The Longing of Shiina Ryo vol. 2

  Part 2

  We got off the stage less than an hour later and moved our bodies slowly to the backstage, without saying a word before the door was closed and locked. Our band leader then broke the silence with remarkable lack of composure.

  “Well, that sucked.”

  In face of such a statement we could do nothing but follow her in the routine.

  “I made so many mistakes I could as well have played other songs.”

  “My blast beat was alright but coming back to the groove parts was harder than it should be.”

  “The crowd was almost blasé and we probably left a bigger impression by having the School Council president in our band than because of our music. They didn’t even ask for an encore, the uncultured swine.”

  A brief moment of silence was followed by spontaneous yet somehow perfectly synchronized laughter.

  “I’m going to miss this so much.”

  “You definitely are not the only one.”

  “Me too.”

  When it was her turn, Akane just nodded and I could tell it was not because of shyness.

  We left the improvised backstage behind and as Megumi left to get food while Akane followed like the world’s happiest shadow, Rin and I met her father, who was clearly waiting for us to come out. I was ready for stern words and conflict, but it ended up being very… different.

  “Certainly, I do not want you to run my company, Rin.”

  “Father, I…”

  He raised his huge hand and for one moment I assumed I would be a witness of familiar violence, but instead he patted his daughter on the head and made the School Council president look fragile and young like I have never seen her look.

  “My greatest wish is to see you doing what you love and do best, be it music or ruling the world as a dictator. You are my only daughter and I could never force my own views of the world on you, let alone make you walk a path I chose. After all you are your own person and should not compromise your dreams because of anyone else.” His extremely deep voice was softer now and the soothing way in which he spoke made me feel jealous of Rin. “And I know the company I built is not what you want for yourself; that is a good thing indeed, because it is mine and I have no intention of leaving it for a long time and am willing to fight over it against any person on Earth. It seems you’re going to have to find your own business, lady. Just let me know next time, you got it? I will support you if you allow me to.”

  “Daddy…”

  “It has been a while since you called me that…”

  Leaving that somewhat mushy father-and-daughter scene a tad too late for avoiding the puke in my mouth but still as smoothly as I could at the time, my feet guided me to the improvised backstage once more. If the man was going to reveal some detail that resembled the plot of a certain visual novel such as being the original owner of her guitar or something, I didn’t want to be there when it happened. We have enough problems as it is without facing plagiarism charges, so I walked away.

  Then I met Shiina Ryo and a big, loud argument began as a prelude to the wicked happenings that were to come.