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Practice Studio

MikuMaybe this part should be simpler... No, but...

ShizukuMiku, are you not taking a break?

MikuHm? Oh, do not worry about me. You can take your break outside with Raika and the others.

ShizukuBut you have been studying the score with a troubled look on your face. You have looked that way throughout practice.

ShizukuIf something is bothering you, I would like you to tell me. I was taught to make sure I understand the composer's instructions.

MikuNo, there is nothing I need to say about your playing, Shizuku.

MikuIt is just... the arrangement still feels one step short. Something is not clicking.

ShizukuIs that so?

MikuYeah. There are quite a few places where the parts are not landing the way I intended.

MikuThose three monsters play everything completely differently every time, so no matter how much I adjust it, it still does not feel right...

MikuDoes it not bother you, Shizuku?

ShizukuNo...

MikuI see... Then maybe I am overthinking it.

ShizukuNo... I do not think I had been paying attention to it.

ShizukuI have always focused on properly playing the part and score I was given.

ShizukuI have never really thought of it any other way.

MikuBut you can play that well. Do you not ever feel that something is lacking, or that something feels off?

ShizukuI am still learning about band music, so I do not know. Classical music usually has a correct answer, so I do not feel that kind of dissonance.

ShizukuThere are details open to interpretation, but in principle, what is written in the score is the correct answer.

MikuI see... If those three monsters had that mindset, maybe this would all be a little easier.

MikuWhen I was composing alone, I never had to think about this. Finding the right answer is harder than I thought.

Shizuku...

MikuShizuku?

ShizukuThere are things you do not know either, Miku.

MikuHuh? Of course there are. This is the first band I have ever been in.

MikuIt is also my first time having someone else play my songs, and my first time having them get completely messed up like this.

ShizukuI see... I thought I was the only one who did not know the right answer for band music.

MikuHehe, that is not true. I am sure none of us...

MikuOh, I see... None of us knows the right answer for this band's music.

ShizukuHm? What do you mean?

MikuI think you, me, and those three monsters have all run into something new that "we do not know" yet.

MikuMaybe we need to make new music, different from anything we have made before.

MikuSo, Shizuku. Will you help me look for our answer together?

Shizuku! Together...?

MikuYeah. I think I was stuck because I was trying to work it all out by myself.

ShizukuAll right. I will think about it too.

ShizukuI do not know whether I can be of help, but I still want to try it with you.

MikuGood. Then, to start with, this part has been bothering me...