Double Planet Episode 1

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

A life spent passionately in club activities and a life spent choosing to join the after-school club.
About the advantages and disadvantages that come with 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 (Aono Satoru), a 16-year-old philosopher, thought.

After classes for the day, I wander around the area around Fujisawa Station before heading home.
While I was fiddling with my smartphone, night came, so I roughly 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.
Every day, our vague, contourless days are increasingly archived.

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

I said this out loud in December.

Someone once said that high school life goes by in the blink of an eye.
The new year has arrived and it's 2020. My first year will end in three months.
That was true. In fact, I barely remember anything up to this point.
It's time for me to retire as a silent philosopher. This is no time to pretend to be enlightened and languish in old age.
I was finally ready to accept a certain truth.

"I wanted to be in a band."

When I entered junior high school, the internet ban was lifted and I gained freedom on the internet.
I spent my time listening to all kinds of music. My entry point was J-POP. Then I moved on to anime songs and game songs, then rock, EDM, and Western music. I listened to music in all directions. I devoured music like a hungry monster. As I listened to more and more, I gradually began to understand my preferences. It seems that I like the arrangements and sounds that are played by rock bands, known as "band sound." To put it bluntly, it's cool stuff.

But even if I wanted to be in a band, I'd never performed in front of people.
To begin with, I am not an expert on musical instruments other than the castanets and recorder that I was taught during compulsory education.
But I'm still interested, and this feeling is genuine, as it won't go away anytime soon.

"I want to start a band"

What would have happened to me if I had chosen to join the light music club that April?
I didn't think I could get along with my classmates, who (at least I thought) had completely different musical tastes. Even if I had joined, there would have been no place for me in the light music club (I tried to accept the fact that I couldn't redo my life by thinking that). I overthink things. It's a pain.

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

If I don't do anything, I'll be in my second year, then my third year will come and my high school life will be over.

No. If things continue like this, we won't cross the finish line. That much I know.
But I didn't really know what to do or where to start.

Saturday evening when there is no school.

I impulsively decided to go to a music store.
When I searched online, I found it near Fujisawa Station.
Yugyō-dori Street leads to Yugyō-ji Temple, towards the north exit, which is usually off-limits.
There were rows of unreliable, out-of-season illuminations.

Is this a proactive move in anticipation of the upcoming Valentine's Day, or is it just laziness?
I don't really understand what the aim is.

As I walked further and further, I came across Wakaizumi Musical Instrument Store.

Although I did arrive, a strange sense of tension suddenly began to wash over me.
Pretending to be a passerby, I peer into the store through the glass.
He repeatedly walked back and forth in front of the store, glancing at us. He was clearly a suspicious person.

Should I open this door or not?

Just that one thing worries me to death.
Today, I didn't bring any money so I'm just a casual visitor.
Is it okay for such a customer to come in? Shouldn't they just leave?

Let's think about it again.

See you next time. See you next time. Bye...

"Polon, Polon"

The sound of a guitar could be heard from inside the store.
A customer happily tries out a guitar while a store clerk looks on.

Will I miss another chance to change myself?
If I run away now, I feel like I'll never come back here again.

There's no "next time."

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

"Now."

As if drawn in, I put my hand on the door, spun around, and before I knew it, I was inside the store.

I gazed at the acoustic guitar hanging on the wall and was mesmerized by the beauty of its body.
The texture is completely different from what I've seen online so far.
It's so bright that you can see yourself reflected in the body as you look into it.

When I turned around, I saw a row of electric guitars.
The pop and vibrant colors reminded me of the 24-color crayons I had as a child.
Even though I can't play it, I wanted to pick it up right away and look cool.

For the first time, I wanted to own an instrument.
No, maybe he wants a guitar, not a musical instrument? I don't think that's right either.

"I hope that one day I'll be playing this in front of people."

I left the store in a daze.
In "Alice in Wonderland," what happened to Alice after she came out of the hole?
Even though I'm not Alice, this thought suddenly crossed my mind.

I decided to walk back along Yugyo-dori Street to the station.
Is the first one an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar?

Or both? No, I'm getting too cocky. Just one of them.

"Which one is better?"

First of all, how should I raise the money to buy a guitar?
That was when I started to think about it.

The phrase "Double Planet" came from the radio station in front of me.

"to be continued"