[Shō Matsui]

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Light and shadow are opposite sides of the same coin [break]
“We can illuminate our paths or darken our way. It is a matter of choice.”

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Shinjuku's Takamagahara was a dive bar that was big on live music. It was a place Sho had not only played at in the past it was also the place he originally was recruited to his band. Ironic that he would end up here since leaving Sender due to their desire to leave Japan and get big in America. Not only was too much exposure not great for his career, but he also didn’t think letting his siblings run amok was a good idea. Someone had to balance them out, and he was the only one around to do that.
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Rarely a drinker tonight, he would have a beer in hand, taking a seat in the back of the house as he watched various duos, trios, and full-on bands try their best to win that money for open mic night. A weekly tradition that always brought a strong crowd it was lucrative when it came to business as Sho was certain the amount of money the owner was pulling in from the extra business greatly offset the amount he was paying out to the winner. With a full-time job he didn’t need the extra cash and instead was just out here to kill some time and see if there was any group that he’d want to keep his eye on for the future. Talent was everywhere; you just needed to find it.
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Yvel Koyama [break]
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[Yvel Koyama]

Back at it again.

Although most of her brief music career so far had been online, Yvel was increasingly trying to put herself out there and perform live. As the lead singer of Skyline Drive, she was still relatively unknown, her previous band's biggest hit being a song that hit one thousand listens on social media. She was proud at the time, thought that only great things were to come, right up until her bandmate was kidnapped. It had been months now without any news and she had to start fearing the worst and rather than mourn him, she had to move on with her life too. Find a new start so she could keep moving forward. She had been to this dive bar many times before, and figured it was as good a place as any to play her live music. At least at venues people cared a lot more than when you were performing on the street.

That being said, the competition was fierce. Not that this was a contest or anything, but she had to admit when she stood there watching the acts before her, she couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated, like hers was too simple, basic. Everyone stepped up as a band, or a professional artist. Before she knew it she was up on stage, guitar in hand and behind the microphone. How should she introduce herself? It felt wrong to call herself Skyline Drive since the band wasn't a solo act. ''Hello everyone!'' She raised a hand to wave at the crowd, putting on her usually cheery disposition for the stage. ''I'm Yvel Koyama! The song I'll be playing today is called Seishun Complex.'' She bowed her head politely, before taking a step back as she started up by playing her guitar.

She wasn't the slightest bit nervous, in fact, her display was pretty energetic as she had a hard time standing still and instead doing everything she could to make the stage her own, making it clear that even though she was up here alone. Even though she was a nobody, she wasn't a complete amateur. Was she as good as the other acts? Probably not, but her motto was always giving it her all. It didn't matter if her performance was going to suck, at least she could say she gave it her all when all was said and done.

Shō Matsui

[Shō Matsui]

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Light and shadow are opposite sides of the same coin [break]
“We can illuminate our paths or darken our way. It is a matter of choice.”

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So far, it looked like two of the bands playing were going to need to go for a second set as a tiebreaker. No one else had managed to impress either having amateur mistakes or just generally being out of their depth. The two frontrunners, Entropy and Piles of Postcards, were clearly made up of experienced musicians if not obscure ones. Each had a full roster of 4 for their performance which definitely aided in their rankings so far. The owner had opted to put a counter of applause nearby which automatically put any performers on a ranked list. It seemed a little biased towards those with more members as they would be able to give a more complete experience, but nonetheless, there were some duos and trios up there.
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'Another one,' he thought to himself as a single person stepped up on stage and introduced herself as Yvel Koyama. Not anyone Sho had ever heard before. The only difference he could see between her and the others that came before her was that she was much more confident. Sho had enough experience with people to see when someone was masking their intent and out of anyone who had performed tonight, she was the first who seemed to truly be up there for her love of music. Her song she played, Seishun Complex, wasn't one he had heard before either and it was very well put together. She was being drowned out over the ambient sounds of the bar and unlike him, most of the others had already written her off as a low placement.
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Perhaps it was fate or perhaps it was the alcohol but he felt that this was someone worthy of his time. Putting back the rest of his drink he would stand and move towards the stage. He wasn't exactly famous but he definitely wasn't an unknown in these circles. As he approached the front of the house, having gotten a decent feel of the song so far as she had played about a quarter of it, he would speak up "Can we run that back?" he would direct towards the coordinator who begrudgingly agreed and without Yvel's permission he would climb up on stage and pull his drumsticks from his back pocket. "Can you take that from the top? Don't worry about me, I'll keep up." There would be some hushes from the crowd who were able to recognize Sho as he took his seat on the drums and readied himself for Yvel to start over.[break][break]

For some reason, he wanted her to win.

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Yvel Koyama[break]
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[Yvel Koyama]

''Eh?'' Run it back? What was this, practice for a theater concert? His request to run it back immediately made her anxious seeing as no one other competitor had been put in this situation. Did she bomb so hard that she wouldn't even get to finish? Who even asked that question? Not anyone she knew. With a bit of a pout on her face she squinted her eyes against the spotlight and tried to see who-

Oh my god he was coming up on stage.

''Huh?! Me? Who- S-Sure!!'' Security wasn't removing him so she probably wasn't in any danger. Except her panicking undoubtedly left an impression on the audience. Grabbing her microphone she turned to address them. ''T-That's just how it is with a Koyama performance! You never know what to expect!'' She laughed nervously, trying to cover up for her own confusion. She looked back at Sho one more time, waiting for their eyes to meet as she put her hands on the guitar and got ready to start the song back up. Don't ruin it, drummer guy.

No, even if he did she couldn't blame it on him. She was going to play and give it her all until the very end, until the spotlights died down and she could chill out at the back of the club again. ''Once more, here is Seishun Complex!''

Shō Matsui