"So you're saying, you bumped into Ruby?" Yang stared at my face and asked me that question while we were in the classroom.
"Yeah," I replied in an annoyed tone, "Though I think it was more of her waiting for me, than me bumping into her."
"Then… are you joining the club?"
"Why would I?!"
"Because, Ruby is the sort of person… who will definitely get her hands on whatever she wants."
Ruby said the exact same frightening thing to me yesterday at the courtyard in front of the practice classroom, with her index finger pointing towards me. "If it is something that I want, I'll do anything in order to get it, by fair means or foul. It does not matter if it is Weiss Schnee, this room, or you."
After she said that to me, Chopin's funeral march sonata came from the practice classroom, and it so happened to be at the part of the final movement where the whirlwinds were raging through the cemetery for a brief moment, I felt like dying.
Stop reminding me of those horrible things! Despite that, Yang caused those scary memories to resurface in my mind.
"I heard… that she had always wanted a guitar which cost a million yen. As a result, she went to work for the music store where the guitar was at, and she even managed to grab hold of the store owner's weakness, and ended up getting the guitar for free."
"What the hell are the police for!"
"Since she can get that guitar into her hands, Haruto should be an instant kill for her."
"So you mean I'm not even worth a million yen? Dammit. To be in the same club as that sort of person I really don't get what's going on in your head."
"But Ruby is really cool!"
"Yeah… she may look cool if I am looking at her from a distance of two kilometers away."
"It isn't that bad to marry Ruby, even if she's girl?"
"Alright, go ahead! But since Japan does not recognize same-sex marriage, go to Canada to get married instead! You know, Canada!"
"But both Ruby and I don't know how to cook. Why don't you come along as well?"
"The hell does it have to do with me!"
As I said that to Yang, the backdoor of the classroom opened, and Weiss stepped into the classroom. The preparatory bell just so happened to ring at the same time, as though it was reminding everyone that the place they were in is a classroom. She stared at me from the sides of her eyes, then proceeded to take her seat silently. At that instance, I stood up irritably and walked out of the classroom. A series of footsteps could be heard from behind me.
"What's with you?" Yang chased up to me.
"I'm going to the toilet! Don't follow me."
"I heard from Ruby… that you were defeated by Weiss?"
I stopped in my tracks. The bell which signaled the start of the class rang, and the students that had gathered in the corridors were swallowed by their classrooms. In the end, the only people left there were Yang and I.
"You can't quite consider that a defeat."
"Didn't she say… that those who don't play musical instruments are not allowed to get close to the room… and then you ran away?"
"If you think you can provoke me by saying those sorts of things, then you are dead wrong!"
"You know how to play the guitar, right?"
"You can't count that as me knowing how to play."
And the most important thing is… I had thrown away the guitar I used back then, so I currently do not possess any guitar.
"It's fine if you practice it all over again! Ruby is very good at that, so you can ask her to teach you."
"If so, why don't you ask her to directly invite Weiss into the band? She found out that Weiss is really good with the guitar, and wants to acquire that practice room along the way to use it as the clubroom, right? I don't think all those things have anything to do with me at all! I just hope that you can just leave me alone."
Yang became quiet all of the sudden… shit, that look of hers suggested that she was on the brink of crying and smacking me at the same time. But why? Did I say something to make her angry?
"Do you not know why Ruby is inviting you? Do you really think you are just a supplementary item of Weiss?" Yang's words sounded as though she was squeezing them out by force.
"… I don't… know." I couldn't help but cower, and I took a few steps back as well. My back slammed against the wall of the corridor.
"Haruto, you huge idiot! At your funeral, I'll say 'This man's life was really boring'!" With that said, Yang dashed back into the classroom.
What's with that! It would be great if I knew how to play the guitar, but… if only I could squeeze out some motivation in me after hearing Weiss playing the guitar.
Halfway into lunch break, I walked towards the old music building. Just as I stepped into the courtyard, I could hear the sounds of the guitar, and it felt like those sounds were blending up my brain directly. So that girl plays the guitar during lunch breaks too? Hah, I thought to myself that I should just come another time. Just as I was about to head back, my sight was attracted by something that was placed next to the door of the room. That was… a rubbish bag to contain trash that cannot be burned. What exactly is it?
I got close to the rubbish bag, and as I peeked inside, a burst of anger lit up from within my heart. Inside the bag were a huge amount of CDs—The Beatles; The Doors; Jimi Hendrix; The Clash; Oasis—all of them are from my important collection! How dare that girl do this! I cranked open the door forcibly, and slammed the door open. The sound of the guitar began assaulting me, but then it disappeared just as quickly.
"Didn't I say already, that you're not to enter as you please!" Weiss was sitting on the cushion on the desk and hugging her guitar. Her eyebrows were standing as she said that, but I was not about to retreat just yet.
I lifted the rubbish bag and protested angrily, "What are you doing?!"
"The cabinet's too small, so I just took them out of the room."
"Who do you think these CDs belong to?!"
"If they weren't yours, I wouldn't have tossed them out."
I was so furious to the point where I could not come up with a reply. What's with all that!
"Oi, since you are playing the guitar, you should respect the great pioneers of the rock genre!" And you should respect my private property too!
"I do not listen to rock or whatever, nor do I know anything about them. These things are an eyesore and a waste of space, so take them back quickly!"
Weiss pushed the dumbfounded me out of the room and closed the door. What flowed into my ears next was Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major. Yet another funeral march?! That must be deliberate, right?! Just then, a fast talking melody suddenly appeared in my mind—I ignored the funeral march for the moment, and concentrated my thoughts… Chuck Berry! Roll over Beethoven.
She dare say they are a waste of space? But she has never listened to them before! I have sacrificed half of my boring life listening to rock, and yet she's belittling them? I originally wanted to hammer the door of the classroom in frustration, but I thought otherwise in the end. There were better things I should be doing with my hands. I hugged the rubbish bag as I headed back to my classroom. As I stacked the CDs on my desk one by one, I started to think of ways I could beat Weiss up… though of course, I was not really planning to punch her.
The guys of the class came over: "You setting up a booth with all these CDs?" "All of them are western music." I was not paying much attention to them, despite them saying a lot of things.
What should I do…? How should I teach her a lesson? It's decided, I shall let her have a look at the greatness of rock. However, I can't just toss the CDs to her forcefully, so I finally managed to locate Chuck Berry's album from the huge stacks of CDs. After slotting the CD into my discman, I stuffed the earphones into my ears. The afternoon lessons of that day were spent listening to his songs.