text20560;"""Lately, the strings of my guitar had started to feel more and more pliant.""" text20561;"""A couple of weeks ago, when I first started to play again, they would dig into my fingers like sharp, thin fishing lines.""" text20562;"""But now every movement I made not only brought the right sounds out of the amplifier, but was accompanied by a pleasant response from the string.""" text20563;"""Way to go, Nick!""" text20564;"""Mitsuyoshi praised me.""" text20565;"""So much progress in such a short time, I'm impressed!""" text20566;"""He spoke genuinely, but for whatever reason to me it still sounded like a routine compliment.""" text20567;"""Now, with the concert just around the corner, Z FEEL-Z definitely had no time to find a new bass player.""" text20568;"""Ishida wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked to us, and smiled encouragingly.""" text20569;"""For once I'm not worried about the rhythm section.""" text20570;"""Imagine if Yamada heard you right now!""" text20571;"""Both of them laughed, while I didn't know how to react, since I'd only seen their former bass player once, from a distance, standing in the audience hall.""" text20572;"""Guys, stop embarrassing Nick. Look, he's all red!""" text20573;"""Ellie sneaked up from behind and lightly elbowed me in the ribs.""" text20574;"""Ouch!""" text20575;"""I jumped in place in pretend.""" text20576;"""After that day, Ellie never offered me a \""pick me up\"" again, and seemingly wasn't taking any herself.""" text20577;"""I wasn't completely sure about that, though, so I kept a careful eye of her, noting any changes in her behavior.""" text20578;"""But I didn't notice anything in particular.""" text20579;"""Gradually, my suspicions began to fade.""" text20580;"""Let's go one more time!""" text20581;"""El, maybe that's enough?""" text20582;"""Ishida pleaded tiredly.""" text20583;"""If even he had run out of energy, it was definitely time to stop.""" text20584;"""Seems like someone's tired.""" text20585;"""All things in moderation! Nothing good will come out of exhausting ourselves.""" text20586;"""I was of the same opinion, even though I didn't feel that tired.""" text20587;"""Meanwhile, Ellie was beaming with energy — it seemed that if I came any closer, I'd get burned…""" text20588;"""I think Ishida's right too.""" text20589;"""Too? Who else thinks that?""" text20590;"""She stared me down, and I, smiling idiotically, looked toward Tokyo Rider… Who had just been standing behind the synthesizer.""" text20591;"""But wasn't there now.""" text20592;"""Ellie realized she'd started losing people to attrition, pursed her lips, and put the guitar away.""" text20593;"""That's all for today. Thanks everyone!""" text20594;"""Ishida and Mitsuyoshi exhaled in relief.""" text20595;"""Can I take the bass home? I mean, I have my own, I just don't want to switch instruments too much before the concert.""" text20596;"""Of course you can.""" text20597;"""Ellie shrugged, puzzled.""" text20598;"""I would've never been able to afford a guitar like it.""" text20599;"""So the last rehearsal before the concert is the day after tomorrow?""" text20600;"""Yes. And we start at two — don't forget!""" text20601;"""The сommanding tone in Ellie's voice made her sound like a general giving the last orders to his troops before the final battle.""" text20602;"""We won't. Alright then, see you.""" text20603;"""Once Ishida and Mitsuyoshi left us alone, I began to leisurely collect the cables and other devices.""" text20604;"""That's it, Nick.""" text20605;"""She sat on Mitsuyoshi's stool behind the drums and tapped out a syncopation. With an expression like she was about to tell me we were breaking up.""" text20606;"""That's it?""" text20607;"""I grew alert.""" text20608;"""You're a full-fledged member of Z FEEL-Z now! Congrats!""" text20609;"""Ah, you meant that…""" text20610;"""What did you think?""" text20611;"""Nevermind. Do I get some sort of medal? A membership card, maybe?""" text20612;"""Nothing like that…""" text20613;"""She threw her arms aside in disappointment, hitting a cymbal.""" text20614;"""I can only offer… myself.""" text20615;"""She started to take off her clothes.""" text20616;"""By now I was used to Ellie's expressiveness and sensuality, so sex in an empty rehearsal studio didn't seem quite so unusual.""" text20617;"""…""" text20618;"""We were walking home, hand in hand.""" text20619;"""I was carrying a case with the bass guitar on my shoulder, while Ellie had the bag with all the devices.""" text20620;"""The nights were getting longer, the starlight growing colder.""" text20621;"""But I was warmed by the simple thought that next to me walked a girl who loved me.""" text20622;"""We seemed to be floating down the streets of Tokyo, enclosed in an impenetrable bubble protecting us from the cold and darkness.""" text20623;"""The last few days had been so peaceful that I'd begun to forget the constant foreboding I had felt.""" text20624;"""I really wanted to believe that even I was meant to have some happiness.""" text20625;"""Do you believe in fate?""" text20626;"""Fate?""" text20627;"""Ellie thought a moment.""" text20628;"""I don't even know. If you mean that there's meaning to all our actions, yes, I do.""" text20629;"""No, I meant more like destiny.""" text20630;"""Why are you so philosophical all of a sudden?""" text20631;"""Difficulties in life make you wonder if there's any meaning to all this.""" text20632;"""Yeah? Found any?""" text20633;"""Not yet. But I'm still looking.""" text20634;"""Tell me when you do.""" text20635;"""We approached home.""" text20636;"""I no longer felt deeply awkward when Ellie called it our home.""" text20637;"""Except that today, Kagome was once again sitting on the porch of our home.""" text20638;"""Niko-san, Kobayashi-san.""" text20639;"""Once she saw us, she immediately stood up and smiled.""" text20640;"""Iwamura-san.""" text20641;"""Ellie greeted her coldly, not even looking too surprised to see her here.""" text20642;"""I just came to give Niko-san some papers for our Wednesday test.""" text20643;"""She took some papers out of her bag.""" text20644;"""I'm still our class representative, remember?""" text20645;"""Is it that urgent?""" text20646;"""But you weren't at school yesterday.""" text20647;"""Kagome looked genuinely surprised, like sitting at the door of a classmate's house and waiting for him on a Saturday evening was totally normal.""" text20648;"""Have you been spying on us?""" text20649;"""Niko-san and I are in the same class.""" text20650;"""She replied confidently.""" text20651;"""Of course, Iwamura used to act weirdly even before, but she'd always been aggressive rather than showing excessive and inappropriate interest in her classmates' academic achievements.""" text20652;"""Niko-san and I are very grateful.""" text20653;"""Ellie said sarcastically and squeezed my hand tighter.""" text20654;"""I won't bother you two anymore. Have a nice evening!""" text20655;"""She left the papers on the porch and passed by us with a strange smile on her face.""" text20656;"""What was that?""" text20657;"""After holding a pretty long pause, Ellie jumped away from me, stomped her foot, and sternly looked me in the eye.""" text20658;"""Are you asking me?""" text20659;"""She came to you! Brought papers for your Wednesday test!""" text20660;"""She mocked Iwamura.""" text20661;"""I swear I know just as much about this as you do!""" text20662;"""Ellie's jealousy was understandable and explainable, but I couldn't even imagine what Kagome really wanted.""" text20663;"""I only knew one thing — she had something on her mind.""" text20664;"""And I'm just as angry as you are!""" text20665;"""Yeah? And what are you angry at?""" text20666;"""Ellie, for God's sake! We spend almost twenty four hours a day together. When would I… ?""" text20667;"""She thought about it.""" text20668;"""Fine, I forgive you this time.""" text20669;"""But I'll be watching you!""" text20670;"""We entered our home accompanied by the cold whisper of the stars, leaving Ellie's guards to freeze in the car around the corner."""