Chapter 2.2: You Arrive, and I’m on Fire
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Upon entering the class Roy slowly scanned the room. Suddenly she stopped when her eyes reached Emil.

Annoyance spread across Roy’s face as she quickly approached.

Emil panicked with thoughts of Roy recognizing him from last week.

But instead of berating Emil, she directed her ire toward his neighbor.

“Natsumi!” Roy growled. “Wake up.”

She violently shook the table. Natsumi’s head sprung up, a spindle of drool connecting their mouth to the desk.

“Whaaa…” Natsumi mumbled incoherently.

“Jesus,” Roy hissed, “did you sleep at all last night?”

Natsumi languidly took off their sunglasses.

“I’m sleeping right now,” they replied with a roguish smirk. “I got a new delay pedal last week, so I was just playing random instruments through it and got some freaky otherworldly sounds.”

Recognition surged into Emil’s minds, widening his eyes.

“Natsumi, sleeping through classes is the reason you failed half your course last year,” Roy curtly stated.

Unable to contain himself, Emil suddenly excitedly blurted out “You’re famous!”

Both Roy and Natsumi looked back at Emil in surprise.

Emil turned red with embarrassment.

“I mean…” Emil stammered.

Natsumi had a huge grin. “I like this guy!” they proclaimed while looking at Roy.

“He’s talking about me, stupid.” Roy dryly retorted.

She then looked at Emil, with curious eyes. “Weren’t you the one peeping at me the other day?”

Both Natsumi and Emil’s eyes widened.

“What’s this?!” Natsumi smiled deviously. “It’s always the bookish ones isn’t it?”

Emil winced. Of course Natsumi, and Roy for that matter, wouldn’t be famous at this moment, they were still young unknown college students. Emil’s mind raced as he was trying to find a way to clear up the misunderstandings without revealing his unbelievable ability to see music.

“It’s true I was watching you, but it was only because I was so amazed by your drumming,” Emil pleaded. “I’m truly sorry if you thought it was inappropriate.”

Both Natsumi and Roy were taken aback by Emil’s mature way of quickly clearing up any misunderstandings.

“Yeah, I’m just messing with you,” Roy awkwardly replied.

“Anyway, you were calling me famous right?” Natsumi quickly interjected.

Emil thought quickly. “Oh, I’ve just heard a lot about you around the dorms.”

“That makes sense,” Natsumi retorted, somewhat disappointedly. “I am popular around here.”

Natsumi then gestured to Roy. “But Roy here is also popular. I’m surprised you don’t know her.”

“Um, I’m new to the program,” Emil answered.

Suddenly, the professor loudly cleared his throat, indicating that class was about to start. Roy then quickly gave Natsumi a warning glare before heading back toward the front. Natsumi looked at Emil with a smile, then shrugged and put their head back down on the desk.

The professor would go on to introduce himself, and give the reason why Roy was there. Roy was in her final year in the program, and because she had excelled in most of her coursework, she was working as a teaching assistant for the class.

Emil was looking forward to having Roy in class. It would give him more opportunities to interact with her. Perhaps he could muster up the courage to ask to play music together in a few weeks time.

While the professor would go over the syllabus and take questions about the class from the students, Emil would frequently look to the snoozing Natsumi. He was perplexed that someone who would become a world-famous multi-instrumentalist and award-winning composer, would arrive hungover to the first day of classes and sleep through the entire first lecture.

Staring at the young and carefree Natsumi, Emil recalled how their life unfolded in the previous timeline. Natsumi Yamada would become a singular force that would bridge classical, avant-garde, and popular music. For a time many music critics would place them within the same category as Philip Glass, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and even John Cage.

Moreover, they were extremely popular in public, a rarity for composers. As a non-binary gendered person, Natsumi was often beloved by fashionistas and influencers. They were outspoken about social issues, politics, but also funny enough to become a darling of the meme generation. If Natsumi was born in an earlier era, like the 1970s, they would have felt right at home in the glam rock scene.

Advertisers would clamor for a chance to feature this charismatic celebrity who was embraced by both high and low culture. At one moment Natsumi would make cameos in television dramas or host Saturday Night Live, and at another moment their sonic experimentations would be featured in unlikely institutions, like the conservative Metropolitan Museum of Art

But they would also consistently struggle with drug addiction. Natsumi would disappear for months at a time from the public, either because of rehab, or debilitating stage fright. The last Emil heard about Natsumi, was that they had retired from music, unable to use their hands due to nerve damage caused by drug abuse.

Rumors would circulate that much of their trouble with addiction came with the public pressures of maintaining a particular image that would please everyone, while at the same time surrounding themselves with people that didn't have Natsumi's genuine interests in mind. Several sensationalist documentaries would subsequently be made that fueled these rumors. This kind of scrutiny would make it extremely difficult for Natsumi to ever return to the spotlight.

It was a tragic story, and it didn’t sit right with Emil that the baby-faced person next to him would undergo so much suffering over the next decades. Emil’s meandering thoughts of the other timeline was snapped with the sound of bags and people shuffling.

Class had ended. With that Natsumi shot up, smiled at Emil, and slipped quickly out the door. Surprised by Natsumi’s sudden exit, Emil then looked back to the front of the room and saw an annoyed Roy staring back at him. Emil ended up nervously shrugging. She replied with a glare. Emil quickly packed up his backpack and left.

That night Emil's dreams were filled with many scenes, scenes that felt so real. He dreamed of a wedding, he wasn't sure whose. He dreamed of playing bass on a stage with Natsumi and Roy. But in his dream he also witnessed an awful sight, an empty dance floor, disappointed faces, and a crying bride. 

In his previous life, Emil was never married, not even close. He understood why he would dream of Natsumi and Roy, but why a wedding? After that night, even though he wouldn't have the dream again, the unsettling feeling remained. 

It had felt so real, as if he had truly been there. The memory of playing music on stage was so vivid. And yet, the reality was the opposite, his relationship with Natsumi and Roy was almost non-existent. From Emil's perspective, there was no chance he would share the stage with them. 

Over the next month a pattern would be established in class. Natsumi would arrive somewhat early and then sit next to wherever Emil had chosen for the day. Roy would come over and warn Natsumi to not sleep during class. Natsumi would then proceed to slumber throughout class, and then hastily leave the room at the end of lecture.

Rinse and repeat. Emil would eventually become numb to these daily events, accepting Natsumi's behavior as normal. Until one Friday, Natsumi didn’t leave at the end of lecture and instead waited.

They then turned to Emil and charmingly whispered, “watch this.” 

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