It was the worst rehearsal Shino had ever been a part of.
They had all agreed to meet at the local studio to try to record their first track, but nothing went according to plan. Aki's vocals were too loud, Mika kept changing the bass lines at random, and Kanna's drumming was completely out of sync with everything else. The only person who seemed remotely composed was Shino—and even then, her fingers were trembling as she tried to keep the rhythm.
The tension in the room was palpable. No one had said it out loud, but everyone knew: this wasn't working. They were all pulling in different directions, and the sound they were creating was nothing like what they had imagined. The chaos of it all started to eat at Shino. She had imagined a much smoother start, something more polished and refined.
"This is hopeless," Mika said, throwing her bass down with frustration.
"We're not even close to getting anything together. Maybe we're just not meant to do this."
"No, no," Aki protested.
"We just need to work harder. We need to be better. Let's try again."
Shino could hear the strain in Aki's voice. She was pushing them all harder than anyone seemed ready for. It was hard for Shino to imagine the kind of chemistry Aki was expecting to develop so quickly. For her, it felt like they were all still strangers, fumbling in the dark.
But they kept going, until the night wore on and their bodies were sore from standing, strumming, drumming, and singing without ever really hitting the right notes. By the end of the night, they were all too tired to argue. Everyone left the studio in silence, unsure of what had gone wrong.
Shino couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped. But maybe that was the price of pursuing something real. She was beginning to realize that they were in this together—whether they succeeded or not.