“Dressed to the nines Miyako?” my new Father asked as I stepped out of my room, he was waiting to ambush me the whole time. He knew how I didn’t like to wear overly girly stuff in front of him. I was back in a dress again, one of the dresses that Reina had picked out during our shopping trip.

“I’m not going to show up in my usual. Don’t you dare take any pictures.”

“You’re safe for now, but your Mother might want some mementos.”

“Well she’s going to be disappointed.”

The town regularly held festivals like this one to try and attract people to main street. They’d become routine after the first few, so after a long sabbatical it’s back for the season. The main shopping street and market building had been dressed up for the occasion. I slipped through the gathered crowds, mostly older people and some families, and came upon the area where we’d be playing in half an hour.

There was already a gathering of people in front of the stage. It was a big step up from playing in a cramped bar. I felt some level of nerves looking up at it. This was a proper setup, as proper as a volunteer run event could be. I slipped around the side and out to the back area, where several pieces of equipment were laid out on boxes and chairs.

An older man with a kind smile walked over and shook my hand, “Thank you so much for coming down! We were hoping that we could use our regular band, but it seems that they’ve had a big falling out recently.”

I had an inkling of who he was speaking about. A shame for them, a win for us. There wasn’t much more that Toya could have done to save things though. I learnt that it had completely fallen apart for them, with half the group peeling away to do their own thing.

I put on my most pleasant smile, “Don’t worry about it. We’ve been practicing hard to make sure we keep everyone entertained.”

“Where’s the rest of you?”

“They should be here soon. Hopefully.” I took a seat behind the stage and kicked back. A few minutes later Matoi, Johnny, Kei and Shinsuke filed through the narrow gap to the street in a big group. “Did you guys all come together?”

Matoi shrugged, “We ran into each other. It’s time to get ready.”

The men of the team grabbed their instruments and gave them a cursory test, strumming out a few chords and making sure the keyboard worked. It was a pretty cheap thing – Matoi didn’t want to bring his own for some reason. The difference in quality between that and the rest of the instruments was noticeable.

“Did he get that keyboard from the eighties?” Johnny quipped.

“Wait a minute,” Matoi got up from his seat and rounded it, looking at the serial number on the back, “Yep. I’m pretty sure he did.”

“Probably locked up in some storeroom somewhere. Longing for those halcyon days.”

I scoffed, “When did you turn into such a poet Johnny?”

“Hey, you’re not the only writer in this team.”

“When was the last time you wrote anything?”

“…A month ago.”

Not as bad as I was expecting. Johnny had given me a hard time for hiding away some of my work because of how personal it was, but he’d never shown me any of his. Kei cleaned up his fringe in the window next to us, “Pretty big crowd out there.”

“Big by this town’s standards, hey Kei, did you know that Miyako got scouted?”

“Shit, really?”

I slapped Johnny on the back, “Shut up man. I thought we agreed to keep that quiet.”

“Was it one of those big idol companies? I don’t know if someone like Miyako can keep herself clean enough for those prudes.”

“Sounded like the freak show to me. Johnny falls head over heels for every two-bit agent in Japan.”

“Aw come on, it’s a big chance you know? An agency is an agency.”

Matoi snickered, “You have a lot to learn about showbiz Johnny. You’re going to lose a kidney or something.”

“Or giving away his bank details,” Kei joined in. “You forced Miyako to go, didn’t you? She has the smarts to see right through that kind of scam.”

“It was totally legit! They have a website and everything!”

“Everyone has a website these days! You can buy one for a few thousand yen.”

Matoi stepped in, “We can mock Johnny later. It’s nearly time for us to get out there, any changes Miyako?”

“Nope. I left it the same since the last time. You’re all ready?” A chorus of affirmatives reached my ears, “And remember, this isn’t a mosh pit – this is the town festival for all the little old ladies, that means you Johnny!” He saluted me mockingly. We hoisted up the instruments and climbed the small wooden steps onto the stage.

We pushed through the cheap curtains and came face to face with a crowd of a few dozen people. Not the most ideal spot to put a stage. The plaza was busy, and people were trying to get past. A churn of people coming and going from stall to stall. There was a polite applause that attracted the attention of more spectators.

Kei lead us into the first song of the set.

We’d decided to go for something more relaxing than usual. Piano and chords and lyrics about living in a small town. We didn’t want to give those little old ladies a heart attack now, did we? The crowd watched with rapt attention as we began to get into the swing of preforming together again. I flinched when I saw phone cameras pointed at me, this would be all over the school the next day…

More people came and went over the following two hours. It was a real test of endurance for us, we’d never performed a gig for so long. It was something we’d have to learn to live with though. This was the reality of the lifestyle. After the end of the fifth song I grabbed a towel and dried myself off. The last thing I needed was for everyone to see me drenched in sweat until my clothes became transparent.

I turned to Johnny, “Your fingers good?”

“Buzz off.”

“We can take a break if you want Johnny.”

Johnny said nothing and started strumming the beginning of our next song.

We sat on the edge of the stage. The concert had ended, and the crowd has dispersed. A few of the people came over to us and asked a few questions. But they were warded away with explanations of how hard they were to answer. Matoi was in a good mood, “That was a great show, good work everyone.”

“It’d be even better if you weren’t stuck with that nasty old keyboard.”

I knew that I couldn’t put on a brave face forever. I’d already resolved to do something about Shinsuke’s situation. These moments of calm, where the entire club was sat on the edge of the stage as the sun set, would they be shattered by Shinsuke’s family? Would he thank me or scorn me for trying to help? I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He was deep in thought. Shinsuke was always quiet, but even more so on that day.

Did he know that I was planning on telling the authorities? I’d already warned him when he stayed at my house. I had been hoping that he’d take matters into his own hands, but there’d been no indication that he did. One thing was for sure, it might damage our friendship, but I wasn’t going to sit back and let him get killed by his own parents. It didn’t sit right with me. It wouldn’t sit right with any reasonable person.

“You ever think about sticking with this? Trying to make work out of it?” Kei sighed.

I shrugged, “I don’t want to be the frontman.”

“Frontwoman.”

“What’s the difference? I don’t like being the centre of attention.”

Johnny jabbed me, “Could have fooled me! You decked some guy a few weeks ago, you’re the local celebrity now.”

“Decked? I threatened him a little.”

“And I can’t imagine anything scarier. You probably scarred the guy for life.”

“Good.”