old events in tokyo

Chapter 2 No questions about the west and east

Unknowingly, it was almost noon, and customers came in one after another in the store. The sound of greetings and conversations gradually filled this small izakaya.

Several people including Akiyama Kazuki also arrived one after another, and when they arrived, everyone was speechless for a while.

"Is Takumi-kun still attending training classes recently?" Kazuki Akiyama broke the silence first. Among the four members of the band, Kazuki Akiyama and Takumi Ishida are the most familiar. The convenience store where Kazuki Akiyama works now was also introduced by Takumi Ishida.

Ishida Takumi is also the guitarist in the band, and Kazuki Akiyama is the lead singer of the band. His best instrument is also the guitar, but most of them are rhythm guitars. After all, as the lead singer, singing good songs is his first task.

Because they have musical instruments that they are good at in common, the two communicate more in private. Kazuki Akiyama knows that Ishida Takumi's biggest dream is not music but to be an architectural designer.When I was in school, there were basically no absences for relevant courses, and I even signed up for training courses to take the architect certificate.

Ishida Takumi flicked the bangs that were covering his eyes, "The course is almost over in about a month, and after the certification exam, I'm going to apply for a designer position. How about Kazuki-kun, do you continue to practice guitar? According to Kazuki-kun's Talent and voice can completely consider continuing to take the road of music, maybe one day I will see Kazuki-kun appear on the live screen of the NHK Kohaku Song Concert."

Hearing Ishida Takumi's joke, Akiyama Kazuki couldn't help laughing, "You are so greedy, you bastard. If one day I really make my debut, I will save a sum of money to buy a piece of land. I will design the first mansion for you."

"Please give me the design. After all, there will be paparazzi secretly taking pictures from time to time, and maybe it will be published in magazines. This is a great opportunity for publicity." Ishida Takumi actually followed the line, making everyone laugh When I got up, as various dishes were served one after another, the atmosphere seemed to be getting warmer.

"I'm going back to my hometown in Hokkaido." It was Gen Hasegawa, the bass player of the band who spoke, poured a glass of sake and drank it down in one gulp, then lowered his head and picked up his chopsticks to pick up his favorite Japanese egg roll. But he couldn't pick it up anyway, and after struggling for a while, he simply gave up, poured another glass of sake and drank it down again.

"Eh?" Everyone was very surprised when they heard Hasegawa Yuan's words, because if anyone in the band values ​​music the most, it is undoubtedly Hasegawa Yuan who is the bass player.

Even though his head was broken and he had graduated for more than two months, even his livelihood was a problem, and he only ate discounted bento every day or directly ate chazuke and instant ramen in the apartment, but he did not give up his dream.

He longs to stand on the stage one day and use the bass instrument in his hand to pave the way to adjust the mood of the song, and then control the rhythm of the entire band.The deep voice always exudes infinite charm.

"Why did Gen-kun suddenly decide to leave Tokyo? Did you encounter any difficulties?" The keyboardist Yuta Kimura who asked was the best of the four. He lives in Osaka, Kansai, and his parents run their own store in Osaka.

So it is also the most unrestrained life. Although I have no job until now, I don't have to worry about making a living.Now asking proactively is also holding the idea of ​​helping if possible, which shows that he cares more about the friendship between the band members.

"My father was drunk and fell down the stairs two days ago and broke his legs. There is no one to cultivate the fields in his hometown, and my mother has to take care of the young sister. I may have been growing potatoes in Hokkaido in the future." Said. Hasegawa smiled mockingly.

After everyone heard this, they were silent for a while. The situation at Yuan Hasegawa's house was a bit special.In 89, his father saw that all his friends had made a fortune in stocks and land. He couldn't help his friends' instigation. He took most of the family's farmland to the bank as a mortgage, and put his original savings into the stock market and property market.

The result can be imagined, the two major thunderstorms of the bubble were waded by him all over the place, the land was auctioned off by the bank to pay off the debt, and half of his life savings were wiped out.

The originally hard-working farmer became an outright alcoholic, with only a small half of the farmland left to barely support the family expenses. The daily farming affairs were hastily dealt with, and then continued to drink drunk and hide in his own world, dreaming and dying.

For this situation, everyone can't help but feel sorry for Hasegawa Gen. If it's just a short-term economic difficulty, everyone can barely get through the difficulty together.

But this is obviously beyond the scope of everyone's ability, especially considering Hasegawa Yuan's dedication to music, but now it seems that the only way before him is to go home and farm, and the atmosphere is even more sad.

Don't look at Gen Hasegawa who laughed at himself just now, but Kazuki Akiyama saw unwillingness, resentment and helplessness in his eyes.

In the past, when the morale of the band was low, in order to encourage his teammates, he always spoke in the second language to encourage his teammates, and he did not care about the music and devoted himself to practicing bass skills. The figure is fading away in memory.

The dim light of the sky hit Hasegawa Gen's side face through the window, making him look sad and lonely in the darkness.

"Akiyama-kun, can I ask you something?" Yuan Hasegawa changed from sitting cross-legged to kneeling with his hands on his knees.

The address and posture are so formal, and Kazuki Akiyama's expression can't help but become serious, "Gen-kun, please tell me, if I can do it, I will do my best."

"Qiu Shan-kun, if you can, please don't give up! Your guitar skills can already be used as a professional musician. The most important thing is that your voice is very recognizable and has a strong sense of pitch. You are a natural singer!
If you can't stand on the stage and offer your wonderful performance, it's a crime against such an excellent talent!It's for the soldiers to sit down!

To be honest, I am jealous of you at this moment. You have excellent talents, and you have a family that supports your dreams. You don’t have to worry about other things and only need to pursue your dreams wholeheartedly. What a desirable and happy thing this is!

But these are not important now, so please stick to your dream of holding a concert at Budokan!I will follow you all the time in Hokkaido, and hope to see you in magazines, radio, TV, and record stores one day!please! "After Hasegawa Gen said, he fell down deeply.

"Yuan-jun, I have not forgotten the original dream, and I will work hard for it, please rest assured! In addition, no matter what kind of predicament you are in, please don't lose the direction of life. Life is not only about dreams, but also about those who silently care about you. family and friends.

I hope that one day when I go to Hokkaido, I will see Yuan Jun who is indomitable and can bring endless encouragement to those around him. "Akiyama Kazuki also straightened up and formally bowed to Hasegawa Gen.

Gen Hasegawa nodded silently and did not speak, the atmosphere was a little dull for a while.

After a while, Gen Hasegawa put down the bowls and chopsticks, "Thank you for the hospitality today, I'm going back to pack my things and go back to Hokkaido in the afternoon, gentlemen, I wish you good luck!" After saying that, Gen Hasegawa bowed, then stood up and left the table. go.

The remaining three people didn't have any intention of continuing to share, so they called the waiter Michiko.

"5000 yen in favor!"

After Akiyama Kazuki settled the bill, the three got up and left the izakaya.

“Welcome to visit again!”

The rain had stopped outside, and standing at the entrance of the izakaya, Yuta Kimura turned around and smiled at Kazuki Akiyama and said, "Kazuki-kun, I'm going back to Osaka too, I look forward to the day you hold a concert in Osaka, let's do it~ !"

Looking at the back of Yuta Kimura leaving, Kazuki Akiyama secretly sighed, his expression was not as relaxed and casual as when he came, but there was a heavy pressure on his face.

Today is the last time for a few people to sit and eat together, maybe there will be no such opportunity in the future, and they will go their separate ways from then on.

Maybe in the future, I will hear sporadic news about the other party from a friend's words, and then I suddenly realize, ah, does he already have his own family?

Maybe there will be occasional correspondence in the future, telling about my changes, but most of them are superficial, and then I find that the common words are getting less and less.

Thinking of this, Kazuki Akiyama suddenly hoped that this friendship would not fade away with the passage of time.Sincere feelings are worth remembering.

Seemingly seeing the change in Kazuki Akiyama's mood, Takumi Ishida took the initiative to invite Kazuki Akiyama to go to Shibuya together.

The two came to the subway station to take the subway to Shibuya. Because it was not the rush hour, there were not many people in the subway.The two didn't talk much, each immersed in their own thoughts.

(End of this chapter)