Petals of cherry blossoms flew through the late spring air, swirling around, creating delicate patterns in the sky. Sitting underneath one of the cherry trees was a young man with blond hair. The blond haired man had one leg crossed over the other, relaxing against the trunk of the tree. In his lap was a sheet of music, covered with lines of black and little splotches thrown about. A small, delicate chuckle escaped from the blond haired man as he examined the composition, discovering the piece to be of some humor to him. The lyrics to the piece were lightly sketched on the piece of paper, directly underneath the neatly printed lines. Humorous lines of the lyrics continued to make the blond haired man giggle. He could see clearly who wrote these lyrics simply by the way the letters curved. The spontaneous brunette was obviously the culprit. Nonetheless, it gave Ruki a good laugh.
These days it seemed to be difficult for the young vocalist to laugh. Happiness didn't quite want to hold a grasp on him. The stress of the tour coming around the bend was a major part in it, or that's what the blond haired man led the others to believe. To be honest, Ruki wasn't sure what was wrong with him. Laughing appeared to be so difficult for him to do nowadays. The only thing in his life that lifted his spirits was the guys and their entertaining comments. Of course, sitting underneath the cherry trees always lifted his mood. He could never explain why either—they merely did.
Sighing, the blond haired man rose to his feet slowly, feeling nausea rise up from the pit of his stomach. His whole body occurred to be in a nervous, anxious state; forcing the poor vocalist in a fit of sweating spells. He wasn't sure as why his body did this occasionally. This nervous, anxious feeling was slowly eating away at him and he absolutely hated it. As of matter of fact, Ruki didn't even know why he was anxious. He was only going to meet the others and discuss the composition of the piece. Was it Ruki trusted his friends with his thoughts; he never cared what they thought of him. So, why was he anxious about meeting up with them? Nothing seemed to make any sense.
Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Ruki glanced around the park, taking in the sheer beauty of nature. Nature never did cease to amaze him, especially around the blooming of the cherry blossoms. The blossoms fluttered around in the air, as if they were dancing with each other. One petal would leap into another, taking turns being the lead. It was remarkable how something so simple and delicate could bring forth a smile and happiness to one's heart. Ruki smiled slightly at the sight before heading back towards town. He remembered that the gang was meeting up at their usual spot—the drummer, Kai,'s loft. Kai's loft was only about two to three blocks away from the park that he was in, which made him a bit thankful for picking that particular park. For some reason, today he hadn't felt like driving his car. He supposed it was because the weather was nice for a change. Plus, it was a beautiful day and walking was a way of keeping in shape.
The blond haired man approached the building in which the drummer's loft was. The vocalist's small, delicate went to the right pocket on his skinny jeans, digging in carefully, looking for a small key. When his delicate fingers touched the piece of metal, he tenderly grasped the small, rounded key into his hand. Once out of his jean pocket, Ruki placed the key into the keyhole of the main door, twisting it. A series of clicks sounded, alerting him that the door was unlocked. As quick as a wink, the vocalist swiftly placed the key back into his right pocket and gently opened the door. He smiled slightly at the receptionist, greeting the woman behind the desk. The blonde haired man could remember exactly when the drummer had first moved in this building. Ruki was amazed at how elegant and sophisticated the place was. It almost reminded him of a fancy hotel—almost.
"You boys meeting up again?" came the soft voice of the woman behind the desk.
Ruki nodded his head, a small smile still on his face. "Yes ma'am."
The woman smiled back at him before resuming her place in her work. Ruki took a breath and made his way towards the stairs, glancing around the lobby as he did so. Quietly, Ruki began the ascent up the stairs, curious as to how the meeting was going to go. Sometimes the meetings would go in a different direction than what the gang originally planned for, which didn't help much. Usually when this happened, an argument resulted from it. However, some of these arguments weren't a bad thing—good things did come out of their disputes. Of course, these were also on the rare occasion.
The blond haired man stopped on the third floor, glancing down the hall to his right. There were probably at least three lofts on this side of the floor, one uninhabited. At least, that's what the drummer had also told them. Ruki always thought that it would be wonderful to live in one of these lofts. It would be weird though, living in the same building as the drummer did. He wasn't so sure that was the best idea. Now, if it was maybe the brunette, then he would reconsider. A small grin crossed over the vocalist's face as he thought of that. The fact that he had a "small" crush on the brunette seemed to amuse him. He never thought he would ever care about the brunette in that way, but of course, life was full of surprises.
Ruki shook his head, tossing the thoughts out of his mind. His mind needed to be cleared and fresh for the meeting. Breathing in slightly, the vocalist placed his right hand on the door knob to the drummer's loft, turning the knob gently. As soon as the door opened, he heard the loud laughter of the boys inside. Smiling at the sound, Ruki gracefully waltzed into the loft, closing the door quietly behind him. A sweet scent drifted through the air, attracting Ruki's nose. The smell reminded him of sweet cinnamon rolls—the gooey, sweet rolls. The blond haired man inhaled deeply, taking in the intoxicating smell.
"Well, it's about time you grace us with your presence. Where have you been Ru-chan?" came a voice from his right.
The vocalist swiftly turned towards his right, startled. When he walked into the loft he hadn't seen anyone in the main living area, but somehow, one of them snuck up on him. "Oh, I was enjoying the beautiful weather in the park. I guess I lost track of time. Sorry."
"It's alright, Ru-chan. Well, it's alright with me anyway. I don't think Reita is too happy about it. You know how impatient he gets sometimes. Oh, Kai made cinnamon rolls and biscuits. They're delicious," chimed the brunette.
Ruki smiled at the brunette, laughing on the inside about the comment he made about Reita. "They smell delicious. Hope there's some still left."
"Now Ru-chan, of course there's some still left. I wouldn't let them eat all of the rolls without saving one for you. Now, c'mon; we're ready to start the meeting," replied the brunette.
"No, I guess you wouldn't. You always seem to have my back at times, which I appreciate. Thanks Aoi," the vocalist said, smiling slightly.
Aoi grinned back at the vocalist, tousling his hair a bit. The brunette enjoyed playing with the vocalist's hair, especially when it wasn't held up with large amounts of hair spray and gel. Nodding his head slightly, Aoi led Ruki into the kitchen area, where the rest of the gang was, and smiled at the vocalist. Arriving in the kitchen, Ruki was greeted by Kai, Reita, and Uruha, who were all talking among themselves. Reita looked up from a piece of paper lying in front of him, which obviously was the piece of composition, and had an annoying smirk on his face.
"Look who finally graced us with his presence. The star has arrived; we can at last start this meeting."
The brunette grazed his eyes over at Reita, sneering at him. "Now, Rei-chan, that's no way to act. Where are your manners today?"
"Aoi, Ruki knew exactly what time the meeting started today. I have plans later and I don't want this to go over. He's been doing this the past few meetings, and I don't think it is right. Just because he's the vocalist and front man, that doesn't give him the right to be late all the time," Reita scoffed, awarding the vocalist with an evil eye.
The blond haired man's smile slowly dissipated, revealing a frown in its place. Inaudibly, he pulled out a chair next to Kai and sat down, leaving his gaze on his feet. Everyone in the room went dead silent, watching the vocalist. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the slow drip of the water from the faucet, which at the time, seemed like the loudest noise in the world. Ruki lifted his head slightly to peer at the others, avoiding their eyes. The drummer sternly cleared his throat, desperately trying to ease the tension in the room.
"Well, since everyone is here, we can start the meeting. First, and foremost, we're going to be discussing this new piece of composition. I hope everyone has had a chance to study the piece, or at least glance at it. Is there anyone that hasn't?"
Each member glimpsed at the person next to them, noticing to see if they would admit to not studying the piece. All eyes soon fell upon the vocalist, who stared back at the others. Why is everyone staring at me? I read the piece, Ruki thought, puzzlement crossing over his face. The brunette leaned over and poked the blond haired man in the ribs, gently, hoping to awake him from his thoughts. The vocalist jumped slightly and peered over at the brunette, a meek expression on his face.
Kai, again, cleared his throat and began speaking again, softly. "I'm assuming everyone has glanced at the piece then. Well, any thoughts?"
All at once, everyone but Ruki, began chiming in on their thoughts about the piece. It wasn't that Ruki didn't have his opinion about the piece, but an anxious feeling started crossing over him. This made him want to keep to himself. Of course if one of the others asked him what he thought, he would reply. When he glanced over at the brunette, their eyes met, the brunette's sparkling with curiosity. The vocalist could see that the brunette was worried about him, which made that anxious feeling dissipate slightly. The meeting at one point almost turned for the worse, well, until Kai stepped in. From then on, the vocalist had no idea what was going on. Everything seemed to be blocked out.
~oOo~
The brunette, who had a calm, sincere expression, watched as the blond haired man went down the stairs from Kai's loft. Something was obviously wrong with the vocalist, and this concerned him. As swift as he could, Aoi darted down the stairs, hoping to catch up with the vocalist. His heart beat rapidly as the brunette rushed down the stairs, desperately wanting to catch up with the blond haired man. The last few steps seemed as if they took forever to go down. As soon as the brunette's feet touched the lobby floor, he darted to the blond haired man, patting him on the back as he came from behind. The vocalist jumped up two feet in the air, startled by the guitarist's touch.
"Ru-chan, what's up? You seem as if you're on edge. Did something happen?" the brunette asked, worry written all over his face.
Ruki turned around, facing Aoi. His heart was beating rapidly, shock still lingering in his blood. "N-no, I'm fine. You just startled me. Why are you worried, Aoi? It's not like you to be stressed over something like this."
"Ruki, you've been acting strange lately. I'm not the only one who has noticed—Reita has even mentioned that you've been acting weird. Look, Ru-chan, if there is anything that is bothering you, please let me know. I've been worried about you lately," replied the guitarist.
The vocalist cocked his head to the right side, confused at the accusation of his behavior. Had he been acting different? He wasn't sure; everything appeared to be in a dull way. Nothing excited him anymore. Ruki shook his head, washing away his thoughts. "Aoi, I can assure you that I have been entirely myself. Believe me, everything is fine. Now quit worrying."
"Oh, well, I still think that there is something. But, I'm assuming that you don't want to talk about it. When, however, you feel like speaking about what's going on in that pretty, little head of yours, let me know," responded the guitarist.
"There is nothing, Aoi. But, if there is, I'll let you know. Now, I must be going. I need to pick up a few things before I head home. See you later," chimed the vocalist.
The brunette gave the blond haired man a small hug, worry still creased across his face. The vocalist knew that the brunette wouldn't stop worrying about him until he told the brunette the truth. But, to be honest, he didn't know exactly what was wrong. It wasn't until recently that he found himself thinking that there was something wrong. He noticed that the things he loved in life were completely boring and dull to him now.
Forcing a weak smile on his face, Ruki waved goodbye to Aoi, hoping that he wouldn't follow the vocalist. With one quick look back, the blond haired man exited the building, sighing. As swiftly as he could, the vocalist strolled down the sidewalk, his mind set on stopping at the local grocery store.