Double Planet Episode 1

Double Planet
Episode 1: "The day will come when you realize that that first step was a huge step."
Satoru Aono (Furuta Jun & Kanda Yota / Radio Shonan personalities)

A life dedicated to club activities versus a life where one chooses to go home after school.
Regarding the advantages and disadvantages that result from that choice.
In this age of diversity, there's no way your life can be determined by something as trivial as club activities.
That's what I (Satoru Aono), a 16-year-old philosopher, thought.

After classes for the day are over, I wander around the area near Fujisawa Station before heading home.
I spent the whole time on my smartphone until night fell, then I haphazardly finished my homework and lay down in bed.
I feel like I had a dream while I was sleeping, but I can't remember what it was about.
Every day, only vague, shapeless days are being archived.

"No... I can't take it anymore."

It was in December that I actually said that out loud.

Someone once said that high school life goes by in a flash.
The new year has begun, and it's now 2020. There are only three months left until the first year of school is over.
That was true. In fact, I barely remember anything up to this point.
It's about time I retired from being a silent philosopher. I can't afford to pretend to be enlightened and just rot away in old age.
I was finally mentally prepared to accept a certain truth.

"I wanted to be in a band."

When I became a junior high school student, the declaration lifting the ban on the internet gave me the freedom to use it.
I spent my time listening to all kinds of music. My entry point was J-POP. From there, I moved on to anime songs, game songs, and then to rock, EDM, and Western music. I listened to music everywhere without restraint. I devoured music like a hungry monster. As I listened to more and more, I gradually came to understand my own preferences. It seems I like the arrangements and sounds of what's called "band sound," the kind played by rock bands. To put it simply, I like cool stuff.

But even though I wanted to be in a band, I've never actually performed in front of an audience.
To begin with, I'm not an expert in musical instruments other than castanets and recorders, which I was taught in compulsory education.
Still, I'm interested. This feeling is genuine, judging by how it won't go away anytime soon.

"I want to be in a band."

What would have become of me if I had chosen to join the light music club that April?
I couldn't imagine getting along with my classmates, whose musical tastes were completely incompatible with mine (or so I thought). Even if I had joined, I probably wouldn't have had a place in the light music club (I wanted to affirm my irredeemable life by thinking this). I overthink things. It's annoying.

Can you really form a band all by yourself?
No, that's not a band anymore.
So, what will happen? What will become of me?

If I do nothing and become a second-year student, then the third-year students will come along, and my high school life will be over.

No. I know for sure that I won't be able to cross the finish line at this rate.
But I didn't really know what to do or where to start.

A Saturday evening when there is no school.

I suddenly decided to go to a music store.
A quick internet search revealed it was located near Fujisawa Station.
I usually don't venture towards the north exit, towards Yugyo-dori Street, which leads to Yugyo-ji Temple.
The illuminations were out of season and rather unreliable.

Is this a preemptive move in anticipation of Valentine's Day? Or is it simply laziness?
I don't really understand the objective.

As I walked on, I came across "Wakaizumi Musical Instruments Store."

I came here, but suddenly a strange tension washed over me.
I pretended to be a passerby and peered through the glass to see what was going on inside the store.
He kept walking back and forth in front of the store, glancing at it repeatedly. He was clearly a suspicious character.

To open this door or not to open it?

I agonize over something so trivial.
Since I didn't bring any money today, I'm just a window shopper.
Should we really allow customers like that in? Or should we just leave?

Let's think about it again carefully.

Let's do it another day. See you next time. Goodbye...

"Poron, poron"

I could hear the sound of a guitar coming from inside the shop.
A customer happily tries out a guitar, while a store clerk watches them.

Am I going to miss another chance to change myself?
If I run away now, I feel like I'll never come back here again. It's always been that way.

There's no such thing as "next time."

This is it. My first step is now on the other side of this door.

"Now's the time."

I was drawn to the door, spun around, and before I knew it, I was inside the store.

I gaze at the acoustic guitar hanging on the wall, captivated by the beauty of its body.
The texture is completely different from what I've seen online before.
It was shining so brightly that my own reflection was visible in the body as I peered into it.

Looking back, I saw a row of electric guitars.
The vibrant, pop colors reminded me of the 24-color crayons I had as a child.
Even though I can't play it, I suddenly felt the urge to pick it up and try to look cool.

For the first time, I wanted a musical instrument.
No, maybe you want a guitar, not a musical instrument? That doesn't seem right either.

"I want a future where I can play this in front of people someday."

I left the store in a daze.
What happened to Alice after she came out of the hole in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
Even though I'm not Alice, that thought just randomly crossed my mind.

I decided to walk back to the station along Yugyo Street.
Should your first guitar be an acoustic or an electric guitar?

Or maybe both? No, I'm getting carried away. Just one of them.

"Which one is better?"

First, how do I come up with the money to buy a guitar?
It was around that time that I started to think about such things.

I heard the phrase "Double Planet" coming from the radio station right in front of me.

"to be continued"