Chapter 3:
We all headed to my room which, in the last few days, looked more like a part of a professional-level studio. Whereas, in the past, the room had grey walls without any kind of decoration and, even in furniture, it only had a wardrobe, a bookshelf and the bed. After discovering my real focus in life, my room was completely different. The walls were also Gray, however, in this case due to the acoustic insulation that I asked them to put around the whole room, leaving only a few spaces without insulation for me to put band posters to give a better atmosphere to the place. As for the furniture and things inside, I now had the bookshelf, countless posters on the wall, a stand for my guitar, a computer accompanied by a mini mixing desk to be able to produce the songs with high quality, a microphone and, of course, the bed. It was a real room for an aspiring rockstar.
We went inside and I started preparing things to start making music, until Saito started scratching his ass, and I realized that he didn't smoke until just before dinner.
"Saito, go for your smoke. But be quick about it"
"Bro, I didn't want to miss the moment we're having now."
"Everyone, is anyone against Saito smoking here?"
"For me there is no problem."
"I have nothing against either. Just don't get too close to me smoking if you may."
"Take an emergency ashtray. Just don't approach Aisaka as she asked."
"Thank you all so much for giving me permission"
"You're welcome, brother, we're here for you."
As this guy was one of my best friends, my house was more than prepared to welcome him. In every room there was always an emergency ashtray, as well as either a window or a ventilation system prepared to leave the environment clean after smoking. Of course, I spent a good amount of money installing the ventilation systems, but there is no money that can replace the comfort of a friend.
"Ok, everything is connected, let's start Aisaka?"
"Let's go."
I picked up the guitar while looking at the music and tried some simple and complex ideas to see the opinion of those present. The opinion of those present was as follows
"I think you need to do something simple, just strumming the strings at the beginning and then you give the full chords to make a simple but beautiful harmony."
"If you say so. Let's try it."
Aisaka and I tried and tried but that way of making music didn't seem to be the best. The music with strummed chords and not fingered was very powerful in terms of noise, and we wanted to do something much lighter.
"Guys, come up with a new idea. This is one doesn't seem to be working, because it's producing way more noise that we were expecting."
"So, if you think that the chords strummed in full make the song very noisy, try to do just fingering and see if it looks good."
I tried to do it this new way, however, it still seemed that something was missing. The music had to be perfect and that idea of perfection was blowing my mind.
"We're close, but I think something is missing."
"My friends, I know perfectly well what is missing. This song needs a solo."
"A solo?? You're crazy, Saito. Need I remind you again that I started playing very recently and these weeks I haven't trained much about it. The closest I've practiced to that have been arpeggios, and besides, on acoustic guitar they don't even look very good."
"The magical way you're going to put a solo there I don't know, but I'm almost sure that's what's missing in this song. She can't without just strumming or just chords. She needs chords, fingering and a solo. Only then can music achieve the perfection you seek."
"I agree with Saito. I do imagine that the solo will be complicated to do, especially being the first one you do, but I think that in this specific song a solo is essential to let the listener reflect on what they just heard in the chorus and in the verses."
"Okay, OKAY. I've already been convinced that it's the best approach. But how am I going to pull a solo now?"
"It's not as difficult as that. Remember that just because it's a solo doesn't have to be complicated, especially in a calm song. You just have to try to find the notes that fit well into the melody of the song."
"Fujimoto is completely right Nakamura. For someone of your calibre who in less than a month of practice managed to compose six songs, certainly writing a solo should not be a complicated task. We are all confident that you will make it."
Seeing the inspiration in Aisaka's eyes and everyone else's made me feel confident that I could do it.
"Just tell me where the solo would get better and let's try."
"I think the best would be after singing the chorus for the second time. I will prolong the last verse a little and so you can get on without hindrance."
"It looks a pretty fine idea to me. Let's try it out."
We began the two, in perfect harmony as always, to try to play for the first time the definitive version of this last song. Starting with a few chords played, followed by a light fingering, accompanied by stronger chords in the chorus, a pattern that repeated itself almost automatically both in my head and in my fingers. However, after we got to the chorus for the second time and Aisaka did the vocal extension, I was completely lost about what to do. I simply looked into her eyes and everyone else in the room and started to guide myself by the balls present on the guitar neck to make a solo slowly and that didn't go out of tune in any note.
When I was about to finish it, I looked at Aisaka and she looked at me and, as if we could read each other's minds, I went back to making a strong chord to move on to the chorus that she accompanied with completely improvised words. I felt almost like Kurt Cobain, accompanying chords, fingerings and simple solos and making great songs. As soon as we finished Saito and Fujimoto were completely stupid.
"Don't try to deceive us. You had planned his out."
"I swear to you we didn't. This was all done now, except the lyrics"
"Brother, I don't believe myself. This is too perfect to have been improvised."
"I don't know if you have a good idea but all the best songs in the world were improvised. That's how they come out better."
"Even so, this was ridiculously perfect. Did you interiorized the solo you made.?"
"Not in my head. But I can play it again with muscle memory, yes."
"So, if you want me to be honest, you're going to blast that café."
"Do you agree, Fujimoto, too?"
"All I'm going to add is that when you're famous I want a house like this just for the four of us to celebrate the old days."
"Ahahaha. It's a promise. Does that mean you liked it?"
"Like? I think that's a weak word to express how much I admired this artistic melody that you composed in front of me. If I lost my sight today, I would lose it happily, because my ears would still be there to appreciate these moments."
"Wise words as always Fujimoto. Thank you so much for the support."
"My loves, I have my date tomorrow, but I honestly don't care right now. Let's go down there to celebrate a little more both this beautiful day we had and this beautiful song, as well as the finalization of your album."
"If for you it isn't a problem, you already know that in my house you are at your ease."
"So, it's decided. Let's party a little more."
We all went back down from my room and went directly to the sauna to enjoy the benefits of my home a little. We put on the swimsuit we had worn in the pool again and we all took advantage of a beautiful time toasting in the sauna to enjoy the beautiful follow-up of this day and the last few weeks.
"Dude, your sauna besides being huge, it's really comfy to be in."
"And you haven't seen the best of it Saito."
"What's the best part?"
I knew perfectly well that my father and his friends often drank in the sauna and left drinks hidden there. One day, after they left, I paid attention to all the compartments of the sauna and discovered a hidden compartment under the stairs. There, protected by a mini fridge, were some beers and ice sleeves to protect them from the scorching heat of the sauna, I remembered that it would be a perfect way to celebrate life. So, I got up from my seat and went to the secret place.
"What are you doing you moron? You're ruining the stairs!"
"Shut up." As I said this- I showed the beers I had in my hand- "I know what I'm doing."
"THIS MAN IS A KING". How did you know you had beers hidden there?"
"I know my old man …very well ahahaha."
I started to distribute one to each one, but when I arrived at Aisaka I was in doubt if she would want it too, so I asked first.
"Do you also want Aisaka? Don't feel forced to do anything, attention. I'm just asking you why we're going to drink too."
She was reflective for a few moments and then said the following:
"I don't usually drink, however, as this is an important and special situation, I can have a beer with you."
"Take yours then. Let's celebrate."
"Brother, what brand of beer is this?"
"Super Bock? It is a Portuguese beer brand. Very good, one of the best I've ever tasted in my life. You will like it too."
They all took their first sip at the same time, and, in an almost uniform voice, they all said:
"This is what freedom tastes like!"
"It is good indeed, but don't get excited because there aren't many here at home and I'll save the others for other special occasions."
"Don't stress it, is no biggie. But I just wanted to let you know that it's actually pretty good. I realize that the Portuguese know what they do when it comes to beer."
"That goes without saying Fujimoto. The guys make it look magical."
"We have to go there one day."
"You know that, when my old men arrive, I can ask him to go with them there for a vacation if you want. My parents are very cool about that."
"It would be very good all of us in Portugal. Too bad we couldn't order a beer because we were still younger. I always wanted to drink a beer at a bar and beach."
"That's where the best part comes. According to what my parents told me, in the area where they are going to do business and spend holidays, in the region of Esmoriz, apparently when it comes to the law in this requirement, the law does not seem to exist there. Any young person in almost any establishment can buy tobacco and order alcoholic beverages without being asked for any identification document."
"SERIOUSLY."
"Yes, Saito. Imagine the work you wouldn't save to buy tobacco in Portugal."
"For real man. To buy tobacco I always have to make some adult girl bewitch herself for me for a while, or ask for the help of Fujimoto's can to ask an adult gentleman and he buys it for me. There you just had to go in and take it out. What a luxury."
"We are also now close to adulthood, but even so, there are still a few years left. I don't think that makes sense. Besides not being a usual smoker, I believe everyone should have the decision from the age of 16, which is when our judgment is somewhat more accurate. In addition, prohibition only increases consumption because it is something that you "can't do. The Apple in the Bible showed us that ions ago."
"I can totally relate to the last thing you said. I completely agree, the ban increases consumption. However, as for the age of judgment, don't forget that this is the 21st century, we happen to be able to meet thanks to some god or destiny that guides our lives, however, don't forget that the world we inhabit has more horrible and dumb people than good and intelligent people, as much as it is hard for me to admit."
"You're absolutely right, Fujimoto. I tend to ignore that fact to make it seem like a lie and not the ugly truth. And the worst of all is that people who are cool are so muffled by all the bad people around them that, if they don't go crazy, they will also become bad people. Few people, like us, have the ability to not give into this social pressure."
"I toast to that brother. Let's toast to us, intelligent and nice people in a world of vile and dumb ones."
"Cheers."
We all toasted to that and, although we wanted to enjoy the beer calmly and drink it gently, since we were in a sauna and just this small moment of conversation already made the ice in the ice sleeve start to melt, we had to drink the beer quickly to prevent it from getting hot. Anyway, it was another of the beautiful moments we experienced that day.
We enjoyed the sauna a little more and had some interesting conversations, in which Aisaka and I based the conversation around the bands, Saito and I started some philosophical conversations and Fujimoto started to tell stories about him and his father. When we left the room and Saito looked at the time, he was desperate.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. It's already midnight, my date is at eight in the morning I won't be able to wake up in time for it."
"No way, time went by really fast. Don't you worry Saito, my good man. You sleep here at home, and I wake you up on time. And you know very well that with me waking you up you'll arrive on time."
"Yes, that's true. Okay, that's right, I'll stay here sleeping."
"OH Nakamura. If Saito can stay, I can too, right?"
"Of course you can Fujimoto, you know you don't even need to ask brother."
While we were talking about this, Aisaka seemed a little apprehensive during the conversation, as if she wanted to say something but was ashamed to say it. So I asked her:
"Aisaka, you know very well that you can also stay if you want, don't you?"
She gasped and let it out:
"A.. Yes.. Really?"
"Of course, sweetie, as I said, you all are my loved friends, so to say, my house is your home."
"The... Okay then."
"SLEEPOVER!!SLEEPOVER!!"
"Don't get too emotional Fujimoto. Remember that Saito has a date tomorrow, he can't go to bed too late."
"I know, I know, the ideal would be for him to sleep now, however, we don't have to sleep at the same time as him. He might as well curl up in bed and we'll be doing something else for a while."
"Don't you mind Saito?"
"Of course not. You enjoy your night and then go to the bedroom to sleep, and I won't wake up with anything, you already know me."
"It's decided then."
I gave Saito a big hug before he went up and told him:
"Go to sleep champion because tomorrow you have a great day ahead of you."
"I know brother, I know. You guys have fun during my absence."
"We'll have fun for sure, don't you worry."
After talking to me about it, the rest of the people said goodnight to Saito, and he went to the room. All eyes on each other and we said:
"PYJAMA PARTY!"
"Can you get us pyjamas?"
"Of course I can. Both male and female. This house is prepared to receive everyone."
"LET'S GO THEN. Let's enjoy the night. By the way, shouldn't you also be completely sleepy you morning bird?"
"I should have gone to bed very early too, but you know that with you by your side it's almost impossible to sleep."
"It's also true. Crazy as we are, it is very difficult for the processes responsible to induce sleep start happening."
"And then my friends, what are we going to do at this beautiful sleepover?"
"I have no idea, Nakamura, I have no idea."
"Now that you mention it, a question I've always wanted to ask you. Why do you continue to address each other by their last names when you consider yourselves almost brothers?"
Fujimoto and I looked at each other and Aisaka with a smile and I then explained:
"For a simple reason. We all like each other and that's no secret to anyone, however, even with this love between us, we thought it would be good to continue to use our last names as a form of respect, so we don't forget that we have to have a lot of respect for each other despite everything."
"Really? You really have a very different but special philosophy of life."
"But if you want to call me by my first name, I don't see any problem with that, at least with you, Aisaka."
She blushed slightly when I said it and replied:
"If... If you don't mind."
"Of course I don't. Do you still remember it?"
"I remember, of course. Akira."
"Exactly. If you want to use it, you're very much welcome to."
"Thank you very much for allowing Naka... I mean Akira."
"You're very welcome, Aisaka."
She thought for a while and replied.
"You can also use my first name if you want..."
"Exactly, you're right, sorry. Why, that Naomi."
"Do you also remember?"
"Of course I remember."
While we were talking about this, Fujimoto was in the background observing everything, with some very suspicious eyes:
"Who are you looking at with those eyes, you gay?"
"You are such a beautiful couple!!"
We both ran at him to beat him right away
"WHAT DID I SAY?"
"Sorry, sorry Nakamura. I was joking, I was only joking I swear by the death of my closest relatives and all my relatives."
"Apologize to Naomi too. Otherwise..."
"Okay ok. Sorry Aisaka, I'm sorry for my childish and inappropriate behaviour and I promise that it will not be repeated under any circumstances."
"What do you think Akira, should we accept his apology?"
"I vote yes, I see regret in his eyes. As for you Naomi?"
"He seems sincere to me. I also vote yes."
Although these fights seem serious enough if someone sees us from outside, we can't help but laugh as soon as the "peace treaty" is signed between the aggressor and the attacker. Naomi and Fujimoto and I laughed for a while until suddenly Saito appeared in front of us.
Initially, we thought we had woken him up with our very loud laughter and we were already prepared to take a beating, having all put us in a defensive position. His face was in the shadows, so we couldn't be sure he was aggressive, but we preferred not to risk it.
As soon as he revealed his face, he didn't seem aggressive, he just had a neutral look on his face. I decided to get up the courage to approach him and ask him what was going on
"Then Saito. Shouldn't you be sleeping because of tomorrow?"
"To be honest with you, I really like Suzuki, she's very beautiful but, as I listened to you laughing immensely, I thought this was an unforgettable night that I couldn't miss. Nakamura, tomorrow you will take care of making me arrive on time for the meeting?"
"But for sure I will brother. I already have my head naturally prepared to wake up early, so, as soon as there is an hour left for the meeting, I force you to get up to take a shower and call my chauffeur to come pick you up and take you to the meeting so that everything is fine. What do you think?"
Saito tried to contain the emotion he was feeling at that moment, however, especially he who was in love with us, he couldn't contain himself and jumped on me, hugging me like I was his boyfriend:
"Bro, I love you bro. Thank you."
"You're welcome, bro, you're welcome. I love you too. Now let's just enjoy our night."
Among all the things we could have done in my house, I think we managed to do almost all of them. We went back to the sauna, made a snack in the kitchen, played some covers in the room where we all played vocalists, played video games, watched a movie and even ended up taking a big dip in the lake at night. It was, in general and specific terms, a completely perfect night.
After the dip in the lake, we were all getting ready to go inside to dry off, however, Naomi noticed an interesting detail
"Guys, doesn't the sky seem to be getting clearer?"
I thought to myself that the option I was considering would be impossible. It was impossible for time to have passed so quickly. However, out of a discharge of conscience, I looked at my watch to see what time it was...
"IT CAN'T BE. IT'S HALF PAST SIX IN THE MORNING!!"
At this moment the sky clearing really made more sense. The day was dawning without us even realizing it. Even though we did a lot of things, it was all so much fun that we were completely distracted from time. When Saito heard about this, he began to become even more desperate. Despite being all wet from having dived into the lake, he took a cigarette from an inexplicable place and began to smoke anxiously while putting his hands on his head and saying.
"What am I going to do now. I'm completely sleepy. I'm going to screw the date up."
"You're not going to do such ting, Saito. Smoke quietly so we can come up with a solution here."
We moved away from Saito a little so that he could be depressed in his corner by himself while we worked on a really useful solution to his problem.
"Soo, what do we do?"
"Nakamura, I have no idea bro. Do you have any ideas Aisaka?"
"I don't know! Don't you have anything there from a foreign country that can help Saito?"
Naomi said this in a joking tone, however, I remembered something that could really help
"That's exactly it, Naomi. You saved Saito's day"
"Wait, do you really have something like that?"
"Yes, I do, ma'am."
I screamed for Saito to hear me
"COME HERE. I already have a solution. Follow me and get ready."
When Naomi spoke of foreign countries, I remembered something my parents had brought. They brought something known as the strongest coffee in the world when they went to the United States and brought a Portuguese coffee machine, which takes coffees that, because they are small, have more concentrated caffeine. This was the ideal solution for our friend Saito to endure the encounter without being sleepy and fainting in the middle of it.
"Come here, brother, have this coffee and in addition to staying awake for the date you will stay awake for the rest of the day without a doubt."
"Just what the hell are you going to give me?"
"To give you an idea, the coffee is called "Death Wish"."
"DUDE! You want to kill me, is that it?"
"Calm down, you don't need to be nervous. Of course, this is not a coffee you can drink every day, otherwise you will overdose. However, if you take it only today you will be able to withstand the day very well and without the risk of dying from sleep deprivation."
"Are you sure there are no side effects for using it?"
"Let me read the instructions. It says here that you can have a sudden energy spike after ingestion, something that is normal after the amount of caffeine ingested, other than that, I don't see any side effects here that could be harmful to you. Also, you really want to risk falling asleep in a meeting with Suzuki?"
Saito considered the hypotheses he had. You could have a coffee that, according to the instructions, it wouldn't hurt to drink once, despite your worries, or risk falling asleep or losing your train of thought in the date with Suzuki due to lack of sleep and ruining the whole encounter. Saito then, after analysing the situation from this perspective, said the following.
"Nakamura, make me a cup of coffee. But you, as my good friends that you are, will also have to drink a cup too. Together in the good and bad moments, right?"
"Of course we will, even if I have to shove the coffee down the throat of these guys. Everyone will follow you here."
"Then start preparing the recipe there."
The process of making this coffee looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. Only the coffee capsules had such an intense smell that I was immediately more awake preparing it.
As I put it in the machine, a black smoke in the shape of a skull began to rise above the machine and he began to laugh as the coffee poured into the cup. At that point, I didn't know if it was reality or if it was the sleep that we still felt that was making us hallucinate, so much so that none of us were scared and we started laughing along with the skull the four times it appeared while we were making the coffee.
After the four cups were on the table, we look at each other as if to gain the courage to put it in our mouths. Since no one seemed to have the will to take the initiative, I said:
"Now there is no turning back. I'm going to count to three and let's do it. Do you agree?"
"It looks good to me."
"1,2,3."
Everyone swallowed their coffee in a single sip, and it was very funny to see the effects they had had on the substantial increase in caffeine in the body, which we were all expecting.
As for me, I'm already used to drinking plenty of coffee during the day to help me focus on my tasks. On the other hand, all the other effects had such a high caffeine spike that it was quite funny to watch.
Fujimoto started running all over my house and threw himself into the lake again and Naomi started doing pirouettes, and countless other acrobatic manoeuvres.
However, Saito for a while remained with his eyes open but silent. He didn't know what was going on and he feared that the coffee had had no effect on him. However, when I approached him, he started screaming like an animal.
"I'M FULL OF ENERGY."
"Calm down bro, calm down."
"I'M FULL OF ADRENALINE. WHAT A GREAT CAFÉÉÉ."
I was going to put my hand on his arm to try to control him, however, he started to run from me, went to the balcony of my parents' room and jumped into the pool.
The situation was quite serious. It was only two hours before Saito's date, and he was completely uncontrollable. I had to find some way to cut out at least some of the caffeine effect for him to be minimally decent for the date.
What do I do? I started to think. I was thinking for myself as the other two were also at a high caffeine peak and couldn't think clearly.
The only ways I could think of my scant knowledge in the field of biology was to make him drink a lot of water, since peeing would help expel some caffeine from the body, making him lose some of his energy.
It was an excellent solution, however, there was a small but big problem. HOW WAS I GOING TO GET THAT GUY TO DRINK WATER?
On ordinary days, he already drinks little, he always tends to drink juices with gas and beverages of the sort, however, now that his head was inhibited from some rational thought and he was completely impulsive, it was going to be an almost impossible task. I had to play with one of the first tricks of psychology that was discovered. Coercion. It was perhaps the most effective way I could think of to manipulate Saito into drinking water. Between us we have a rule that we cannot use our "powers" with each other. Therefore, I shouldn't be able to manipulate Saito, however, we both agreed that the rule was invalid if there was any circumstance that prevented our reasoning ability from being at its peak, except love. In that case, we are dumb but, in a way, we already know, and we are already waiting for what will happen... And since caffeine was not love and was affecting his reasoning, I found myself obliged to use manipulation for his own sake.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds and thought what neutral stimulus in the environment I could use to create the conditioned response of drinking water. I found a perfect solution.
I went up to my father's office and went to get the cigar box he had. They were very expensive and special cigars, from the Winston Churchill brand that I usually offered to Saito, Fujimoto for all of us to smoke on special occasions. We were all big fans of cigars, however, as Saito was a habitual smoker while Fujimoto and I only smoked cigars on special occasions. Therefore, I had an excellent idea of using the cigar as an incentive to make him drink water.
I grabbed a cigar and three big water bottles and went out into the garden pretending to have the same energy as the others.
"SAITOOO. COME HERE SAITOOO."
"TELL ME NAKAMURA."
"LOOK WHAT I HAVE HERE!!"
As I contemplated the cigar, Saito began to run breathlessly towards me.
"Please bro tell me that you are going to give me the cigar so I can smoke on my date?"
"You're going to have and meet a challenge first."
"Whatever you want."
"You have three big watter bottles here, to the total of three liters of water. If you can drink all this in five minutes, I'll offer you this cigar to take today and smoke on your date."
"But I heard she doesn't like smokers…."
"Saito, do you think I haven't already asked my spies to know that? She doesn't like cigarettes, but she thinks cigars give an image of respect and prosperity. That said between a conversation between her best friends."
"NO WAY!"
"You know perfectly well that I don't lie Saito, especially to you."
"But then what does water have to do with this?"
"I can't give you a cigar like that for free, that would make it lose its value, since it's not a special circumstance for everyone. But I also don't want to give you something that is impossible because I want you to be able to earn it. This was the easiest and at the same time challenging solution I could find."
"I accept the challenge Nakamura."
"Can I start the countdown?"
"Do it."
"3,2,1, go."
Saito began to drink the bottles with almost superhuman rapidity. In less than a minute he managed to finish the first one and ran to the bathroom to pee. He came back and, again quickly, drank the second bottle in about a minute and a half and returned to the bathroom again to pee.
When he returned, he already seemed to be suffering a little and was already drinking the third bottle very slowly. There was one minute, and fifteen seconds left for the count to end and Saito had not even reached the middle of the last bottle. I looked at him with determination, showing him a picture of the Suzuki with the cigar next to him and told him.
"One minute Saito. YOU CAN DO IT."
Saito filled his eyes with determination and, looking at the bottle of water as if looking at a son, with a twinkle in his eyes that I had never seen him pour, he drank, almost in a single sip, the rest of the bottle that he was still missing.
"I GOT IT BROTHER."
"NICELY DONE SAITO. You now deser..."
I couldn't finish the sentence because Saito's belly started to make a very loud noise that made even Fujimoto and Naomi stop what they were doing and pay attention to him. He ran to the bathroom and sat down. I confess that it wasn't exactly what I planned but I think it was an even more effective way to take the extra caffeine out of his body.
As soon as he sat down, the first thing he said, now calmer, was:
"I deserved that cigar."
"Yes, you deserved it, indeed. But now you're pooing, I'm not going to give it to you now. As soon as you get out of here, I'll give you this nice cigar. Just for you."
"Thank you, thank you. Now that I'm here I feel better. I feel like I've taken a few caffeine out of my body and that I'm perfectly ready for the date."
"I'm glad everything it all went well for you."
"Nakamura, don't try to trick me. Now that I'm thinking clearly, I know clearly that the challenge with water was not drawn by chance, nor was the cigar as a reward."
"Ahahaha. You already know me well bro. I knew you would eventually get there, but I had no idea it was going to be so fast."
"It was relatively simple. Knowing you as I do, I knew you wouldn't let me go to the meeting in that state. It was a viable excuse to use your manipulation. Now I understand that you really are very good at what you do."
"We are all the masters of our powers. That's what makes us such good friends."
While I was talking about this, Naomi was behind me with a slightly clearer head and, listening to this last part of the conversation, she suddenly touched me on the shoulder that made me get a goosebump, since I had not yet noticed her presence.
"Jesus sweetie, you scared me."
"I'm sorry Akira, but what's this story of powers you're talking about?"
Saito and I started looking at each other, as if mentally wondering whether or not we should tell Naomi about it. However, after simply thinking about it for a while, it wasn't that much of a secret, and besides, Naomi, as my excellent friend, had every right to know about our special attributes.
"It's nothing special Naomi. I'll explain it to you briefly. Me, Saito and Fujimoto have a certain "power" to influence people in different ways, nothing special. We only call it "powers" because the success rate is almost 100%, so it seems almost like a supernatural gift."
"What do you mean to influence people? What can you do?"
"It depends on each one. Saito is an expert on girls and everything that touches the field of love. If he falls in love with a girl he has the power to influence her to date him or at least go on a date, either through his charm, some joke, or simply small talk.
Fujimoto, on the other hand, is a master in the art of inspiration and an expert in the art of convincing someone to simple things. Fujimoto has the ability to convince a complete stranger to give him a ride using his can and has the power to inspire a slacker to climb Mount Everest using his well-constructed speeches.
Finally, I am an expert in human psychology and a master in the art of manipulation. I can get people to do things that I need them to do or just that they want to do but don't know how, but using indirect insinuation contrary to Fujimoto. Combining all these three powers, we can say that we are masters of the social arts."
"How is this possible? Have you ever used these strategies in front of me or me?"
"We have a code of ethics among us that we cannot use our powers against ourselves (except for Fujimoto's inspiration) unless in exceptional cases. Not long ago you saw me do a little manipulation trick to make Saito drink water and lose some caffeine. I knew that he would not drink only if I asked him to, so I had to put on that little show.
With you, Fujimoto once used the power of inspiration when you were struggling to sing in front of them, which seems to have worked perfectly."
"This is truly amazing! You together are basically unstoppable when it comes to human behaviour. Do you have any idea how you could have learned or inherited these powers?"
"To be honest we never waste much time thinking about it, however, since the father of each one has the same gift, I imagine that it is something that we inherit each of our parents and improve in our own way. Now how did our parents inherit those powers or if they learn that I don't know how to answer you."
"Wonderful! I wish I also had a power of this kind. It must be really funny to be able to do these spells with people."
"It's funny but, especially with mine, there are great responsibilities attached to these powers. I could convince people to do what they didn't like in exchange for money or power, however, I only influence people for their own benefit or, in the case of self-benefit, as an exception."
"Even so, you know very well that I would have the responsibility of only wearing it when I should. Too bad I wasn't born with any of these powers."
"That's not quite how it works Naomi... Usually this type of social skills are not only inherited. Of course, our parents have the same powers as us, however, until a certain age, none of us even realized that we had them. It wasn't until we started having a lot of social interactions that we realized we could do this. I'm creating a theory of psychology that says that every human being who has an extremely high level of extraversion ends up one day developing some kind of power like ours, but I still can't confirm to you if my theory is right or not because I haven't been able to corroborate it with anyone yet."
"Are you telling me that, as I have just started to be more extroverted, I can develop some kind of power like yours?"
"Yes, that's what my theory defends. When you live with people, see if you can notice any behaviour that you can easily shape."
"Yes, I will, sir."
As we spoke casually, I realized the time it was already.
"BRO. THERE IS HALF AN HOUR LEFT FOR THE DATE."
Saito, who was still pooping at this moment, put his hands on his head again as a sign of panic.
"WHAT NOW?"
"Calm down bro, half an hour is a long time"
I immediately took out my phone and called my chauffeur
"Good morning, Mr. Yamaguchi, I need an urgent ride for one of my friends. Bring one of my dad's supercars and come to my house as fast as you can."
"Certainly, young man, in a matter of five minutes I'll be there."
"Saito, take a quick shower, BE QUICK ABOUT IT."
Saito was going to start saying something, however, I forcibly took him out of the toilet and threw him into the bathtub, called and stayed there with him like an army general giving instructions.
"HAIR, HAIR."
"Yes, sir."
"BODY."
"Yes, sir."
"PENIS."
"YES, SIR."
"You're ready, go get dressed. Formal or informal?"
"Formal bro, it's in a fancy restaurant."
I ran to one of the compartments of the bathroom that had emergency suits
"You have this tailor-made emergency suit for you here. Dress quickly."
Saito started to put on the suit with enormous speed while Fujimoto went to get the accessories, and I helped him put it on without ruining anything but also without losing speed.
Just as he was finishing putting on the tie, Mr. Yamaguchi started honking his horn outside.
"Okay Saito, are you ready?"
"I couldn't be more ready."
I took the cigar and put it in the pocket of my coat, holding it on my shoulder.
"Good date bro."
"Yes, it will be, sir."
And so, Saito had gone to the meeting stylish, cigar in his pocket, and awake. It had everything to go well. Suzuki might not even have been able to realize from Saito's well-placed words that he hasn't slept for a good couple of hours and he, the most late person ever, in addition to arriving on time for the meeting, was all well dressed and all. And to think that she won't notice any of this because she doesn't know him and maybe, even if she did, she would either not notice or she wouldn't appreciate it. Since it is Saito's choice, I very much hope that he has made the right one, he certainly understands more about this field of love than I do.
"And now, what are we going to do with our life?"
"I have no idea Fujimoto. What do you feel like doing?"
"Honestly bro, I think I'm going home. Despite the coffee, I'm still a bit broken and I wanted to rest a little."
"All good, go there rest a bit. It will only do you good."
Fujimoto bowed to Naomi and gave me a hug and then went to his house to rest. Only Naomi and I were left at home.
"And now what. What do we do?"
"Good question Naomi. I also have no idea."
"What do you think about we play a little?"
"It seems excellent to me. In fact, next week we will have the concert, so it is really convenient for us to practice a little."
"Exactly. And you always do something."
We went back up to my room while we discussed some rock music classics and entered my room, my studio, my everything. Before I started playing, I remembered something:
"I had to think Naomi. Shouldn't we play a cover first to tune the voice and I tune the head?"
"Yes, it's a good idea. Which song?"
"Let him think. I still don't know how to play many of them. What do you think of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here?"
"It seems perfect to me! I love that song."
"Let's go then. Three, two, one and..."
We started playing that song that had so much meaning and so much beauty that we both started to shiver just looking at each other. I couldn't contain myself and, in the second chorus, I sang along with Naomi with a tremendous emotion that I don't know how I continued to play guitar without missing a note, since I was singing too and had my eyes closed.
As soon as we finished, the world even seemed somewhat lighter to me. I had heard the song dozens of times but playing it the way we play it now was really a very different way to enjoy the music. Listening, touching and singing this work of art sent shivers down my spine, as I experienced a kind of enormous happiness, a kind of feeling I had never had in my life.
Naomi and I wanted to talk, however, the words seemed to be stuck in our throats, and we couldn't say a word to each other, with only silence reigning in the room for a while.
"I..."
Naomi blushed and was going to say something, however, her cell phone started ringing and she lost her line of thought.
"Pick up Naomi. It's your father, can be important."
"You're right, you're right.
She then took out her phone and answered her phone
"Hi papa."
"Hi my little daughter. Tell me something. I got up just now and noticed that you are not at home. May I know where you are?"
"I stayed sleeping at Nakamura's father's house, he had a mini get-together here with his best friends and I ended up staying here too."
As soon as she told me this, I immediately put my hands to my head. Any father of a girl who knew that his daughter had been sleeping in a house with only boys would surely murder the owner of the house who invited her. While Naomi continued the call, I couldn't even hear anything else because, in my head, there were only different murder scenes performed by Mr. Aisaka. Me being devoured by dogs, me being electrocuted to death, me being murdered by a sniper. So many different forms of death were going through my head that I had to sit down to be able to bear the weight of my own imagination. As soon as Naomi finished the call, I was already lying with my head going round with so many different possibilities of murder and I was trying to find a way to circumvent them somehow. Naomi spoke a little to me, but I was completely unable to even hear with the thoughts running through my mind. She had to slap me to get me back to myself
"I'm here, I'm here"
"Damn Akira, what's wrong?"
"Naomi, be honest. How much time do I have left?"
"What do you mean? I don't understand."
"Sweetie, you told your father that you stayed in my house with my best friends. I'm sure he wants to kill me."
She laughed for a moment:
"He said he would give you two days for you to start to prepare."
"I'm going to pack a suitcase and I'm going to flee to Germany. IMMEDIATELY"
I was already getting ready to pack my bag when Naomi interrupted me, laughing again:
"Calm down boy, I'm messing with you. My father believes in me. I told him I went to sleep and nothing else and he believed it. He loves your family, he was unable to do anything to you without proof, and even if he suspected something, he spoke directly to your family, he didn't take such drastic measures like that."
"What a relief."
"With that, you don't have to worry about my father, he's really a great man. However, he told me that I must go back to The Rock Oasis to help him. Do you think you can take me there?"
"Of course I can. Mr. Yamaguchi must have already left, Saito might as well go there and leave you too. Let me just sit for a while thinking about the years of life, I just gained..."
"Ahahaha. Of course, make yourself comfortable."
I really felt the need to sit down for a while to contemplate how lucky I was:
"It may seem stupid to be so worried about this, however, I talk so worried about this topic because Saito has already had such a problem."
"Really?"
"I swear. There was a day when he went to his girlfriend's house at the time and they were both alone at home, just watching television, when her father came into the house. They didn't hear the door open and were kissing at the precise moment her father arrived in the living room. The girl's father was very controlling with her and did not even know that she had a boyfriend or that she had brought him to her house. He ran to Saito and began to threaten him with death, including punching him in the head. However, me, Saito and Fujimoto found a way to ask for SOS whenever we found ourselves in situations like this. We all use watches, and each of our watches is equipped with emergency software that, whenever someone presses the side button of the watch four times, whether analog or digital, the watch of the others starts vibrating for three seconds, that is, if our watch vibrates for three seconds, we already knew that something was wrong.
Fujimoto and I had been having coffee in the usual place that day when, suddenly, our watch started vibrating for three seconds and, as we were both together, we knew that Saito was in trouble. We saw in his location that he was at his girlfriend's house and I correctly deduced that the father or mother had entered and he was in serious trouble. So, I called the police to explain the situation even if they went there just to see the situation and, when they got there, they found the father grabbing Saito's collars ready to punch him for the second time. The man was arrested immediately and after Saito's explanation of what happened, the girl's father was arrested and Saito ended up with her in great fear."
"My god, this passage looks like it was taken from a movie. How long ago?"
"It's been about half a year if I'm not mistaken."
"Really? So this was relatively recent. Does it have anything to do with that bandage that Saito wears on his head?"
"Yes, the first time he had to put a bandage like that was to stop the bleeding from the punch he ended up taking. However, he ended up liking how it looked with him so much that he ended up adopting it in his own style, also a little to hide the scar that was left on his head."
"I always considered why he had a bandage on his head for so long. Now, to be honest, I never thought it was for something as radical as being punched by an ill-informed and radical father"
"Life every now and then has these things. Our life is an authentic adventure. By the way, the idea of the watches with the emergency button was given and supported by me. I always knew there would be situations where it would be useful, but so far, that was the only time it was needed."
"You really are unique. Special powers, emergency warnings, and on top of all that, you have a friendship that I've never seen before. Of course, I've never seen many friendships before due to my shyness, however, even in my family, I've seen people in my family who don't like each other as much as the three of you."
"I had already explained to you why, if I'm not mistaken. The world is rotten Naomi. You don't have to be very attentive to realize this. People mock, lie and cheat with such ease and neutrality that I feel surrounded by psychopaths. I myself am quite rational in what I do and I do think very little with my heart but, for example now, that I am talking to a person who is incredible and who I like very much, I am talking a little with my heart and I have that ability. People don't have the ability to feel that because they literally DON'T. To them, the others are just pawns on their chessboard."
Naomi blushed before saying anything and continued:
"If... yes. In fact, you are right. The only people I've been talking to these days are you, so I haven't even felt that much, but the reason for my shyness was just that. I know that almost everyone is like that these days."
"It's true, however, shyness is never advisable, because having contacts is always good. For example, I have many contacts with friends of mine who do espionage work for me in exchange for favours. They are my friends, I trust them to some degree, but I know perfectly well that without the favours I bestow upon them they would do nothing for me. Shyness is not ideal, but it is clear that some insight is needed in social interactions."
"You can make me see that, and now that my shyness is a problem solved, let's take over the world..."
We both looked deeply at each other and said:
"TOGETHER!"
After we said this and we both laughed and blushed a little too, I looked at my watch and noticed that this conversation had been going on for about 10 minutes.
"It's been ten minutes Naomi. I have to take you to the café or your father will punish you."
"Let's go then."
"Mr. Yamaguchi, can you come home to take Naomi to the Oasis Rock café?"
"I can for sure, Mr. Nakamura. Do you have a car preference?"
"Bring a fast car but one that has more than two seats. I wanted to keep the girl company on the trip."
"Well, what a gentleman, Mr. Nakamura. I think the G-Wagon will be the ideal vehicle."
"Excellent choice Mr. Yamaguchi. Hurry up as much as you can."
"Certainly, young man."
While we waited, we decided to go to the room where the turntable was. Nothing better to pass the time than listening to some of the rock classics. However, Mr. Yamaguchi arrived just as we were going for an incredible song. Even when we were putting on the Vinyl, we could hear him honking outside. We didn't want to cut the vibe we were feeling so I took the CD that I also had at home stored near the turntable and took it to the car.
As we both entered the back, we greeted Mr. Yamaguchi and I asked him:
"Mr. Yamaguchi, can I put on a CD for us to listen to some music please."
"Well, but for sure, Mr. Nakamura, please."
I took it and put on the CD I had brought, which, in fact, was perhaps my favourite album. "What's the story? Morning Glory" by my dear band Oasis. An album with songs like Wonderwall, Some Might Say and among many other classics which is impossible not to like. But the reason I brought it was to put the music I was going to put on the record player at home. An incredible song of his and that, in fact, is the song that gives the album its name. The song Morning Glory.
It's a song that has an unbelievably happy energy and that leaves any listener completely glued and jumping. As soon as the intro started playing, Naomi and I were already making the guitar sound with our mouths until Mr. Yamaguchi interrupted us by saying.
"If I may add, nice choice of music young boy."
"Thank you very much Mr. Yamaguchi. I'm honoured to know that you also have good taste in music."
"No, Mr. Nakamura. I am honoured to know that you do not let these classics die. Keep listening to them and they will be eternally remembered."
"I certainly will sir."
Then, while Mr. Yamaguchi drove with a smile on his face, Naomi and I sang the song from start to finish, while we passed through the wonders of our city that, despite the bad memories I have here, with the music and with Naomi's company the city seemed to me, in a way, more colourful, more beautiful, more perfect. Life seemed to me to be going the way it should. Happiness for me was no longer something as momentary as the afternoon coffee with Saito and Fujimoto but something that was transferring to a pending and innate state in my being. I was happy.