Let's Start A Band! (A Merry and Rika Production)

[Rika]

".. So! Mako-chan! That's why we absolutely have to make a band!"

Sachiko's normally relaxed, sky blue eyes were now wide and dazzling. Surely her long-time friend wouldn't say no to this request. They both were very much into music, and starting a band had to be the perfect idea. The girl rested on her hand and took a bite of her rice lunch. That was the only thing her mother packed since they were running low on food. Her stupid sister refused to go shopping because it was "too much work" and "nobody would help her". Sachiko grinned from ear-to-ear, folding her hands in her lap and standing, sitting on the desk in front of him and watching him. "Just think about it! If we only get two or more members, we'll be set!"

The girl was already aware of Makoto's bass talent, and she was a well-off percussionist. All they needed was the keyboardist and the guitar/vocalist, and they would be set. Some of her friends could play instruments, but only the boring ones like clarinet or saxophone or bassoon. Nothing totally awesome. Sachiko crossed her legs. "So, will you join? I need you in it! C'mon, maybe we'll even be famous one day!" Probably not, but it was a nice dream. Though, she did hear Japanese bands were getting more and more popularity. The girl took another bite of her rice, and sighed. "I'll even make the flyers and stuff." She smiled.

"Whaddya say, Mako-chan? Pleeeaaase?" Sachiko batted her eyelashes, smiling widely and staring him in the face. ​

 

[Merry Goes Down]

Said 'Mako-chan' was currently absentmindedly staring at his latest school notes, a plain pair of chopsticks still partly in his mouth as he slowly munched on his sushi roll, a slight crease wrinkling his smooth brow as he tried to concentrate both on his last minute studying and on what his friend said. What won Sachiko his undivided attention however was her mention of them possibly becoming famous, the usually down to earth teen having a secret dream of making it big, a fact that the girl before him knew very well and mercilessly abused on a regular basis.

"Well, if you put it like that, yeah, sure! But you let me the power to veto any crappy ad you may make, yeah?" The girl was stylish, but one was never too careful...

The remaining of their lunch break passed in a whirlwind of friendly bickering and laughter after that, the young man not being able to prevent the fondness he felt for his friend, and for his new life in the small city he moved in in hope of finally meeting her last year. Their friendship had blossomed lately, and at time Makoto was even unsure if what he felt for Sachiko was just platonic like or something more... but their easy camaraderie was always swift to make him forget all about any romantic thoughts he may have. Besides...

"We're the ones on cleaning duty today, right?" He asked his pretty friend as the bell announcing the end of lunchtime played its jaunty little tune all around the small high school campus.

 

[Rika]

Sachiko grinned. She could always count on Makoto to make her smile or entertain her. Or.. well, just be there. Of course, she had plenty of friends for her confident and spicy attitude, but they weren't like Makoto. Those friends didn't run as deep. Sachiko enthusiastically gave a thumbs up. "Fine with me!" Odds were, her ads would probably end up pretty crappy and Makoto, being the slight perfectionist he was, would have to fix it. Or at least get someone else to fix it. But Sachiko had her friend to help her, and.. and probably her older sister, though that girl kind of pissed her off, so maybe not. The blonde ran fingers through her hair and nodded. "Yeah, I think so. That's what Kurosaki-sensei told me this morning." At least cleaning duty was a way to sort of get more free time. Especially with Makoto.

She finished off her lunch and set the bento in her bag, scratching the side of her head. "So! Our first club meeting-- after school today during cleaning duty. Alright?"​

 

[Merry Goes Down]

Though he nodded, Makoto freely let his mirth show as he finished tidying up his desk, "Not that glamorous a start but I'll deal." It was true enough that every dream had to start somewhere on its way to being made reality, right? Standing up from his seat in respect as their teacher arrived, the teen greeted the older man along with his classmates in a well practised and expertly timed chorus before sitting back down, smiling sunnily at Sachiko as he did so. The two were desk neighbors this term, and they took full advantage of it when their current teacher was distracted or a bit deaf like most were in the sleepy town.

The lesson started soon after, and Makoto let himself go into the blissful state of relaxed focus he was now an expert of achieving as he slowly started his usual swipe of the classroom, the blackboard, the petal filled courtyard outside and finally his steadily darkening notes with his purpleish eyes. Schoolwork was easy but boring to him, and he guessed without his friends he would be bored into a stupor by now. He only hoped this band idea of Sachiko would not be a waste of their time...

Time passed slowly, but just after the sun peeked under the rooftops of the nearby buildings, the last bell sounded and the classroom emptied. Finishing his last notes of the day with a small flourish, Makoto smiled slightly to himself before turning his gaze to his closest friend, bleached strands of hair flying ever which way at the sudden movement after a few hours of nothing disturbing them besides the occasional breeze coming from the faraway opened window near the front of the classroom.

"I guess that means we better get moving, you know how the custodian get when we show up late to get the cleaning supplies." Grinning cockily at Sachiko, Makoto quickly stuffed his school stuff in his bag before putting the resulting leather case on his desk, standing up and stretching languorously until his back popped. His aches gone for the most part, he gestured for his fellow cleaner to follow him and made his way out of the classroom and toward the custodian's office.

 

[Rika]

As usual, Sachiko didn't pay attention. She usually mooched off notes from her smart friend, who was usually buried in a book in the library. Usually too busy to see Sachiko swiping them from her bag and running home with them. The girl had no idea why smart people even took notes in the first place-- didn't they just automatically know the material? So, as the teacher lectured, she stared thoughtfully out the window. The cherry blossoms were beautiful as always, though her mother got a cold this time of year, and that made her dad cranky. She expected an earful for no reason when she got home. To top it all off, her sister would probably nag her for not letting the cats out. Sachiko popped her knuckles and adjusted her school uniform. Today was going to be long.

And it was. The period felt like forever. Important information oppressively drifted through the air and set a dull mood. That was always how school was. If only she could.. Her fingers started drumming the desk, but someone behind her threw a paperwad at her and told her to stop. Fair enough. Even her mother found it annoying at times. When the bell announced Hell's end, she peered over at Makoto and rubbed her eyes.

When everyone left the room, she stood and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's scary when he's mad." She informed, though it was not needed. She walked down the hall side by side with Makoto, and got their cleaning supplies, heading down the hall once again. "You can start in the boy's shower room I guess. I'll head down the downstairs hallway, yeah?" She smiled, and already made her way down the stairs, hearing a.. strange noise.. But a pleasant one.​

 

[Merry Goes Down]

Before Makoto even had the time to Sachiko was gone, the empty corridor silent and lonely to his senses before he heard a strange echoing sound coming from the club building just around the corner opposite where his friend had gone. Shrugging at the idea of being ordered around, the young teen shook his head with a sigh, used to getting such treatment from his more outgoing companion, and as such was not really concerned by the turn of events, the sounds taking the remaining part of him that wanted the two of them to pass some time together to the back of his mind.

A small smile on his lips, Makoto followed the strange sound, the melody soon making itself known to him the closer he got to the shower-room for the sports club and soon enough he could identify the song, and even know that it was sung rather pleasantly by a young male, the voice not yet deep enough to belong to a full adult. As he approached the stall where the heavenly voice originated, the bleached haired teen got distracted enough by the song he faintly recognized as a new variation of a popular Gackt song to actually forgot to check where he stepped, the resulting faceplant he himself performed leaving him absolutely horrified as he usually wasn't a clumsy person. With a surprised yell, his school shoes slipped on the soapy puddle now under him and, with a great crash and groan that actually made things worse (he shouldn't have tried to hold himself up with a mop of all things, ba-ka!), the teen found himself stunned, hurt, wet and on the cold tiled floor of the shower-room.

Worse still, the song had stopped, and now purple met sea green as a underclassman looked down at him, a pale hand having pushed the plastic shower curtain hiding them from each other's view aside after the poor Makoto made enough noise to attract the younger boy's attention. A long silence followed by much blinking and aborted speech fell upon the duo, and finally, after nearly five minutes of staring at each other like idiot, the mystery singer finally spoke.

"...Are you okay?"

And thus Makoto met Akio, the two males' unusual meeting urging fate to make a few adjustments that would change four young persons' boring life forever. Of course, nobody knew this yet, and, in fact, Makoto only remembered the band thing long after the two parted ways that day, but the idea was there, and would no longer be forgotten...

 

[Rika]

As she made her way downstairs, the noise grew louder and louder. And-- And no, it was not just one noise-- it was a myriad of noises. One noise. Two noises. Three noises. Four noises. All of them together. Sometimes two with three, and sometimes four with one. Like-- Like an instrument. Her eyes drifted to the signs on the doors. These were the rooms for after school clubs. "Tea Room", Literature Club Room", "Anime Club Room", whatever. A brief flash of interest made her touch the Anime Club Room's door, but she found it empty, and the girl sighed, moving on. As she was down there, she found many spare rooms as well, though none striking a real chord with her. And that sound-- she still wouldn't ignore it. She just couldn't pin point where it was coming from. So, what did Sachiko Ruka do instead of cleaning the hallway like she was supposed to? She ran down every door, peering inside and scaring some club members who were still busy having their meeting. And finally, after all of this, the second to last door on the right, she discovered the sound originating from it. The girl pressed her face against the glass, and saw a young girl pressing away at the keys with ease, with grace. That long black hair touched the floor, and when she opened her eyes, Sachiko could see pale, baby blue pearls dotted with placidity.

She could have left the young girl alone. She could have walked off. But she didn't. She stood there, fogging up the glass with her eager breath, and opened the door pointing, interrupting the soft song. "You! What's-- What's your name?!" The dark-haired child stopped playing, and folded her hands across her lap. She observed the girl for a moment, recognizing her from sporting events, and cleared her throat. "Tsukiko," The petite girl stood from her bench, and pursed her lips. Quite anti-climactic, yes, especially Sachiko staring down at her, and grinning. "Interesting," was all she said, and took that information, walking out of the door. She could tell the girl was an underclassman. That was an advantage. And her name-- was that her last or first name? It sounded like a last name, but.. Well, she could easily find out. Oh, and tell her findings to Makoto of course.

~

Days later, maybe when they weren't less busy, Sachiko sat at her lunch place again, and opened her bento box. One chopstick was in her mouth while the other picked at the food. "I've been meaning to tell you, I think I've found our keyboardist. And uh, I can't find a singer yet, but.."​