he sang the first line.
[キミを見てるといつもハートDOKI☆DOKI!]
(Every ti I look at you, my heart goes doki-doki!)
Down below, Yukinoshita Shizuku, Ijichi Seika, and Sayuri all instinctively covered their mouths to stifle their laughter.
Hiroi Kikuri and PA-san both burst into a suppressed snort before managing to hold themselves together — while Hiratsuka Shizuka just laughed out loud, drumming and cackling at the sa ti.
Tsushima Kagami paid them no mind and carried on with his exaggerated, performative singing.
[揺れる思いはマシュマロみたいにふわ☆ふわ]
(My trembling feelings are as fluffy as marshmallows, fuwa-fuwa~)
[お気に入りのうさちゃん抱いて今夜もオヤスミ]
(Hugging my favorite little bunny, drifting off to sleep tonight~)
And just like that, they arrived at the chorus.
[ふわふわ時間(タイム)] ×3
(Fuwa Fuwa Ti~)
He didn't repeat it a fourth ti — Tsushima Kagami simply stopped right there.
Hiroi Kikuri, PA-san, and Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had clearly not had their fill, were left blinking in confusion at the sudden halt.
The girls in the audience laughed and broke into applause.
"What's this song called?"
Ijichi Seika asked through her clapping.
"Fuwa Fuwa Ti."
In other words, the song known as "Fuwa Fuwa Tamago" from K-On!
"So that's what girly feels like?"
"I think I've got a little bit of a grasp on it!"
Machida Sonoko grabbed her notebook and started scribbling sothing down.
Tsushima Kagami gave an awkward laugh.
"It only counts as girly when a girl is the one singing and playing it!"
"I was just demonstrating!"
"Oh please, Kagami was plenty girly just now~"
Sayuri said, then turned to the others.
"Right, everyone?"
All the girls laughed and nodded in unison.
Kosaka Akane smiled and said,
"Do another one."
"Maybe Sonoko will find her inspiration completely."
Tsushima Kagami looked around at the others who had just improvised with him — they all looked like they still hadn't gotten enough.
In the end, he nodded.
Well, it's already awkward. Might as well do one more.
Tsushima Kagami thought for a mont, then walked over to PA-san and said a few words to her. She nodded, took his guitar, and headed off the stage.
He then went to Hiratsuka Shizuka, told her the foundation would be roughly Funk, demonstrated a rhythmic pattern, and looked at her — Hiratsuka Shizuka gave him a clear OK sign.
He moved over to Hiroi Kikuri next, demonstrated a few chord progressions and harmonic movents along with the rhythm, telling her to lock in tight with the drum beat.
Once Hiroi Kikuri understood, Tsushima Kagami made his way back to the keyboard, and dialed up a city pop timbre on the synthesizer.
He pressed down the chord. After the intro chords and arpeggios cycled through a few tis, Tsushima Kagami looked over at Hiratsuka Shizuka. She gave a nod, brought the drumstick down hard on the hi-hat, then gradually moved toward the edge, letting it fade — and as the keyboard chords fell and the arpeggios continued, she followed the established rhythm and eased into a breezy, lightly jazz-inflected groove.
Hiroi Kikuri's bass locked tight to the beat, its lines sticky and full of lodic feeling.
Tsushima Kagami began to sing in a soft, warm, languid voice.
[The whispers of love drift and scatter]
[You, too, will soon find your way to my side]
The first line ended, and it was as though the girls in the audience had already begun to sink into the song.
[We held hands and once ran free]
(Until the streets and the night sky t like autumn waters stretching wide)
[No regrets for the past, no fear of what's ahead]
[Let's fly together, free, into the universe]
Again, he stopped after just the first verse.
Everyone seed to still be drifting in the dream the music had spun around them, unable to co back down.
After a long mont, Ijichi Seika finally spoke.
"City pop?"
Tsushima Kagami smiled and nodded.
The song was Yamashita Tatsuro's Love Space — unlike Plastic Love, this track features no guitar at all, and the synthesizer tones most iconic to city pop — that dreamy, otherworldly quality — are deliberately dialed back.
But the lody of the vocals themselves take on the role that the synth textures would normally fill, and together with the harmonic progressions, one listen is enough to know: this is unmistakably city pop.
That's what makes it groove so deeply, without ever coming across as noisy the way so synth-heavy productions can.
Its bright, breezy character also puts it in vivid contrast with Plastic Love — which leans toward the night.
The whole song feels as if you're truly floating through a "Love Space" among the stars.
A sha the equipnt was limited — without the original orchestral arrangent, a few layers of richness were inevitably missing.
____
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