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The Serios Chimera Marching Band was fairly well known, even outside of their own school. Some students outside of the band may even speak of the fierce, yet friendly competition between the three "houses" of woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
A few could possibly remember the concert bands during spring season, where section lines blurred slightly to create a few well constructed bands.
The band students themselves would talk ceaselessly about their own inner workings: their leaders, the drum majors, even the leadership team that were tightly knit in the best way. They had an indoor drumline in the off season, a winter color guard team, and countless ensembles.
But when Mr. Eisner announced that the jazz band was having auditions the next Tuesday afternoon, there was only one thought echoing through everyone's mind:
"We have a jazz band?" Hilda asked from her spot behind the timpani.
"Have had one, Gonoril." Mr. Byleth Eisner replied. "It's not run by the arts department, but Mr. Dahlman asked me to pass the message on to you all this semester. I know most of you are busy with ensembles and solos, but consider this as another way to expand your knowledge. Take out E flat suite."
The band hall was suddenly drowned in the sound of paper flipping and binders clacking. Claude looked over the pit to ensure everything was in place while Edelgard and Dimitri sent glares to others on their phones. It took a hard elbow in the gut from Felix for Sylvain to finally lock his and open his folder with a wince.
All the while, Ashe was raising his hand.
Byleth pointed at him as he opened his own score.
"Um," Ashe began, "What sort of instruments would need to audition for jazz?"
"Nobody needs to, and it's a small jazz band." Byleth looked down to his notes as he rattled on. "Saxaphones, trumpets, trombones, the basics. I hear they're also looking for a rhythm section, but you'll probably be playing secondary to the people already there."
"There's people in the jazz band already?" Annete whispered to an equally perplexed Mercedes.
"Let's start with the opening." Byleth continued, dropping the subject of interest. "I hope you've been practicing tubas. Clear and open."
And with the swing of a baton, the questions of jazz and swing were quieted for a day.
***
Edelgard sighed. "You know, I really was expecting much more than this."
The band hall had long cleared out for the end of the school day. With no rehearsal on Tuesdays, most students took the day to study or relax at home. Solo and ensemble was still months away, meaning only one practice room was occupied by a certain pale-haired girl wailing away on a marimba.
It left only two groups of students left in the large room, one of which was a circle of woodwind players. And all of them were here, wondering when the jazz auditions would begin.
Linhardt only shrugged. Besides him, Edelgard, Bernadetta, and Dorothea sat on the ground, as if confused as to where exactly they were supposed to be meeting.
"It's not that surprising." Linhardt replied. "We don't have many saxophones in the first place. In fact, we should consider ourselves lucky. Dorothea just so happened to have played saxophone before switching to flute."
"Sorry in advance, it's been a while." Dorothea said.
Edelgard went back to surveying the room. There were a few Blue Lions, as the brass called themselves, gathered around the brass lockers. She could pick out Mercedes, Ashe, Dimitri, and Ingrid from where she sat. She had also seen Dedue and Sylvain running around earlier, making it three trumpets, two trombones, and another of whatever Mercedes could play.
As for the last section, the Golden Deer-
Claude burst through the hallway door of the band hall, forcing every head to turn.
"Hey guys! Can't you hear it?"
Dimitri only cocked his head in confusion.
"Hear what?" Sylvain asked from his seat.
"The music! They're in the choir room!"
And just as he entered, Claude left, leaving behind a stunned body of students.
"Did they mess up the room placement?" Edelgard asked Linhardt. Hubert was already gone for the day for his private tutoring, leaving her to direct attention to her other close friend.
Well, close in the sense that he tended to stick around her when he was bored.
Of course, like any high schooler given a cryptic message, the mass of band kids all stood up and walked out into the fine arts hallway. Sure enough, Edelgard could already hear the deep thuds of a bass drum from a room further into the main building. They drew closer and closer to the source, leading them to a door marked "Choir" and the muffled sound of drums and a bass. The window was covered with images of music notes, which left them with no option but to open it and finally see what the jazz band had looked like for (apparently) quite some time.
***
It was always beautiful, watching his band members groove to a 5/4 beat. Even if he sometimes struggled to fill in the extra beat, he always enjoyed seeing how Hapi would pull her guitar back on the extra beat, how Constance would lean forwards just slightly with her knee on the side of her stand-up, how Balthus would switch between accenting on three and four with his head. It helped that Balthus finally had the space for his keyboard set up, giving Hapi some more room to blend in without overpowering his electric keyboards.
The tune shifted, and Yuri knew to fall back and let Balthus have his solo. The other two wolves also followed in kind, setting up a simple chord progression for Balthus to run wild with.
Balthis was big and intimidating, and the chords and melodies he could harmonize with were the same way.
Yuri smiled, watching his audience of two as he settled into a steady 4/4 rhythm with his feet and hands. Claude was nodding his head along with the beat, tapping his sticks on his leg as if he was trying to fill in the gaps Yuri left. Hilda was beside him, watching Balthus with a genuine smile and a gleam in her eyes.
And as Balthus nodded to Hapi to hand over the solo, they all heard the click of a door opening-
And Hapi lost her concentration, leaving the melody hanging with no conclusion as nine students filled in at once.
Yuri groaned, stopping his beat as Constance tilted her bass away.
"You're late." Yuri yelled to them. "Practice started five minutes ago."
All of them looked like deer in the headlights at once.
"My apologies." Edelgard spoke. "We had been told to meet in the band hall and were actually waiting for you all."
"There's no risers in the band hall, Edelgard." Yuri replied back, stating the obvious. "Set up here, we can wait."
And just as the nine entered, they left, leaving behind an amused rhythm section in their wake.
"Do you think they're any good, Yuri?" Hapi asked, strumming nonsense on her guitar.
"Maybe some of them, but if I get asked how to swing I may just do that."
Constance giggled, setting down her stand up bass for a moment to grab her electric one. The rest of the band members also fell into fiddling on their instruments. Hapi was happy to strum a little bossa nova progression as Hilda approached Balthus.
"You never told us you could do /that/ Baltie!" She exclaimed, leaving Balthus a blushing mess. "When did that old coot teach you that?"
"So you do know him, Hilda?" Claude asked, leaving across the supports of Balthus' keyboard.
"Me and Holst used to be real close." Balthus said. "Went to the same middle school, but then I had to move and do another year of 8th grade. Holst is good and graduated now, but I got trapped here for another year with you."
Hilda chuckled. "I didn't know you moved back! You must have been here all last semester without even saying hi!"
"Well you were pretty busy!" Holst fired back. "The only time I saw you was when you were pushing some instrument across the parking lot."
"At least she's finally pulling her weight after two years." Claude chuckled, earning a punch on his arm from Hilda.
The trio seemed to have much to talk about, shifting conversation to the piano teacher they shared as the other band members began to filter into the choir room. Yuri watched a shockingly familiar head of purple squirm in her seat as she set up her alto. There were others, but Edelgard in particular caught his interest again as she settled down with a bari sax.
After a moment of confusion, the band of nine finally settled. Three altos and a bari in the first row, three trombones, and then three trumpets in the second tier risers.
One of the trumpets, a grey haired freshman with freckles everywhere on his face, caught Yuri's attention with a wave.
"Yes, Ashe?" He acknowledged.
"Um, what exactly will we be using to try out?"
Yuri laughed. "Trying out? As if we'd turn any of you away. There's barely anyone here, even if it's more than I anticipated." He stretched out then, tapping a slow rhythm on the rim of his snare.
"I'll go ahead and introduce myself. I'm Yuri. I started this jazz band my freshman year, and I want it to keep going after I graduate this spring."
Yuri turned behind him, gesturing towards the blonde with the bass.
"I am Constance von Nuvelle!" She said, bringing her hand up to her chest. "I play the concert bass, and this lovely lady here." She held up the neck of her sparkly purple bass. Tacky, in some people's view, but Yuri remembered how long it took for her to build it into exactly the thing she needed.
"Hapi. I play soccer." Hapi stated, as if she hadn't been playing guitar her entire life.
"I'm Balthus, resident keyboard of the jazz band." He nodded to the other percussionists behind him. "Me and Hilda go way back, had the same piano teacher in Deidru."
"No need to introduce yourselves, by the way." Yuri stated with a twirl of his drumstick, looking over the band proper. "Mr. Alferic is gone for the afternoon and we already know most of you all. I didn't know Mercedes could play the trombone, but I guess you learn something new every day."
Mercedes ducked ever so slightly and raised her borrowed trombone.
"Anyways, let's warm up." Yuri began, laying out a solid beat on his bass drum. "How many of you know Autumn Leaves?"
Not a single person raised their hand.
Hapi turned to look at Yuri with her eyes of concern.
"Okay… then I'm assuming you all know your scales?"
Only a few nodded, a trombone began to turn red.
"Dimitri." Yuri choked out.
"Y-yes?"
"Do you know how to swing?"
"How to… what exactly?"
The choir room echoed with the buzz of a hi-hat as Yuri practically slammed his head into it.