Omi Fushimi/A Gentle Hymn

Midnight Metallophonist

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

	—Dorm Lounge (Evening)—
Izumi	Omi-kun, I got the borrowed metallophone~.
Omi	Thanks.
Taichi	Metallophone?
Omi	I’m in charge of metallophone for the upcoming music performance, so I asked Director if I can borrow one.
Kumon	Speaking of music festival, it’s the request from Rento-san, right?
Izumi	Yup.
Taichi	So you’re gonna play metallophone?!
Kumon	That’s kinda cool~! Amazing~!
Izumi	Okay, here’s the instrument we borrowed.
Omi	Hm? This is...
Taichi	Has it always been this small...?
Kumon	It kinda looks like a children’s toy...?
Izumi	It’s a temporary one that I borrowed for the time being.
	I was told that the big metallophone for the performance will arrive in the dorm sometime later, so instead they gave this to me for now.
Omi	Ahh, is that so. Let’s see…
Kumon	It sounds like a chime or a bell!
Taichi	A bell...? Aha!
	Omi-kun, I’m gonna try to dance and I want you to make the bell sound as a success sign!
Omi	Ohh, that...
Izumi	But the instrument’s a bit different...
Taichi	No problem, their sounds are similar anyway! Number one Nanao Taichi, will do a Double Unders dance!
Izumi	Haha, it’s like the trend from a while ago.
Taichi	I’m gonna do my best to achieve the success bell!
	*huff huff* ...How’s that?
	*low pitch ding*
	Whaaat?! That’s a fail sound!
Omi	Sorry, I couldn’t tell...
	Oh, is it this?
	*chime sound*
Kumon	That’s the chime!
Izumi	Omi-kun, you know that one, huh.
Omi	No, it’s just a coincidence. Uhh, success sound is, like this... No, like this?
Kumon	That’s also kinda wrong!
Taichi	Waahh~ I wanted to get the success bell~
	—Dorm Hallway (Night)—
Izumi	(Hm? There’s the metallophone sound from the practice room.)
	(It’s kinda slow... but this melody, it’s "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".)
	—Practice Room—
Omi	.....
Izumi	(As I thought, it’s Omi-kun. He’s practising really hard with it.)
	(Hehe, it’s kinda cute seeing the big body Omi-kun doing his best at playing the small metallophone.)
Omi	Oh, Director.
Izumi	Great job. So you were playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
Omi	Yeah, I wanted to get used to the metallophone, so I started with the easiest song to practise.
	...But it sounds terrible, right?
Izumi	I understood it was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" properly though! Besides, you just started learning how to play it!
Omi	Haha, thanks.
	I’m gonna practise again, so would you mind listening to it?
Izumi	Of course!

	—Practice Room (Day)—
Izumi	Ta-dah! The metallophone for the performance day has arrived!
Members	Ohh~!
Omi	It’s bigger than I expected.
Tsumugi	How nostalgic. We played this during grade school and middle school, right?
Tasuku	Yeah, it was a popular instrument back then.
Itaru	But since it wasn’t enough for the students, we always had to choose the winner through Rock Paper Scissors.
Izumi	Yeah! But I never win so, I always get the melodica.
Omi	Surprisingly, everyone have some memories with the metallophone, huh?
Izumi	How’s it for you, Omi-kun? Any memories that you had with it at school...?
Omi	No, I was in a class that doesn’t use the metallophone at all, so this is the very first time I ever touched one.
Tsumugi	Oh, we shouldn’t interfere with your practice then.
Tasuku	I guess so, then should we go now?
Itaru	Omi, do your best with the practice.
Omi	Thanks.
	*they left*
	However, when I look again at the big metallophone, I have this unnecessary thoughts of whether I can do it or not for the performance later.
Izumi	I’m sure you can do it just fine, Omi-kun! You did really well when you challenged yourself to play drums.
CHOICE 1: You'll get used to it soon [+] Izumi You’ll get used to it once you start playing it. Omi Well, I guess you’re right. This one might be easier to handle than the small one. Izumi Hehe. Omi Hm? Izumi Sorry. I recalled the time you practised playing the metallophone and I thought it was cute. Omi So you were thinking that while watching me practise. It’s kinda embarrassing...
CHOICE 2: You look good with it [+] Izumi I though the same with the drums, but you look really good with big instruments. Omi Really? Then all the more reason I have to practise properly to make myself not look bad. I’m not the only one who’s gonna play, but other members too. So I can’t let myself be a burden for them. Izumi I think that’s very wonderful, but... If possible, I want you to do your best and enjoy playing for the performance at the same time. Omi I see, I guess you’re right... Thank you. Somehow, I feel like the unnecessary burden has left from my shoulder.
Omi	I’ll try to believe in myself and do my best practising the metallophone.
Izumi	That’s the spirit!
Omi	I guess we’ll start with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" today too.
	—Hallway (Night)—
Izumi	(There’s the metallophone sound from the practice room... Oh, it’s "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". The tempo’s a bit faster than previously, he’s getting good at it.)
	Hm?
	(He did a little arrangement? What a great improvement!)
	—next night—
	(Oh? It’s not "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" tonight. This is... a famous classical music?)
	(Amazing, he can even hit chords with it...!)
	—next night—
	(I can hear the metallophone sounds from the practice room tonight too, but... it’s a medley of Christmas songs!)
	(Even though the tune and tempo changes one after another, but it doesn’t sound shaken at all. It’s like he’s a pro!)
	To think Omi-kun has become this good! He’s amazing!
	—Practice Room (Night)—
Omi	Alright.
Izumi	Omi-kun, are you going to practise now? I wanna hear you play.
Omi	Oh, I don’t mind.
Izumi	Hehe, can’t wait to hear it~
Omi	Haha, you’re putting pressure on me. I haven’t been practising recently since I was busy with my work...
Izumi	Huh?
	(But he practised every night, right...?)
Omi	I’m gonna start now.
Izumi	(...Huh? It’s the same unsteady Twinkle Twinkle Little Star that I heard from the first time he played.)
	(Then, who on earth played the metallophone skillfully in the practice room every night...!?)
	*door opens*
Manager	Oh, Fushimi-kun’s using it tonight~ I’ll refrain myself from playing it then.
Homare	It’s supposed to be for Omi-kun to practise with, so it can’t be helped. I’ll come again later.
Itaru	I’m gonna give up today too.
Izumi	Uhh, so this means...
Itaru	It’s been a while since the last time we saw metallophone, so we secretly played it. By the way, I’m pretty good at "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
Homare	Same goes for me, I took this chance to play it as many times as I’d like. As I thought, classical music fits well with the instrument.
Manager	For me, I played Christmas medley to fit this current season! Ahh~ that was fun!
Izumi	S-so that was it...
Itaru	Do your best with the practice, Omi~
	*they left*
Omi	Director, do you mind listening to my practice once again?
Izumi	O-of course!
Omi	...Ah, it’s really difficult.
Izumi	(It’s definitely unsteady at the moment, but that’s because he just started practising! Like they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!)

Meena