Excuse me, Ms. Yoisaki?
Welcome, Ms. Mochizuki.
It's nice to see you again.
It's nice to see you too.
Shall I start cooking and cleaning as always?
Yes, please.
Understood. I'll start with some cleaning.
Thank you...
That was very good.
I'm glad you liked it.
And here's your after-dinner tea.
Thank you.
Oh, this is delicious. It has such a nice aroma too...
Hehe. Today, I made some chamomile tea to go with the flowers.
To go with the flowers...?
Are these chamomiles?
No, these are actually a type of chrysanthemum called “pom pom mums”.
They look quite different from regular chrysanthemums, but they're apparently in the same family.
I chose these from a list of flowers an old friend of mine gave me...
Ah, but here we are. The flowers on the packaging for this tea are chamomiles.
Wow, they look completely different. It's hard to believe that they're in the same family.
But that's also what makes it so interesting.
(When I first came here, I had such a hard time talking to her...)
(But I'm really glad that we've become so close like this.)
Your friend knows about so many interesting types of flowers. It's like this is a regular thing now.
And didn't you say that you're in a band, Ms. Mochizuki? I hope this isn't taking too much time away from practice.
Between practicing and writing lyrics, she's been very busy. However, she did say that it was a nice break for her.
Okay, that's good to hear...
(I promised myself that I wouldn't bring my personal problems into her house but...)
(We're just chatting and it came up during the course of our conversation, so it's okay, right...?)
We actually just performed at a live house the other day too.
We even got a chance to play a song that we came up with instead of just covers.
An original song?
How does it go?
I have some recordings from practice saved on my phone if you'd like to hear them.
So this is...
(Hm? This voice. Where have I heard this...?)
(I'm getting so nervous...)
(The songs that Ms. Yoisaki and her group make are all really amazing so...)
(I can't help but wonder how our music sounds to her.)
Thank you, Ms. Mochizuki...
U-Um... So, how was it?
It's easy to understand what sort of emotions it's trying to convey through its music.
But that also takes away from what originality it could have. I think it needs a better hook.
I see...
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so snobbish...
No, you're an incredible composer so I'm happy to hear what you have to say about our song.
Really? I'm glad too then...
Oh, but...
Does your vocalist ever do street performances by chance?
Huh? Sure, I heard that she performs out in front of the station sometimes...
Okay...
(I could've sworn that I'd heard that voice before, but maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me...)
Would you mind if I tell my bandmates about your thoughts regarding our song, Ms. Yoisaki?
Huh? Oh, sure. I don't see why not.
And one last thing.
I thought that it was nice how your songwriter and lyricist both clearly thought about what they wanted the listener to feel as they heard this song.
The extent to which a song can reach into someone's heart can change greatly based on just that.
(Reach into someone's heart...
Oh, that's right...)
There's someone I'm trying to help.
But I just don't know what to do sometimes. What would you do in a situation like that?
Would it be all right if I asked how that person you've been trying to help is doing now?
Okay, well... In short, not much has changed...
But this song I composed the other day did seem to resonate with them a little.
...!
That's when I made this realization.
It's incredibly important to think about what you want your listener to feel.
Yes, I see...
(I was so sure that Ms. Yoisaki never had any issues when it came to composing music...)
(But she goes through the same process of trial and error. She has to jump over the same hurdles as us...)
Making music is so difficult...
And all I can do is watch my friends as they write songs and come up with lyrics for our band.
I keep wishing that I could help in some way...
You believe in them.
Isn't that enough?
Huh?
You placing your trust in them must be a significant part of why they can keep going.
Even with me, your kindness is part of what keeps me afloat.
And I only see you once a week.
Imagine what your friends feel since you see them almost every day.
Ms. Yoisaki...
Thank you so much.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't mean to bounce my personal problems off of you like that.
No, it's okay.
This is nothing compared to how much you've already given me.