Finding a New Bassist.

[MiNaGi]

In Tokyo, Japan, four youngsters had decided to form a band. The boys Yuya, Takumi and Aoi and the younger girl Reyoko. They had formed a band together and practiced their songs on Reyoko's school. But, seeing as Takumi, the leader, was on drums, and Yuya and Aoi on guitar, and Reyoko the vocal, they were missing a bassist. The unemployed Takumi had had his luck finding Reyoko and therefore, the duty was on her to find their new bassist, maybe out of the students at her school. Aoi, with his social awkwardness, wouldn't be able to approach if he found one, after all, and Yuya, though he had a good chance with his work, thought that it would be a good idea to let Reyoko try and find band members on her own so she would tribute in her own way to the band. They had quite normal everydays; Takumi had his finances payed by his family, and Aoi had his own living expenses covered by both his family and a job. They were all steady and lived on their own. They devoted all free time to their band, and together they were inseparable childhood friends, all except Reyoko, who had come in later. But they treated her like their little sister, always taking care of her and making sure she wouldn't be in trouble with money or anything in school.

Takumi woke up late that day, it was just a regular Friday morning, and he yawned as he rolled out of bed, groaning as he hit his back on the floor. It was 11:03 AM and he was so annoyed with waking up. But he had to go meet his band in three hours, so he just sighed and decided that that was what it was. He lied on the floor for a few minutes before finally getting up, walking to the bathroom as he grumbled something about getting a carpet on his floor. After a quick, hot shower, he went to his living room where he put on his clothes, jeans and a white t-shirt with a black vest over it. After he was done dressing, he made a cup of coffee, walking around inside his apartment as he drank it. He was too lazy to get any breakfast, and whenever he was hungry, he'd grab a bite to eat. He ruffled a hand through his hair as he looked out into the distance. He was wondering whether or not they'd have a bassist this afternoon. Knowing Rey, she would probably be really nervous even if she did find someone, and he hadn't wanted to pressure her. But he really thought it'd be a good idea for her... anyways right now it would. If she found them a bassist, she'd feel a bigger responsibility for the band, and that was what they needed at the current moment. Members who loved what they were doing, loved the music and were devoted to the band. He knew that Rey loved the music, but she had been reluctant to join. He didn't want her to regret her decision, and thus he tried to make her as big a part of the band as he could, wanting to make her feel comfortable. He thought that if she felt like she had been responsible for something good that happened to the band, she'd be happier with being with the band in general. He was quite happy-go-lucky on that point. He thought that everyone could gain happiness on their own.

Aoi woke early. It was about half past six when he was awake. He got up slowly from his bed, pulling on his glasses. He went to the bathroom and took a short shower, making sure he was completely clean before he walked off to his room. He picked out a simple outfit, seeing as he'd have to change when he got to work anyway, so he just went with jeans and a black turtleneck shirt. He looked himself in the mirror, trying to tell if something was wrong with his appearance. It was probably just his imagination. Looking through his phone, he saw two new mails from his mother and aunt, asking him why he wasn't answering. He closed the phone down without reading the mails. He went to the kitchen, making himself toast and a cup of tea. He knew he had to eat something seeing as he would have to serve tables from 10 AM to 1:30 PM and he would constantly have to move around until he got off work. As he packed his things, wallet, phone, keys, whatever he needed, he kept glancing at his watch. Okay, 8:30. He would have to go in about half an hour to make it there to change and help open the shop. He cleaned the house a little, making his bed and checking the laundry before he left the house. He had enough money from his parents to have a house, but he really just wanted to do something on his own. He wanted to be able to build his own way of life. And he was also showing his own place by having his own job. Takumi had approached him one day and asked him to join the band since he loved playing guitar, and he had said yes because he thought it was a good idea to try something like that. It had been a great experience, and the joining of Reyoko had brought a nice dynamic to their band, in his own opinion. She was kind and gentle, different from all three of the guys, and thus he really liked her. But only as a friend. He had other people whom he was... involved with. He never went into depth with his own feelings because he didn't like being too personal.

Naoki was supposed to go to her first day in the new school today. She groaned as her alarm sounded in her ears, and she almost broke the clock trying to shut it down. Checking her phone, it was 6:30AM. Not caring that she could still sleep a little longer, the female got up and checked herself in the mirror. She had dyed her hair blonde the night before and really enjoyed the color on herself. She went to take a shower, styling her hair in the mirror. When she got to her room, she picked out a band logo t-shirt, a leather jacket and jeans with chains attached to them. She put on her piercings and a collar around her neck. She went to her kitchen but only made a cup of coffee, seeing as she wasn't hungry. She'd fetch something later if she got hungry or something like that. She wasn't a person to whine about not getting food. She checked that her bag was packed with her phone, keys and wallet and also her school books. Other than that, she made sure that the bag containing her bass was there so she wouldn't forget it on her way to school. When she was done with her things, it was still a little early and she sat on the couch for a little, knowing that this would possibly change a lot for her. Now... Naoki was a boy. She didn't care about it much, she felt more comfortable in the clothes and behavior pattern of a male. She didn't attend P.E at the high school as she filled it with other classes, and thus no one could figure out her gender that way. When it was finally time, she went off to school with her hands in her pockets, her bags on her shoulder and back. She didn't seem bothered by the weight and just walked, humming softly to herself as she kicked the air with her feet. When she finally reached the school, she looked up. "Great... this is going to be the lamest school start, I tell ya..." She grumbled as she walked towards the entrance, searching until she found the principal's office and was lead to her classroom.

 

[Kanan]

"Ah... Maruyama-san..." The voice was timid, shy in its approach, and quiet, as though the speaker was deathly afraid of actually claiming the attention of the person to whom she was talking. "M-Maruyama-san...?" The little shop worker tried again when her original speech failed in its task. Carefully, with a shaking hand, she reached out towards the young man sitting on the stool behind the counter, guitar on his lap, fingers plucking away at the strings. His head bobbed in time with the music he was coaxing from the beat-up instrument, and he didn't seem to be aware of the girl's presence in the slightest.

He was startled when her slim, pale fingers actually connected with his shoulder, and he whirled around immediately, practically hissing like an angry cat who'd just been surprised by a dog. Visibly bristling, he glowered at the intruder, who let out a quiet shriek and jumped back a step or two, hands up in the air in her fright.

"What do you want?" he growled, before he realized that it was only Haruka, the assistant shop keeper. The guitarist relaxed slowly, inwardly kicking himself for nearly scaring the poor girl out of her wits, and ran a hand through his hair with a soft sigh. His shoulders slumped, untensing, and he offered his fellow employee what he probably thought was a gentle, friendly smile; to the unfortunate young girl, it looked more like a grimace that clearly said Why did you interrupt me? "Ah, sorry, Haruka-chan," he murmured, a little abashed. He had a tendency to act before he thought, and it often got him into trouble. "I didn't realize it was you. What's up?"

"Ah... M-Mar-Maruyama-san," Haruka stuttered. He was almost positive that, had he allowed his eyes to wander further south that her shoulders, he'd be able to see her knees shaking, knocking together in her terror. "Ishizuri-san wanted me to... to t-tell you that... th-there are c-c-customers over th-there..." With no small amount of reluctance, the girl unfolded an arm from her chest, where she'd had both of them pressed in an effort to protect her heart and calm its racing, and extended it in the direction of a father and his son; they were standing in the corner of the shop, browsing the older guitar section. "He-he says..." She didn't get more than that out before the object of her fright waved a hand dismissively, cutting her off.

"Yeah, yeah," Yuya muttered. He set the guitar on its stand, patting it gently like a lover, and unfolded himself from his stool. "I'll take care of it. Thanks, Haruka-chan." He shot her another friendly smile that nearly made her wet herself in fear, and wound his way through the rows of instruments, heading for the parent and child couple. As he neared them, he was able to pick up on their conversation, and the words that flowed between this loving father and his offspring made Yuya clench his fists. Why couldn't his father have been supportive of his dreams? Hell, the old man had broken his first guitar when he'd caught his oldest son playing it one evening in his bedroom. This simply wasn't fair.

When is this day gonna be over? he groused in the privacy of his own head. I just want to get out of here. I've got more important stuff to do than stand here and listen to these idiots. Don't know a damn thing about guitars.

He shot a quick look at the clock above the door. 10:30. He had four more hours of retail hell to go.


Ah! My toast! Flailing wildly, Rey slapped the button on her dented metal toaster, praying that this time, the mechanism wouldn't get stuck as it had the last time she'd tried to make a quick breakfast. She didn't have time to sit and dig out burnt pieces of bread with a disposable chopstick; she'd slept through most of her alarm and, as a result, had woken up later than she had intended. The high schooler did a silent cheer when the button worked and toast, a little darker than she preferred, popped out of the slots. With one hand, she attempted to tie the bow around her neck that completed her school uniform; the other shoved bread into her mouth.

Finally dressed and on her way to feeding herself, Rey snatched up her school bag and jammed her feet into her loafers. She was typically a very punctual girl, always early for everything, but she'd stayed up late the night before, studying for the tests that had been scheduled for the next week.

I'm just happy it's Friday, she thought, locking the door of her tiny apartment behind herself. Friday meant a release from the weekly grind, freedom to pursue the music she loved with the friends she had made. While she didn't know them well enough to really allow them into her life yet, they were at least a start. And they didn't bully her or push her around. That was definitely a plus, and a welcome change for her previous life.

With her school bag flapping against her thighs, its single strap thrown over her shoulders, she darted down the street, both hands attempting to tame her long dark brown locks into a dignified bun. That task managed, she brushed the half fringe of bangs out of her eyes and pushed her glasses back up her nose with one finger. Only eight hours of hard studying, and she'd be released into the music hall. She could get through these hours, where nothing exciting ever happened.

She hoped.

 

[MiNaGi]

Takumi grumbled as he lazed around in his house. He had literally nothing to do but wait for his day to get to the point where he had to practice his music. He was also too lazy to play his drums at the moment, mostly because he preferred everyone playing together and having fun. He didn't like playing too much on his own, it felt lonely if it wasn't solely for practicing. He bit his lip slightly as he lied there. He decided to watch some TV to get rid of his boredom. He wondered what Aoi was doing. Whenever he was bored, his mind drifted off to the tall, glass-bearing male. He didn't know why, and just shoved it off as them being childhood friends.

"He was always such a troublesome guy, getting himself hurt for no reason... and he's supposed to be older? Geez... he was such a small kid..." Takumi smiled to himself smugly when he thought back, back to the time where he had been protective of Aoi. Now it was the other way around. It had been a nice life for them when they had been so happy together as best friends. And now it was even better with all of their newfound friends.

Aoi reached his workplace earlier than he was supposed to. It was so like him to arrive early. The other workers greeted him before he went to change in their little changing room. When that was done, he walked out. He briefly wondered if Takumi was awake yet. Nah, no chance of that with his personality. He was always up as late as possible, snoring and sleeping in for as long as he could. He might just be late for practice. Thinking about the amusing aspects of that, he was pumped to go on with his day. He really liked that thoughts of his friend cheered him up, though it did unnerve him a little bit. Why did he feel like he did? He didn't have any specific reason to, and it wasn't like Takumi and him had anything that special with each other.

He shrugged it off as he went to serve the first customers, girls and women who had their day off or dropped in before they had to go to work. Aoi knew that they came to stare at him, because he socially wasn't as capable as the other workers. But because he attracted customers, they kept him there because he proved to be pretty useful when he attracted a shitload of girls. He didn't like the thought of being used like that but thought nothing of it, picturing Takumi in his mind to calm himself down.

Naoki looked up as she saw a girl practically stumbling in, she was probably a bit late. When she was in, the teacher introduced Naoki to the rest of the students, and Naoki noticed that her seat was just beside the stumbling girl. She sat down when prompted, having her bass at her side, leaning against a wall. She never let it out of her sight, not for a second. If she caught anyone messing with it, they'd get a very kansaiben, angry and uncontrolled reprimande. She was very sensitive about her bass seeing as she had earned her own money to buy this exact bass that she had wanted to have for years, and therefore she let no one touch it, under any circumstances. She wanted her music to belong to her, and if someone would touch what belonged to her, she'd be furious.

Naoki was a very bright student. She had never gotten a bad grade, but her personality caused her to get in a lot of trouble anyways. She could get top marks in everything and no one would be satisfied because of her foul mouth and bad personality. But really, she was just trying to hide herself. She didn't want anyone to see the girl hiding behind her features, behind her boyish, grumpy facade, because she didn't want to be used by other people, didn't want to get herself hurt by opening up to others.

 

[Kanan]

His duty to customers done, Yuya shuffled back over to his post, and seated himself on his stool. Crooning wordlessly to the guitar, he replaced it in its spot of honour on his lap, and plucked at the strings, pleased with the sounds that emanated from the resin cast body... until one twanging, discordant note hit his ears. Yuya winced, gritting his teeth, and slid his hand up the neck to the tuning pegs. He fiddled around with them, strumming the strings with his free hand to test the tension on the catgut wire, and when he was satisfied with what he heard, his fingers wandered back down to the frets.

He'd be the first to admit that he'd never be able to cut it as a vocalist; his singing voice sounded more like two angry cats who'd been thrown into a bag and allowed to fight one another. But he hummed along quietly with the melody his hands were coaxing from the guitar. Yuya had had a tune brewing in his head for the last three days, and he couldn't wait for the time to fly by so that he could introduce his idea for an original song to the rest of his band mates.


A sigh of relief escaped her when she realized that she was standing in front of the gates of her school. There was barely a minute to spare, for the bells were chiming the warning that first period was starting soon, and she didn't bother to wait to catch her breath. Praying to whatever deity happened to be listening that she'd manage to get to her seat before the bells' tune ended, she dashed through the metal gates and into the enormous building, flying down the hallways at Mach speeds. Her school was unusual in that it catered only to the students and families of the enormously wealthy (or those who had managed to test in with scholarships -- but this was notoriously hard to accomplish, and Rey had been told by a couple of other students that she was possibly the only scholarship pupil currently attending), and it had been built with that show of prestige in mind. Comprised of brick, it was fashioned in the shape of an medieval English castle, with several wings and more than one courtyard.

She had no time to spare a glance at the student who was standing out like a sore thumb; the new kid wasn't even remotely dressed in the school's uniform (skirts and bow ties for girls, slacks and ties for guys), and the choice of attire was certainly drawing a lot of attention from those who weren't as concerned with punctuality as Rey. She sped past the group that had gathered around the new kid, and slid into her desk as the last chime faded into silence.

Immediately, her forehead hit her desktop, and she she gasped, struggling to catch her breath after her record-breaking run. She jerked to attention when Ms. Yamazaki entered the classroom, sitting up straight in her seat, and removed her books from her bag, prepared to start another day of paying strict attention to lessons.

But it didn't seem that normalcy was on the agenda for today. Right as Ms. Yamazaki turned to the board to begin the English lecture, the door to the classroom slid open, revealing the new student who wasn't wearing uniform. He slouched into the room with what appeared to be a guitar case over his shoulder, followed by the principal, Mr. Imoto. Ms. Yamazaki turned, chalk held halfway up to the blackboard, an expression of polite confusion on her pretty young face.

"Good morning, Yamazaki-san," Mr. Imoto chirped. He was a cheerful, rotund little man who looked more like the sort of grandfather who was always buying his grandchildren ice cones, instead of running a school meant to turn out the very best of high society children. He gestured towards the boy standing next to him. "I am terribly sorry to interrupt your class, Yamazaki-san, but we have a new student for you. Do you have a place for him?"

Ms. Yamazaki, who couldn't have been more than twenty-four years of age and who had admitted that this was only her second year teaching (and, Rey had heard the boys in her class whispering behind their hands, was an absolute fox), turned her attention to the tall boy. Rey could almost see the little hearts that spiraled up from her head, for her face instantly shifted into a look of adoration.

"Yes, of course," she bubbled enthusiastically, setting the chalk aside and turning away from the board. "We are pleased to have him in our class this year. Thank you, Imoto-san." The principal bowed and showed himself out of the room, leaving the young man standing in front of the students. Ms. Yamazaki gestured to the class, and offered him a bright, friendly smile meant to put him at ease should he have been feeling nervous about being in front of the other kids. "It's so nice to have you with us this year. Would you mind introducing yourself to everyone, please? Afterwards, you may take a seat next to... ah..." She turned to stare out over the sea of students, and her eye alighted on the only empty desk in the room... right beside Reyoko. She brightened visibly; Rey was a good student, the sort who kept to herself. She wouldn't be any sort of competition for the boy's affections. "You may have the empty seat beside Sawamitsu."

Oh, crap. Rey wanted to bury her head in the sand and never come back out. She swore she could actually feel the eyes of her fellow female classmates turning to glare at her hatefully. Any time an attractive boy came into the room, they were always swooning over him. Privately, Rey thought they were silly, but she felt confident that she could ignore the new kid and have no malice turned in her direction.

She had to admit, though, he was cute. He fit the Visual Kei style to a T, and the guitar case over his shoulder instantly piqued her curiosity.

 

[MiNaGi]

Takumi was grumbling around in his house, unsure of what to do. Until he got the greatest idea of the century - he would go visit Aoi at work! Yup! Best idea that he had ever gotten in his life! ... or so he thought, anyways. He pulled on his leather jacket and biker boots as he practically darted out of his apartment. He had always been very affectionate when it came to Aoi, everything from silly, platonic flirting to other stupid things. They had always held hands when they were children, and never had they thought about what their relationship might turn out to become. He had always thought about why him and Aoi were so close to each other.

He hummed all his way to the little cafe where Aoi worked. It was a nice place and Takumi always visited there on his own accord to be a support to Aoi who was such a hardworking guy. He had always admired his friend for that quality. He had always thought of Aoi as that guy who would never fall down and always found a way out if he was in trouble. Aoi was a steady and hardworking guy, and Takumi admired all about his beloved friend, enough to visit him at work once too often for his own good.

And Aoi indeed was hardworking. In order to prove his worth of having his own life to his family, he had decided to get this job and prove himself by living on his own. That way, he wouldn't have to depend on them. Yet, they still sent him allowance and other expenses even if he insisted that they stopped because he could take care of himself. He was a protective guy of nature and didn't like others taking care of him. Because when others took care of him, he wouldn't be the one helping them. It was the same about Takumi. When they were smaller, Takumi had protected him. Even if Aoi was older, Takumi had been the "grownup" of them. And because of that, Aoi felt that he had to return the favor somehow. That if he didn't return it, Takumi would end up blaming him for it one day. They were so close, but who was to say that such a thing wouldn't change? It was very likely of changing because of Takumi always being so kind. After all... you couldn't be happy forever, right? And Aoi just didn't want to become the place where he centered his anger.

He blinked as he heard the door open, and a familiar person stepped in and sat at the table, waving at him. Aoi rolled his eyes as he walked over to Takumi, standing at his table. "What are your orders, sir?" He asked in a taunting polite voice, making Takumi grin at him. They wer always like this, as a couple, almost. It made their relationship charming. "Oh... I want one of those.. what'd you call it... that chocolate cake thing." Typical of Takumi, chocolate first in the morning.

"First in the morning, huh, sir?" He said as he winked at Takumi, writing down the order for the cake. This was what he loved about him and Takumi's relationship. It made him able to be a bit more social, just because it was Takumi. Aoi had always wondered why that was, why he always felt happy when he was with Takumi. "Ah... yeah... I want something sweet because I drank coffee this morning and hate the taste of it. I'll loiter around nearby until you get the day off, alright?"

Aoi nodded as he looked at Takumi, walking over to hand in the order to the kitchen before he went back to Takumi. "Really sure you wanna loiter around for so long? I only get off in like... two and a half hour. You sure you aren't too lazy for that, huh, Taku?" At this, Takumi winked at him and grinned. "Anything for my Aoi-chibichan ~ After all, you know I don't have a life. I'm really just trying to waste my time, and it's funniest to bother you at work because you never send me out of here when I show up..."

Aoi shook his head. Of course, Takumi. The always-bored, friendly Takumi. He went back to the kitchen as he recieved the cake. "Well, here you are. I'll be serving the tables so you just take your time in here if you want to stay until I finish my shift..." Aoi went over to a table where three high-schoolers were seated, they were apparently having a free two periods and decided to spend it in the little cafe. Aoi took their orders as he went on with his waiter work.

Naoki followed the principal, Mr. Imoto, rather obediently as she didn't want to get into any trouble just yet. So she just walked behind him. Despite being weighed down by her bags, she seemed to move so easily. Her movements were graceful and even light as she trailed behind Mr. Imoto. She wasn't one for classes and hated that they had a young, female teacher and a load of female students. She knew they were trying to eat her alive.

The teacher was a bit too chippery for her taste, one of those happy-go-lucky characters, but obviously she just wanted to have a chance to ogle at Naoki. Yeah, that seemed like it. Naoki wasn't nervous at all in front of the class, she was a bit uncomfortable about the larger number of girls, though. That meant that she'd get stared down pretty hard because that was always what happened when she was introduced to her new classes whenever she would move schools. This time, it was no different and all eyes were on her when she was to do her introduction. "Kanda." She said simply as she looked at the class. "Kanda Naoki..." She finished as she did as she was told. She walked down the rows of tables and sat beside the girl who was apparently called Sawamitsu. She took out her books after setting down her bass, and began taking notes to the class. Despite her looking like someone who didn't do her homework, she actually got top marks in just about anything. She was a great student and her taechers loved her, if it wasn't for her personality.

Is there something wrong with the girls? I thought that the punkish style would scare them away for sure... She thought to herself as she stole a glance at this girl, Sawamitsu. She didn't stare at Naoki like all of the others, rather tried to avoid it. Naoki was pretty much interested by then, always search out the ones that doesn't seem to like you. That way, you might find a real friend, or so she had always thought.

She looked away quickly, though, knowing that it would be trouble for her if her and Naoki looked like they had something going. The other girls would probably get jealous for absolutely no reason at all.

 

[Kanan]

Finally. Shift's over.

For the last half hour, Yuya had been engaged in a staring contest with the beat up old clock hanging above the door. He'd glared at it, made faces at it, taunted it silently in his head, and his wordless battle had left Haruka wondering if she should inform the shop's owner that they might start considering the possibility of seeking out professional help for the guitarist. Every time she had passed by, he'd been making another face, and it was with no small amount of relief (and some confusion) that, when 2:00 rolled around, Yuya hopped off the stool with a cheer that he seldom displayed. He wiped his hands, slapping them together, and grinned, a crooked, lopsided smile that surprisingly reached his eyes.

"Well," he announced, a little too pleased to be leaving. He fetched his guitar case from behind the staff desk and hefted it over his shoulder. "I'm off. See you tomorrow, Haruka-chan." His wave was practically lost in a blur of smoke as he dashed out of the store, well down the block before the door ever slammed shut behind him. Haruka barely had time to lift her hand in a friendly return of his farewell, and she stared at the door, a puzzled look plastered on her face.

"Um... bye?" she ventured hesitantly.

He liked getting off at this time of day. All of the suits were still in their offices, slaving away over desks they'd never move up from, and all the housewives had already finished their daily shopping. The grade school brats wouldn't be getting out of classes for at least another thirty minutes, so all he had to contend with were the college students, most of them his own age. That meant the trains wouldn't be nearly as crowded as they were at other times of day, and he wouldn't have to stand pressed up against a multitude of strangers, with the possibility that some insulted female might accuse him of touching her inappropriately.

Yuya rolled his eyes. Yeah. As if, darlin'. I can get it from girls who're willing. I don't need to go around copping feels on unsuspecting women. It wouldn't have been the first time a misunderstanding had happened, and he was sure it wouldn't have been the last, either; he just hoped that the next time he was wrongfully indicted, the woman wasn't carrying a purse full of what felt like bricks, with the aim of a pro baseball pitcher. Sometimes, he still got phantom pains in his cheeks, and he shuddered at the memory of that particular woman's undeserved wrath.

"Yoyogi Park Station. Train Number 5 has just arrived. Please board for Ueno Park, the Imperial Palace, and Meiyou Academy High School branch. Thank you for your patience, and for choosing Japan Railways for your commuting needs." The operator's voice was pleasant, cheery over the loudspeaker, and Yuya glanced up at the platform, startled out of his stupor. The doors of the cars slid open, and he joined the crowd of college kids and late housewives, pushing their way onto the train. There were more people there than he'd been counting on, but he was relieved to realize that the car was not crammed to overflow capacity. The seats were all filled, but that didn't really matter to him; he'd rather stand anyway, especially since his stop wasn't far. The doors slid closed and the train jerked gently into motion; Yuya's body fell into the familiar movements of leaning with the train in an effort to keep his balance.

"Meiyou Academy High School branch. Please move towards the doors and make your exit. And thank you again for choosing Japan Railways. We hope to see you again soon."

Yuya paused at the gates of his old school, staring up at the tacky building with a cocked brow. Pfft. I hate this place. Grumbling under his breath, he stormed into the faux castle and made his way towards the music wing, all but abandoned by students who were more interested in shopping, dating, and gossiping. He let himself into the room that he and his friends had claimed as their practice hall, and flopped down onto a chair, prepared to wait for the rest of the band.


Rey huffed, puffing out her cheeks, and ducked her head behind her open text book. Great. Just great. Why did Ms. Yamato have to put the new guy beside her? Sure, it was the only desk that was open, but couldn't she have made someone else switch seats? She could already feel the crackling electricity in the air and the aura of possessiveness rolling off the rest of the girls in the room, and she was not looking forward to staving off accusations that she was trying to get close to the new boy and steal him from the rest of his adoring fans.

This is going to suck. She sighed and closed her eyes; only this morning, she'd found herself hoping something new would happen, something out of the ordinary, but now that it had, Rey was kind of wishing she could go back to her every day, boring school routine. Be careful what you wish for and all, I guess.

Ms. Yamato had finally managed to tear her eyes away from the new kid, who had called himself Kanda, and she turned her back to the class, chalk snatched up in a trembling hand. Rey wasn't entirely sure what her teacher was droning on about; it was a first for the incredibly studious girl, who usually wrote down every single word that came out of her instructors' mouths. But not today. No, this morning she was too busy lamenting her bad luck in the privacy of her mind to bother about taking notes.

Peeping over the top of her book, she took stock of the rest of the classroom: just as she'd suspected, the girls were alternating between making goo-goo eyes at Kanda and shooting daggers at her. She resisted the urge to roll her own eyes, and instead, dropped her gaze back to her book. At least the guys were on her side... right? Right?

Well, they weren't glaring at her, so that was a plus. Out of the corner of her eye, she shot a quick glance at the boy filling what had previously been the empty desk to her right, and was astonished to find him stealing a quick peek at her in return. She suddenly felt self-conscious. Did she have something on her face? Had she forgotten to wipe off the bread crumbs from her breakfast? Did it matter?

As quickly as he'd looked at her, Kanda glanced away, and Rey let out the breath she'd been holding. Maybe if she went back to her morning routine of taking extensive notes, the girls would take the hint that she had no designs on the new target of their affections, and she'd be left alone, just as she'd wanted it. She had to admit, though, Kanda was kind of cute, even in the Visual Kei/punk get-up. It only vaguely occurred to her to be surprised that he didn't seem to have received a reprimand for his lack of proper school uniform.

 

[MiNaGi]

Takumi had decided to loiter around inside the cafe where Aoi was working. He watched his childhood friend through the whole thing, and when he went to serve a table of young high school girls, Takumi felt a pang of jealousy. He glared at the girls for a while before he realized that he was jealous with them and not Aoi for talking together. Whenever the older male wasn't looking, Takumi stole glances at him, specifically at his face. He had always thought about Aoi as a friend, but recently something about Aoi had changed. Takumi didn't know what it was, but it was something new to the other male. Takumi thought that he had become prettier... maybe he'd changed his glasses or something like that? As he was so caught up in his staring, he didn't notice that Aoi was looking at him, too. They had a sort of glancing contest before Aoi came over with his cake, putting it on his table. Just as the older male was about to leave and go to the other table, Takumi grabbed his sleeve. He would have to confide Aoi about this, and now, before he lost his nerve. Because if he lost his nerve, he had no ways of telling Aoi how he was feeling. These strange feelings that he was having for his best friend. He just didn't want to wait and possibly have Aoi taken away from him by some chick.

"Aoi... would you come over to my place tonight? You have no shifts this weekend, so I thought that we could maybe have a movie night, just the two of us... I have a few things I want to discuss with you." He said slowly. He saw a flash of something in Aoi's eyes and wondered if he had said something that he wasn't supposed to have said. "Uh... yeah, sure. I'll drop by my place to get my things and I'll be at your house at 7. Do you want me to bring pizza on the way?" Gone. The flash was gone as soon as Takumi had seen it. He blinked as he tried to think about what it could be, but he didn't really want to. He was already compromising things as it was now. He bit his lip as he tried not to show what he was thinking to his male friend. Because if Aoi knew, he would surely not have agreed to go to Takumi's house to watch movies and be together all night and eat breakfast.

"Alright... and yeah, you can do that. You can just pick the pizza. Be at my place at 7, then. Then we can talk things out..." Aoi had that flash again. And then Takumi realized it. It was nervousness, fear even. He bit his lip, wondering why Aoi would make such a face. Before he could try to ask what was up, the other male was gone to serve the other tables, leaving him with a heavy feeling in his chest. He wondered if he had said something wrongly of him, and he felt heavy inside from having been left like that. He knew they had practice later with the rest of the band, and he willed himself to calm down his raging feelings and replaced them all with a smile. Because if his friends saw him upset, they'd probably all be very, very worried. The only person to have seen him crying in his life had been Aoi. Because he knew that Aoi would understand him better than anyone else. Aoi had always been the most important person of his life, even more important than his family. Aoi had been with him for as long as he could remember, backing him up and supporting him.

We've always been so close... He's supported me and been the absolute best friend for so, so long of my life... he's a great guy, and he takes care of me... but that doesn't equal that he feels specially about me. But I feel specially about him. I need to tell him the truth, I need to tell him how I feel. I can't keep him in the dark about what I feel like. Not when it's like this. He's my best friend... and I want him to be so much more. I can get any girl I want, but I don't want any of them. I want Aoi. As much hate as I could receive from him and everyone else, I want him to be mine. I don't want anyone else to take him away from me. He kept glancing at Aoi who was working as he ate his cake, picking at it slightly because he was trying to make sense of his feelings. How could he feel such a thing about his best friend? Aoi was his best friend! His beautiful best friend.

Aoi had sensed that there was something up with Takumi. There had been for a while as far as Aoi knew. He had sensed it from when Takumi had started to stare at him when he thought that Aoi wasn't looking. But of course he knew it. He wanted to know everything that was going on with his best friend. When he served the cake, he decided to accept the offer, because he wanted to know what was going on with his seemingly nervous best friend. It was a very strange Takumi he was seeing, he had never thought that he'd ever see Takumi being nervous or out of balance. But he'd always be able to hide away what he was feeling and put on a smile for other people. Aoi envied him that. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his feelings from anyone. His feelings always showed on the outside in his expression and his way of acting. And he could see that Takumi was well aware that he was nervous. Had Takumi noticed how he felt? Had he not been good enough to hide it? Would Takumi confront him about it and throw him away forever? He felt like crying at that thought and sat down for a few moments when the amount of customers thinned out. The high school girls asked him what was wrong but he sent them away saying he had a headache. Though when he glanced up again, it was his coworker in front of him. The guy was smiling worriedly and Aoi looked down as the guy ruffled his hair. They looked like siblings, but Takumi was glaring daggers at them. For what reason, Aoi did not know. The guy kneeled down at his side and smiled, looking at him.

"What's up with you, Aoi-kun? You're making such a scary face, I got all worried when I looked at you... if you want to go home now I can take care of the rest for you, no worries. I'll take care of it for you."

Aoi blinked as he glanced up at the other male and shook his head slightly. "Look, it's nothing, Matsuri. Please don't worry about me, I'm just a bit tired." Aoi tried but Matsuri didn't give up. "Oh no, I insist. There's no customers right now except for your friend over there -" he said as he pointed over at Takumi, " - so why don't you wait for him to finish his cake and then you guys leave so you can feel better? You're not able to work properly when you're like this, please take off now and enjoy your weekend off." Aoi sighed. Matsuri was so persistent, always insisting that he did what he was told. He decided it couldn't be helped and went to change his clothes before he made his way back to the half-smiling, half-sulking Takumi.

"Yo. Matsuri allowed me to get off early today. He said he'd take care of the rest for me, so we have about an hour or so before we have to go to practice." Aoi said and Takumi seemed to light up a bit, confusing Aoi. He decided not to think about it too much, it would just make things complicated if he thought way too much about unnecessary things like his feelings about his best friend ever. About the most supportive friend he had ever had. "Alright! Let's go on a stroll, we'll take a walk before we go to the school. Then we can agree on what movie to watch." Something in Aoi told him that it had absolutely nothing to do with picking out a movie, but he didn't say anything about that to his friend.

And he had been more or less right. When they reached an abandoned park, he felt Takumi sneak a hand into his. Aoi didn't see why he should let go of that hand. But before he knew it, Takumi dragged him behind a tree in the still-abandoned park, leaning forward. "Aoi... please don't think too hard about this, I promise I'll explain everything." Takumi whispered as Aoi felt the other male kissing him. It was so strange, so weird, and he didn't want it to end. He hadn't thought that Takumi would react like that to Aoi's feelings. When Takumi pulled back, they both collected themselves and walked towards the band practice room, their hands having left each other.

Naoki already resented the girls staring at her. Even the teacher were looking at her like she was some mythical creature sent to earth by god. She was just a normal person on this earth, Naoki Kanda, the girl who hated her mom with a passion. That was why she was so focused on Rey, the only one who didn't seem to be affected by her presence. She sighed a little as she looked from Ms. Yamato to the girls and then down to her notes. She would rather sit and take a million notes if that caused her to be able to zone out all of the people around her. Because they were just looking at her appearance.

Naoki kept her eyes on her notes most of the time, wondering what she should do. She then wrote down something on a little scrap of paper. She waited for the right moment, right when Ms. Yamato told all of the girls to focus on class and the focus would be on the blackboard and not her, and when that happened, she slipped the note to Rey's table beside her. With a flip of her hand, the note slipped between the pages of Rey's notebook.

When she looked at the other girl, their eyes met and she gestured with her eyes at the table before she looked down again. She knew that if the girls had seen it, Rey would be dead, but when she looked at them again, nothing appeared to have changed. The note was rather simple. It read; "I'm probably all of the causes for your trouble. But you seem cool enough. I'll come up at the roof in the break, so if just go ahead there first I'll get rid of the mob and sneak up there. Well, I'll be there anyway so come or don't. -Kanda" that and not a word more. She had written her last name to be polite, but she was really curious to talk to this girl.

The class passed and it was lunch break. Taking her bag, she followed the mob to the cafeteria, standing in line to get food. Just when it was her turn, she slipped out of the cafeteria before the girls could see her. She sneaked up to the roof and made sure no one was following her. The fresh wind hit her and she took a deep breath, letting the bag with her bass and her school bag rest on the ground. She spread her arms, marveling in the lovely feeling of the strong and yet gentle wind. She wouldn't deny that wind was her element. Freedom. Flying, fluttering, wavering. Just like herself, trying to stand on two feet was too boring for her. She loved her unsteady life that always created a new challenge for her to take.

 

[Kanan]

The melody of the bells signaled the beginning of the lunch hour, and Rey pushed aside her books with a weary sigh. Flopping forward, she dropped her head down on her desk, forehead pressed against the wood, and draped her arms over the edge of the table, hands left to dangle freely. Around her, her classmates were getting up, shifting around the room to join their usual lunch time groups. Those who preferred to purchase the school breads and bento boxes moved in the direction of the cafeteria, and those who came with food from home broke up into their meal cliques. Rey was usually one of the ones who brought her own lunch, but today, she had forgotten in her rush to be out the door and avoid a tardy mark; it would have been her first ever since she had started kindergarten.

Her stomach grumbled, and she groaned quietly, inaudibly. Great. I'm starving.

Rey was tight-fisted with her cash, and she wasn't about to shell out her hard-earned money for a mediocre plate of food. She'd just have to tough it out until she got home. But the smells of the other students' lunches wafting up around her was making her resolve shiver and quake. Unable to take it anymore, she pushed her chair back and stood up from her desk, marching out of the room unnoticed by the rest of her classmates.

Like a little ninja, she crept through the hallways, heading for the staircase that lead up to the roof. She hadn't been there often, as she wasn't exactly notorious for using it as a bastion for skipping classes, and it took her a moment to locate it. When she did, she sneaked through the door and out into the bright afternoon sunshine.

The little vocalist breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she was away from the tantalizing smells of food, and she wandered over to the railing. Resting her elbows on the thick metal, she propped her chin on her hands and stared out over the school grounds with a vaguely mournful expression. She was completely unaware that she had company out on the roof.

 

[MiNaGi]

When the bell sounded, Naoki was sitting on her chair and she put her books gracefully into her bag as she looked over at Rey with a strange expression on her face. She watched as Rey dropped her head down on the desk, and she raised an eyebrow at this. She wondered what on earth was up with this girl. She shook her head and looked back at her things. The students were slowly leaving the room to go eat, either in the cafeteria or together outside with their homemade packed lunches. Naoki always made her own lunches, loving to cook all on her own in her home where no one could judge her. She didn't want to be mistunderstood as girly. She had already decided that there was nothing girly about her, not her way of acting and not that she made her own food, none of it. That way, she would be nothing like her mother.

Naoki looked over when she heard a stomach grumbling, figuring out that it belonged to Rey.

She wondered if the girl had forgotten her lunch at home. Frankly, Naoki didn't blame her that she didn't want to buy the food in the cafeteria. It held no nutrition and didn't taste well, reason why Naoki always made sure to have her own packed lunch with her so that she could eat it if she felt like it, which she usually didn't. She wondered if she should offer the lunch to Rey when the girl left the room. Then she remembered that she had given Rey that promise and she stood up.

Gracefully, she walked through the halls, the eyes of the girls following her wherever she went. She made sure to slip out of the cafeteria when the girls wouldn't notice, and she finally got up to the roof without much trouble. When she got there, her mind was immediately taken over by the wind, the wind and nothing else. It made her want to fly away and become a bird.

When that got to her mind, she started singing. Her voice was dark and rough in this really cool way, and her vocals sounded perfectly as she sung a song unknown to even herself as she stood there on the roof. At her feet laid her bass, waiting for her to pick it up. But for now, she didn't, just wanting to feel as comfortable as possible, and that was in the wind, singing her song that she didn't know of.