R: Okay solider, now go get two chairs!
I walk over to the table and grab two of the chairs seated around and carry them over to the stage.
Ritsu sits down in one of them; I grab the bass case from the edge of the stage before I sit down in the other and hand the bass over to Ritsu.
Ritsu clicks the case open, and reveals the strikingly red bass lying inside it. She does however not make any effort of taking it out.
R: could you… take it out and place it on my lap?
H: Your hand is that bad?
R: Yeah, I was being stupid yesterday.
R: You didn’t need to carry me though.
I blush a little, I’ve been thinking about that too, I mean, it was her hand that got hurt, not her legs, she could probably have walked just fine.
I just like feeling like a hero I guess.
I do as she said, and take the instrument out of the case and place it carefully on her lap.
R: All right, when you play bass, you use this hand to slap the string!
She rests her right hand slightly above the string, and starts rapidly tapping the string with her index and middle finger.
R: Ratatata! Like a machine gun!
R: and the other to hold the frets, like this.
She plays a short tune by keeping up the slapping with her right hand while moving her left hand up and down.
R: the different tones on the different frets have names, letters, but I don’t remember them.
R: Ok, try to play this:
She starts a rather simple tune, starting with the upper string open, and moving around on the neck, playing a few tones before moving on to the next.
She motions for me to grab the bass, so I do so and lift it onto my lap, I try to imitate the way she was holding it.
Playing it feels strange, like when you are walking along a handrail while letting your finger hit all the bars.
I try to play what she just showed me, but even if I play it at half speed, I’m constantly playing on the wrong frets and strings; I can’t remember the whole routine either.
R: you’re not THAT horrible
R: I’ll write it down for you, so you can actually practice it.
She writes it down on a small piece of paper that she seemingly pulled from nowhere, and hands it to me.
I wanna be your dog
 
Intro
G-----------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------
A---------------------7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-------
E—0-0-0-0-0-0-0----------------------------
 
Verse
G----------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------
A—10-10-10-10-9-9-9-9-7-7-7-7-7-7--
E----------------------------------------------
 
Chorus
G---------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------
A—10-10-10-10-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-7-7-7-
E---------------------------------------------
 
Other thing
G--------------------------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------------------------------------
A—10-10-10-7-7-7-------------------------7------
E-----------------------10-10-10-7-7-7-8----------------
 
 
H: how do I read it?
R: it’s super easy, the number is what fret you hold, and the lines are which string, only upside down.
I get it, I think.
R: Just play this one hundred times, and then you can play bass!
This teaching is weird, she barely told me anything at all.
I try a few more times, but it doesn’t sound good at all.
R: No it goes like this: *dum-dum-dum-(…)
She stands up from her chair and walks over to the backpack she left at the door, still humming.
I try to play like she says it is. It sounds a little better.
I play through it a couple more times, then some more, and then some more.
It strangely satisfactory whenever I play right, I’m enjoying this more than I thought I would.
Especially considering I’m just playing the same thing over and over.
While I’m playing, Ritsu seats herself by the table and starts eating a slice of cake. I consider asking her for a spoonful, but I decide against it.
Instead I return to playing “I wanna be your dog” for the thirtieth or so time
R: Our adventure begins as the young Hisao Nakai is fighting an increasingly tedious battle against the metal strings that he have set out to conquer.
Ritsu rises from her chair, and holds her hand out in a dramatic gesture.
R: Luckily, brave lady Ritsu is here to save the day with her super-secret weapon…
R: The cake slice!
She bows down in front of me, and sticks out a lunch box with a chocolate cake slice in it, like a knight bowing before his (or in this case her) king.
H: Are you narrating my life?
R: Yes, now take the box before you ruin my immersion.
I do as she say, and take the box from her hands. The cake is a miniature sized chocolate cake that I swallow in one bite, it’s delicious.
R: What do you say about calling this day? Honestly you’ve been doing better than I thought you would.
H: Sure, are you coming too?
R: Nah, they get angry when I practice drums in the dorms.
H: See you tomorrow then?
R: See you tomorrow.
 
I didn’t get time to go to the library today either, oh well, I’ll sneak in a visit tomorrow before club activities.
If they can even be called that.
We are missing at least two members, for once.
And Ritsu didn’t even play during club time today.
I don’t have anything to do for the rest of the day, and I’m halfway hoping I’ll bump into Kenji, if even just to pass the time.
But then again, our last conversation was terribly awkward.
I have no such luck though, so I’m left alone with my thoughts for the remainder of the day.
Going back to school is a lot more tiring than I thought it would be.
I should be relieved that I can go to school after spending so much time in the hospital.
But it feels like chore.
The various disabilities also make me very self-conscious.
But apparently not self-conscious enough, considering what happened with Hanako.
I’m afraid of repeating something like that with other students.
At least Ritsu seems open enough about her broken hand.
Unlike me.
Spending time with Ritsu is a little less tiring than the rest of the day, even with her almost obnoxious cheeriness.
I feel like I’m only being pulled along the river.