ANNOYANCE AND OLD FRIENDS

Only barely swallowing back a giant yawn, Nao descended the final steps down to the cantina to join for the breakfast. He had slept in some more, even while Izumi had tried his best to poke him awake. A morning like this just didn’t seem any different from the others so Nao sticked to his philosophy of ‘Early risers, Comfort despisers’, and simply got up when he felt like it.
   Zigzagging through the long tables to Kagrra’s part, aloofly answering morning greetings along his way, Nao finally settled down on his familiar spot next to Izumi, who in his turn was looking fully refreshed, staring out into the cantina over his coffeecup.
   ‘Ohaaa~you...’ Nao settled on for a greet, muffling another yawn, tracing his fingers over Izumi’s lower back once in affection before occupying himself with loading his empty plate. Izumi barely gave a nod in reply, keeping his eyes on that certain spot he was staring at. But even as occupied with food as Nao was, he still didn’t like to be ignored.
   ‘...Eh?! Nao, what’s wrong with you?’
   ‘Only getting my morning-hug,’ a mutter rose from somewhere under Izumi’s shoulder where Nao had attached himself to his lover. Izumi let out a snort, ruffling his hand through Nao’s soft curls before he pushed him away. ‘Tsh, todler...’
   ‘Fine, contuinue to ignore me,’ Nao huffed as he put up a pout and went back to filling his plate sulkingly. ‘Just what has your infinite attention this early in the morning?’
   ‘I’m studying a rather interesting change in the atmosphere...’ Izumi replied dreamily.
   ‘... Since when does Meteorologie have your interest?’
Izumi gave him a pitiful glare. ‘My dear Nao, I’m talking about the atmosphere a bit closer to the ground. Just look.’
   Nao followed Izumi’s gaze and rested his eyes on the center of the cantina.
   ‘And what exactly am I supposed to see?’
   ‘Look better, smartass.’
Nao rolled his eyes but looked again, really forcing his sluggy mind to concentrate. And this time, the subtile change in positions and moods from the people he witnessed did attract his eye.
   After all the times of sitting apart from the rest or some rare occassions close to Alice Nine’s table, Bill was this time a part of SuG’s table. Not forming the center on his own, no, he was rather forming a center together with Takeru. The two were sandwiched between the guitarists Yuji and Masato who both seemed determined to push the two as close together possible without it getting suspicious. Both Bill and Takeru looked reluctant to make a fuss about it, calmly eating their breakfast and showing beaming, yet slightly nervous smiles as the ones around them talked freely.
   Hmm, interesting, Nao thought. Alarmclock Takeru not blabbing loudly about anything? That was new....
   Though as cheery as the ones on that side of the table looked, and even while Nao could only see his back, he saw that this mood was not shared by the bassist Chiyu. The one sitting next to drummer Mitsuru normally had a loud voice in the cantina too, but now he wouldn’t open his mouth even once.
   Izumi was right about the change, Nao thought, his eyes now traveling to the farther rings, or the surrounding tables, to see just how far the impact lingered, as the  circles that spread over the water surface.
   The scene did have some effect.
Normally, GazettE had always occupied the other end of SuG’s table, but this time they had joined the side of Alice Nine. Perhaps the own choice of the bandmembers, or maybe it had something to do with Miyavi, sitting solemly at the table’s end that was previously GazettE’s, staring at the small group on his left. Completely ignoring his breakfast or pretty much everything around him, the soloartist glared away and gave off every sympthom of a very bad morning mood. And a bad morning mood for MYV, is usually a bad day for PS. Yikes.
   Beginning to match Izumi’s thoughtfull expression, Nao helped himself to a bite of toast as he studied the table now hosting ten people.
   All ten looked least to say, out of the usual. Starting with Alice Nine, Saga’s expression looked comparible to Miyavi’s, Hiroto kept looking nervously around his bandmember’s faces, wondering when would be a suitable time to talk. Nao was a calm face in the middle, though he looked rather gloomy too, and Tora hardly looked out of the usual, but he had always been the silent one. Lastly, Shou did a pretty good impression of someone calmly eating breakfast while reading a magazine, but for the trained eye became clear that he kept glancing over to SuG’s table.
   Next, Nao’s eyes fell upon the backs of GazettE’s trio Aoi, Reita and Uruha, throwing occasional glances over their shoulders while softly chattering among themselves, maybe for not to further disturb a certain timebomb sitting opposite of them. Next to a for once rather breezy looking Kai, Ruki’s eyes had narrowed down to barely visible slits and not even the coffeecup in front of him seemed to soften him up anytime soon. The reason for his discomfort seemed obvious; truly only said table in the middle had no idea what they were causing.
   Overall, the atmosphere had taken a turn for the worst. A cheery, oblivious center surrounded by a dark ring of annoyance. Only the sempaibands looked indifferent. Nao looked to his side where his three mates of Kagrra were having their usual morning discussion and with Kra things didn’t look out of the ordinary either. Keiyuu’s paternal eye had also fallen on the center group, looking calculating; but then again, Keiyuu mostly tended to just quietly observe these things.
   ‘Woha...’ Nao finally let out, scratching his head, ‘This is actually giving me chills...’
   ‘Me too,’ Izumi replied softly, only contributing to the the unusually low soundlevel in the cantina. ‘And something tells me we haven’t seen the end of this...’
   ‘Okay, now YOU are scaring me,’ Nao muttered as he shoved another piece of toast into his mouth.
   Apparantly it was a different morning after all. But for this one, he would’ve rather slept the entire day to miss it.

*

   ‘Okay guys! Let’s make today’s practise usefull na? Let’s get on with it!’
   As powerful as this sentence was meant to sound, it barely reached the effect for even their leader seemed to have a hard time staying cheery. Alice Nine slumped into their studio and motivation was critically lacking – again. The only one looking anxious to begin was Hiroto, but even his spark cooled as he watched his bandmembers. Still, when Tora picked up his own guitar and granted him a faint sign of reassurance, Hiroto’s smile grew again and he decided to try and make this day worth it.
   Meanwhile, Saga and Shou had brought the now familiar tension back into the studio and Nao observed them quietly as they prepared their own gear. It wasn’t a good sign that the hostility between the two was lasting this long – there had been hard periodes before but they had always turned out into a strengthening of their bonds. Saga and Shou were good friends, only perhaps mismatched personalities. Still, it had all started the day that Bill had showed up in their lives... And it was impossible to predict what would happen from here.
   ‘Na minna, just look alive! We’re about to start,’ Nao called out as he settled himself behind his drumkit, tapping the different parts to check the sound.
   ‘Whatever,’ Saga groaned from his corner, ‘I had given up on this day as soon as it started...’
   ‘Ah! Insurbordination! You can get your ass sued for that,’ Nao pointed at him with his drumstick, putting up a coyly grin in the hope the other would smile too. But Saga wouldn’t.
   ‘Nao-san, just tell what the point of practise is... when we have nothing to practise with?’ Saga’s narrowed eyes now rested on Shou, who cringed but looked away. Nao’s smile dissapeared immediately. Hiroto looked at the floor depressed and Tora only broke the silence by beginning to tune his strings, staying out of the argument.
   ‘If you must know... I’m working on it.’
This time all heads turned towards Shou, who stood with his back to them all. Silently their vocalist leaned forward with his hands on the table, his shoulders rising and falling once with a deep sigh.
   ‘I do have ideas... words... sentences. Some on paper, some in my head. They’re out there, but everytime I seem to grasp them... it changes. The songs that I write only get halfway before... I change. This last week, everything... has been very confusing to me...’    
   Nobody said a word while Shou talked. He hadn’t talked this much during their previous practises, and now his words sounded sincere and near painloaded. They knew Shou was having a hard time, but he hadn’t expressed it this clear to them yet.
   ‘Okay...’ Nao carefully broke the silence after a long moment. ‘I – We understand it, Shou-kun...’ he said as he stepped from behind his drums again and laid a hand on Shou’s shoulder. ‘We understand and as your leader, the last thing I want is to put more pressure on you as it is, but...’ Nao bit his lip in hesitation, ‘You do know the performance is only a week away now...’
   A sigh went to the group by the realisation of this message. A week wasn’t long. Not long at all.
   Shou took in a deep breath through his nose and hung his head. ‘I know... I really am giving it my best, Nao, guys... I’ll have a song ready in time...’ His lip shivered and Nao knew nothing better than to encouragingly rubb his shoulder before stepping back again.
   ‘We have faith in you Shou,’ Nao said, looking around at the others to make them confirm.
   ‘Yes, we do,’ Hiroto said, putting up his best smile for Shou.
   ‘Ofcourse,’ Tora said.
   ‘... Mm hmm,’ Saga muttered finally. Shou turned around at them, his large eyes moist, but then put up a feeble smile. ‘Thanks guys...’
   ‘Dja, we’ll go over the setlist then! Which songs will we play at least in Sendai?’
As Hiroto, loudly, and Tora, collected, offered a few songs to Nao Saga slowly walked up to Shou. The blonde vocalist looked slightly uneased as he approached and leaned next to him on the table, pretending to tune his bass.
   ‘Na...,’ Saga whispered, looking in trouble to find the right words, ‘Ya know... If you perhaps are worrying about our ‘guest’...’
   Shou’s eyes widened but he kept still, rummaging through his bag. ‘...What?’
   ‘I dunno... but maybe you oughta give it up...’
A pang shot through Shou’s heart suddenly, releasing boiling anger. Slowly Shou turned to the bassist. ‘...What do you mean?’ His voice only barely betrayed him, but his eyes did.
   Saga sighed. ‘It doesn’t help if you only hurt yourself more...’ A bit of pleading in his voice, but Shou didn’t pick it up.
   ‘Ah? And then what... Make it easier for you to play Miyavi-san’s sick little game? Besides, why the hell are you bringing him up –’
   ‘Calm down Shou, really. Believe it or not, but I’m not meaning to piss you off. And I wasn’t particularly talking about myself, I mean – you saw just now didn’t you?’
   ‘... What did I see?’ Though Shou knew perfectly well what Saga was pointing out.
Saga’s eyes stood nearly pityfull as he looked back.
   ‘Some more people might take this competition just as serious as you.’
Then Nao called the attention back and Saga quickly retreated to his bass amp, leaving Shou frozen in the spot.

*

   ‘Congratulations Ruki! I didn’t think you could do it, but today you’re prooving yourself even more useless than ever! Go you!’
   Ruki felt tempted to just shove the finger in Kai’s face but even that seemed hardly worth it. Damn, did this day suck. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been in such a freakin’ bad mood. Maybe that also had something to do with his unhappy days occasionally ending with alcohol.
   Being the second band with a disfunctional vocalist, GazettE’s practise wasn’t processing very well either. They had played a few songs but Ruki didn’t nearly put half his heart into it and was, simply put, being a bitch the whole time.  
   ‘Ne Ru, I believe now is the time to sign a life-insurance for Kai-chan. With you continuing like this he’ll be dead within days,’ Aoi remarked with a semi-seriousness when Kai had ‘called in’ a break by stomping off to the toilets. Reita and Uruha snorted but Ruki only shrugged and muttered: ‘Just leave me alone.’
   ‘Bad luck for you, cuz we’re not going to. You just need to take your mind off things dude...’
   ‘And I can perfectly do that on my own.’
   ‘But that ain’t nearly as much fun as the thing I planned for the evening,’ Aoi continued undisturbed, a growing smirk on his face. Ruki didn’t even look round at him, but Uruha’s and Reita’s attention was instantly captured.
   ‘Really? You actually planned something?’ Reita inquired.
   ‘Like what?’ Uruha added curiously.
Aoi smiled mysteriously. ‘Today I ran into some old friends... It’s been a very long time since we saw eachother and so we agreed on catching up talking... tonight at the club.’
   ‘Really?’ Uruha cooed. ‘Who were it then? Who? Do we know them?’
   ‘You do, we all do. They’re making a very nice comeback right now, after the fuss with changing bandmembers and such... Ruki, I guarantee you’ll love to come.’
   ‘Maybe some other time...’
   ‘’Other times’ are rare when you’re dealing with musicians, you know that Taka,’ Aoi sighed. ‘Just come along already. You won’t regret it, I swear...’

Why had he let himself be dragged into this again?
   With the same expression on his face that hadn’t altered the whole day, Ruki stood with the rest of GazettE in front of the club they had only visited a week ago. Having to come along on a sappy reunion... Oh gee, the joy. Aoi still refused to tell anyone who these great mystery friends of his were. Like he cared. Then only the likes of them to talk to in a VIP-club and not even Bill around to attract his attention... At least the club still had alcohol inside.
   Ruki rocked back and forth on his toes and was just about to complain to ‘get them to hurry the fuck up or he’d fuckin’ head back on his fuckin’ own’, when suddenly Uruha and Reita let out a scream and darted along with Aoi to the beginning of the alley.
   ‘What the...?’ Ruki mumbled. Next to him Kai also looked rather surprised.
Laughter, another scream and a ‘tud’ was heard. Apparantly someone got glomped.
   ‘Can’t believe it’s you!’
   ‘It’s been so long!’
   ‘Just how are you guys doing? And – ah, you even brought him along!’
Parrot-like chattering echoed against the alleywalls and Ruki tilted his head to the side, still unable to make out the faces of the visitors. When they finally came walking up closer along with the three GazettE members, Ruki’s eyes widened in recognision.
   ‘... Miku-kun?’
   ‘Ruki-san! Kai-kun! It’s so great to see you all!’ the blonde with exceptionally large eyes called out as he ran forward and slightly lifted Ruki off the ground with a tight embrace.
   ‘Oy oy! Put me down you idiot!’ Ruki flailed as the others laughed. Miku grinned and put him down again, giving a quick bow in apology before moving over to hug Kai too. Flustered, Ruki looked around to meet more familair faces and some new ones.
   Uruha was already having a dynamic conversation with eldest of the band Teruki, who hadn’t changed at all in Ruki’s eyes. On the other side stood Reita with fellow bassist Kanon, his hair and piercings making him instantly recognisable too. Then, two new faces.
   ‘Hajimemashite, I’m Takuya,’ one of them stepped forward to introduce himself. ‘It’s an honor to meet you, Ruki-san...’
   The first word that reached Ruki’s mind was: cute. The young man had warmcoloured chestnut-brown hair, reaching to the back of his neck, matching perfectly with his brown eyes. As he smiled coyly at him Ruki caught himself gaping a second before muttering: ‘Uhm, yeah, nice to meet you too.’
   ‘You guys already introduced? Oh, this is so nice!’ Miku had come flailing back from Kai to stop next to Takuya and wrapped an arm around his waist. ‘He has been dying to meet you... It was so cute,’ the An Cafe vocalist grinned as he gave his bandmember a kiss on the cheek. Takuya flushed and Ruki’s mouth nearly fell open.
   ‘...You guys dating or something...?’
   ‘Uhuh, yeah, we are,’ Miku replied matter-of-factly before letting go of Takuya again and dragging the last person forward. ‘And this is Yuki, Ruki-san! He plays keyboards with us now!’
   The other young man bowed respectfully and it gave Ruki time to stare at his rather striking appeareance. He had goldenblonde short curls from under a hat and he wore large sunglasses. Quite an excentric.   
   ‘Keyboards huh? Interesting...’ Ruki replied in an attempt to be polite and he actually pulled it off well. Maybe this was gonna cure his bad mood a bit after all.
   ‘Dja, shall we go inside?’ Ruki asked since no one else seemed to bring it up and was just gonna keep talking.
   ‘Not before you’ve said hello to the final person,’ Aoi grinned.
   ‘I have, Yuki-san is right here –’
   ‘No no, there’s one more! C’mon, didn’t you even notice him?’
Ruki blinked his eyes confused when all eyes suddenly went in Kanon’s direction. Ruki wanted to open his mouth again, but stopped in the middle of an attempt when he suddenly saw the person hiding half behind the bassist.
   The small and tender build. A few strands of bleachblonde hair sticking out from under a black oversized hat. The soft shape of his face and fair light skin...
   ‘Bou, why are you still hiding? Come say hello!’ Miku called. The form behind Kanon shifted before a pair of blue eyes appeared just over the bassist’s shoulder.
   ‘Hi...’
   ‘Aaa~!,’ Uruha squealed like a schoolgirl, ‘Ruki, how could you not notice a person so setting off everyone’s kawaii-dar?’ That made everyone laugh, even harder when a small hand appeared from Kanon’s side and made a V-sign.
   Ruki was baffled. Indeed, how couldn’t he have noticed...
   ‘Introductions over! Come, let’s go in, we can talk all we want there!’ Aoi called out enthusiastic and lead the way for the cheery others. Ruki stayed still in his tracks as Kanon and Reita walked towards him and finally he could see him fully.
   It felt weird to say that he needed to get used to him wearing pants. The pictures, the PV’s, and even during the show Aoi had taken him once to... The image of Bou wearing his trademark was well implanted in his memories. Now, he wore jeans with wide pipes on the end, under a white oversized sweater that covered him from neck to hips, his hair messily hidden under his hat. Apparantly he was incognito. Though he wondered how it was possible not to notice his charm once you had laid your eyes upon him...
   ‘Hi...’
   ‘Hey...’ came the soft reply of Bou’s voice, a slight smile appearing on his lips. Did he remember him?
   ‘Uhm,’ Ruki mumbled, ‘Wanna go in too?’
   ‘Sure.’
Grimacing nervously, Ruki stepped aside to let Bou go first, walking behind him through the narrow dark hall before reaching the main part. The others had already settled themselves on the bar, again being the only ones here. This was truly a place reserved for them, Ruki thought.
   ‘Ruki! Bou! What took you? Come join us!’
Glancing from the corner’s of his eyes at Bou, Ruki walked closer to the bar in the direction of Miku and Takuya. As he got himself a seat, he halfly hoped Bou had followed him but then he saw the blonde walking over to Kanon and Reita. Blinking his eyes again, Ruki settled on his stool and turned his attention to Miku and Takuya as far as he could succeed.
   ‘Ah, as I said ne, Taku-chan really was anxious to meet you,’ Miku started telling at once, his arms again wrapped around Takuya’s waist from behind. ‘He has been talking about you a~~ll day about how cool you were and –’
   ‘Miku!’ his boyfriend interrupted, ‘Stop it! That’s embarassing...’
   ‘Ah, don’t be crossed sweetie. Ruki-san doesn’t mind at all na?’ Miku cooed as he rocked Takuya in his arms. Ruki luckily remembered to shake his head in time.
   ‘Iie, don’t mind... It’s good to meet you too, Takuya-kun. You play guitar in An Cafe now, I presumed?’
   ‘Ah, yes, I play guitar,’ Takuya replied, still flustered but a smile grew on his face as he began talking, ‘I’m not even a year in An Cafe yet but I like it a lot. Yuki joined not long after me and since then we’ve been –’
   Hearing Takuya’s and Miku’s stories was after all quite entertaining and he and Miku did have a lot to talk about. The last time they had met was at an An Cafe concert, only a short period before Bou left the band. So much had happened during that time. Still, each time the topic passed Bou, Ruki couldn’t help himself glancing over to the other side of the bar. The petite blonde sat slightly away from the rest, prodding the lemon in his drink with an unreadable expression. When after a while Kanon and Reita joined their circle Ruki couldn’t take it anymore and excused himself.
   It just wasn’t nice to leave him there on his own, was it?
   ‘Hey...’ Ruki greeted as he stopped next to Bou. The blonde looked up startled, apparantly having been lost in thought, before smiling coyly again and greeting back.
   ‘Mind if I sit?’
   ‘Ah, iie, do what you want...’
Ruki gladly complied and took the stool next to Bou’s, ordering himself another beer. As the lady placed it before him he saw Bou staring at it from the corner of his eye.
   ‘You don’t drink?’ Ruki asked, mentioning to the iced tea Bou was drinking.
   ‘Eh? Oh, I do... But never during schoolweeks.’
   ‘Ah yes, that’s right. I’ve just talked to Miku-kun and Takuya-kun. They told me you had picked up your education again after An Cafe... So, how are you doing?’
   Bou’s eyes lit up a bit. ‘Un... I’m doing well... School’s been occupying my life for a while now...’
   Slowly, he noticed how Bou loosened up and became more talkative. Bou told him about his desire to graduate, his teachers, schedules, life at highschool, and Ruki listened with full attention.
   ‘Dja... But you do miss An Cafe, don’t you?’ Ruki asked after a short silence, downing the last of his beer. Bou fell completely silent immediately.
   ‘I do...’ he mumbled, stirring in his empty glass with his straw. ‘Miku, Kanon, Teruki... and also Takuya and Yuki... They are so nice, still wanting to conclude me into their group... But I feel it’s been too long. They talk about shows abroad and spotlights while my head is filled with homework and my mathtest the next day. I’m afraid we’ve grown apart...’
   ‘Still, your passion for music holds you together, ne?’ Ruki asked, turning towards Bou with a faint smile. ‘Please tell me you still play guitar...’
   A playful grin appeared on Bou’s thin lips. ‘Ofcourse I do... Every free minute...’ Their eyes locked a brief moment before Bou suddenly shot up straight and took his cellphone out of his pocket.
   ‘Oh man,’ he groaned, looking at the time, ‘I was supposed to leave half an hour ago...!’
   ‘This early?’ Ruki asked, hiding his dissapointment by concentrating on the bells and small figurines Bou had attached to his phone.
   ‘Class starts at 8 tomorrow Ruki-san. Can’t help that.’ Bou gave him a feeble smile as he got off his stool. Ruki turned around on his to face him again. Bou figited with his cellphone a moment longer before he looked up and said with his soft voice: ‘Dja... See you...’
   ‘Hai, see you later... It was good talking to you.’
Another smile was shared before Bou quickly darted out of the club, greeting everyone else along the way. Ruki watched him till he had dissapeared into the dark hall, his light hair the last thing visible.
   For a moment, everything and nothing passed around in his head. Then, Ruki smiled as he took his own cellphone out of his pocket and stood up to join the others again.
   His bad mood? Completely gone.                      

To be continued