Jam Session
Mana looked around at the hustle and bustle going on around her and smiled excitedly. Jun was busy adjusting things on his guitar while talking with the other two members of their band through video conferencing on his laptop. Seita and Ryou were helping set up speakers and microphones, while Akira set up the sound system on Kei’s home computer. Kei and Yuka were busy setting up folding chairs in front of the whole setup.
“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for us,” Mana said, “It’s just our usual jam session with the others in Japan and Brazil…”
“Nonsense!” Akira spoke up, her eyes twinkling. “Ever since we found out you and Jun were in a band, we’ve all been dying to hear you two perform! And for that, the sound has to be just right!”
“And it’s lucky that Kei and Mrs. Nogami had this basement room in their house,” Tian added, pushing a pile of boxes to the back corners. “Even with all the clutter, the acoustics are great!”
“We’re just about ready,” Jun called out, “Is everything else set up?”
“Speakers and mics are all good,” Seita answered.
Akira nodded. “So is the sound system.”
“Okay, everyone gather around!” Mana said into the microphone in her hand. When all the people and Digimon took their seats, Mana spoke up again.
“I’d like to apologize to the other two members of Chaos Theory for the massive influx of audience members for this edition of our monthly jam session…” There was laughter in the crowd as she said this. “Our greatest, most horribly-kept secret got out, and now all of our friends know what we do every month! But not to worry – they’re very supportive, and they won’t mind if we mess up once in a while!”
“Enough yapping, time to perform!” Seita yelled out.
“Now, listen here,” Mana shot back playfully, “We’ll play when I say it’s time to play!” She looked over at Jun and nodded. Jun tapped his phone, and holographic images of the two other band members appeared on stage along with them. Mana looked out at the audience, her heart pounding in excitement, and her hand gripped the microphone tightly.
Then, there was the tapping of a drum, and Jun strummed out the opening bars of the first song in their set. Right on cue, Mana lifted the microphone to her lips and sang.
“Drowning in a sea of useless regrets,
in the middle of the night in a miniature garden…”
The audience bobbed their heads and clapped their hands along with the music, which in turn lifted Mana’s spirits to new heights. She closed her eyes and let her voice flow together with the drums and guitar.
“That’s why I wonder, who are we humans?
As we forget and live on and on and on
What’s that over there? It’s nothing
Don’t want to stop as failure always happens
As we learn and move on, surpass and advance
Take off and throw away our worn out shoes
The story continues...”
As the song finished and her mic hand dropped to her side, Mana stared back at the clapping and cheering of the audience, catching her breath and smiling brilliantly. It didn’t matter that it was only her friends, and in a small basement room – she felt as though she had performed for every royal, politician, and VIP on the planet.
Her eyes filled with tears that she hurriedly wiped away.
“Thank you...”
Notes:
The song Mana sings is Hakoniwa no Sekai ("The Miniature Garden World") by Pirokalpin. English translation by Yura. It's my headcanon that Mana and Jun’s band, Chaos Theory, is modeled after Pirokalpin, and Mana is the vocalist and Jun is the guitarist!