WARNINGS: minimal coarse language

It was a slow day at the store. Superb-Mart, a little convenience store nestled amongst houses in a quiet street in Tokyo, and two shop girls just happened to be caught in the middle of a quiet time of the day. It was quite a difference comparing it to the rush hour mornings and evenings because it would either become very busy quickly or very slow quickly. Being a Friday afternoon, this particular day seemed to be moving slow on purpose because the two girls, also best-friends, happened to be going to a fan-club only concert held by popular rock band, the GazettE. Two other friends were to be meeting them at a new venue – the 'Yoshiatsu Dome' – that was built a couple of weeks prior, so with the GazettE being the first band to perform there was kind of a big deal … and the girls were not going to miss it, no matter how slow the day was.

One of the girls, Sakura Ai, blonde hair and black streaks and dark brown eyes, was the cashier on one of only two check-outs … so naturally you can only imagine how busy it did get when the time came. With the automatic door only a few feet in front of her check-out, she got a good view of outside, so it wasn't completely boring. However she'd become sick of watching outside so had resorted to reading the latest issue of 'Shoxx', with the GazettE as the main article. At the same time she also wore her earphones and was currently listening to the bands latest single 'Filth in the Beauty'. Elsewhere in the store, Ai's friend, Yamasaki Megumi, was doing her job of staking shelves. Megumi is a spirited girl with long reddish-brown hair in tight curls and natural green eyes; quite unusual for a Japanese girl, but Megumi was actually half Japanese and half British.

Megumi was effortlessly carrying a stack of empty boxes along one of the aisles, heading for the front of the store having just come from unpacking it's contents onto the shelves. They were to be thrown out, so they were brought to the front of the shop, ready for when the garbage collectors came past in the evening. Walking past Ai's checkout, but not disturbing her at all because she was so enveloped in reading her magazine, Megumi left through the automatic door. Turning a sharp left she stacked the boxes neatly beside another pile of them out of the way of the doors. Clapping her hands a couple of times to shake them of dust and grime, she made her way back into the shop. Having finished her job for the moment, Megumi just went straight over to Ai to see what she was doing that was capturing all of her attention.

"Hoi, what's up?!"

Megumi said loudly, tapping Ai on the shoulder to get her to look up. Ai jumped with a start and quickly pulled the earphones out, looking wide-eyed and surprised.

"Huh? What, what's going on?"

Megumi giggled, a hint of mischief in her tone – that had been a successful scare, which had eased her boredom for a short time. Ai realised she'd just become Megumi's victim of a scare tactic so she replaced the earphones, leaned back over her magazine and continued to read. Megumi sighed deeply and walked in a slow circle around the front of the shop between Ai's checkout and the door, every so often causing it to open and close randomly. If the manager could see her, he would have told her off by now for doing that.

"Ugh! No one is here, I'm so bored!"

She finally said and opted for perching herself up on the checkout across from Ai. Glancing around quickly to make sure the manager really wasn't there, she quickly pulled her cell-phone from the pocket of her skirt. Her outfit consisted of slim-line black skirt to the knee, white collared shirt and a grey v-neck sweater over that, and with black platform shoes … her favourite because she was quite short. Flipping open her cell-phone, Megumi decided to call their other friend Mika to find out where she and Kikyo were. Ai absentmindedly flipped another page of her magazine while she looked up to watch her.

"Hey, if your going to call Mika, tell her to wait with Kikyo out the front somewhere we can see them. And make sure she has our tickets and fan-club passes".

Both Megumi and Ai were semi-ready clothing-wise for their concert. Ai had gone for an all-black look; tight black pants, black cami with lace trimming along the top, black fitted dress jacket with three quarter sleeves and simple black slip-on shoes. Sadly the green apron they both had to wear didn't compliment the look. Back to Megumi, she adjusted her collar and sweater while waiting for Mika to answer. She was taking an awfully long time to answer and Megumi now started tangling a curl of hair around her finger, until suddenly there was a loud 'moshi-moshi' on the other end. It caused Megumi to grimace and pull the phone away from her ear. Ai had heard it even through her earphones, so she looked up and listened.

"Mika? What's with the shouting, where are you? Is Kikyo with you?"

A shouted voice came over the phone even though it wasn't on loudspeaker.

"Yeah, Kikyo is right here and we're standing in the crowd outside the Yoshiatsu Dome. It's still early but the outside is just jammed with fans!"

Megumi raised her eyebrows and looked at Ai – it was only coming up to four o'clock, the concert wasn't set to start until seven that evening, but from what they could here there was a big crowd outside the venue. Most likely the fans were there early for the merchandise and also to get a good look at the new Dome. Seemed that Mika and Kikyo had been sucked in by the temptation as well.

"Mika, Ai says to make sure you have our tickets and fan-club passes. We won't get in unless we have both".

"Yeah, yeah, the tickets and passes are here! Just hurry up and finish work! Kikyo and I are going to raid the merchandise tables before it's all gone. We'll get you something too!"

And then Megumi's phone made a loud scratchy click, which meant that Mika had obviously hung up. Megumi jumped at the loud click in her ear and just made a weird face at Ai – Mika and Kikyo were already caught up in the atmosphere by the sound of it. But at least Mika was nice enough to buy them something … chances are by the time Megumi and Ai get there, there would be nothing left. Mika, Kikyo, Megumi, Ai and another girl Kira were all going to another Fan Club only concert held by the GazettE. Mika and Kikyo were in charge of keeping their place in line, while Megumi and Ai were waiting to finish their shift in just over an hour before Kira came to pick them up. Kira also worked at the same shop as them but only part-time – she was already involved with modelling, which is where she currently was.

Megumi pocketed her phone again and slid off the checkout counter before dawdling away to try and find something constructive to do. Ai meanwhile just bent her head back down over the magazine, continuing to listen to music and waiting for any sign of a customer or possibly a cranky manager. Absentmindedly Ai looked at her watch to see how much longer they had to wait – it showed around a quarter to four; they were to be finishing at five. Kira should be arriving soon, even though she would be an hour early, there was really nowhere else she needed to be. At least with Kira around, then the girls wouldn't be so bored … and Ai was quickly running out of magazine to read, especially when she was really only interested in the article about the GazettE anyway.

--

Having lost interest in trying to find other odd jobs to do, Megumi had began to aimlessly wander in and out of each aisle, glancing over the shelves and wondering if she actually needed to buy anything for home. Finally she stopped at the sweets shelf, snatched a chocolate bar and again made her way back to Ai's checkout. Holding the end of the bar in her teeth she dug a hand into her pocket for change, and finding exactly two hundred yen in coins, she set them down beside Ai's magazine. Ai stopped reading long enough to open the register and divide the coins up into the right slots before swinging back around to keep reading. Megumi walked around to glance at the magazine over Ai's shoulder, seeing it was up side down to her. She started to read a little of the interview with Alice Nine, seeing Ai had finished the GazettE's article ages ago.

"Oh, Alice Nine are in this month's issue too? Damn, I should have bought it!

And in leaning over a bit closer she could hear Ai still listening to 'Filth in the Beauty'. Of course the single had two other tracks with it, but listening to three songs over and over had to get annoying after a while. Megumi plucked an earphone out of Ai's ear.

"Look, I know you have great taste in music but aren't you getting sick of that song yet?"

"A true GazettE fan wouldn't say that".

Ai joked and raising her eyebrows at Megumi, gently yanking the earphone back from her and earning a silly giggle from the redhead. Ai now let the earphones hand around her neck and she reached into her pocket to turn the volume up to Megumi could hear – they had decent enough sound so the songs could be heard very clearly. Just then a girl walked in but Ai and Megumi were so engulfed in reading and listening to music that they hadn't noticed. The girl approached them and, seeing they were facing away from her, leaned her head over Ai's opposite shoulder to Megumi. Ai jumped from surprise, realising it was Kira.

Kira had shoulder length brown hair with multi-shades of blond highlights and the ends of the layers were flicked outwards. Her outfit, considering she was going to the concert, consisted of tight black thigh-length skirt, a black fitted vest that revealed a small part of her stomach and it's belly-button ring. Numerous chains around her neck and bangles on her wrists added sparkle, while black leg-warmers, like what Uruha was famous for, completed the look. Plain black heels gave her a little bit of height too.

"Welcome back, Ki! Did you have a fun day?"

Megumi asked, giving her fashionable friend a quick hug. Ai smiled after receiving her cuddle from Kira.

"Another photo-shoot today, right? How was it? Hope they didn't work you too hard".

"Yeah, another shoot. It sucked though; it's always the same thing … flouncy dresses and snobby suits. I was glad to get out of there and change for tonight. But I can't complain because the money is good and they're nice".

Kira answered truthfully. She wasn't really excited about showing off high-price outfits for upper-class business types or just younger people with a lot of money … but she loved modelling and wasn't afraid to say she took great photos. And thanks to the good money she got from the job, it was all going towards her future dream career of designing her own line of clothes. Ai raised her eyebrows at Kira.

"Is that right? Well, I work here if you haven't noticed, Miss Fussy".

Kira stuck her tongue out at Ai before glancing down at her watch.

"I work here too, but it's my day off! You're just jealous. It's close to your clock-off time anyway. Soon we can go party with the GazettE. Their gig is called 'One Night Stand', isn't it? It's such a … suggestive title, but I love it!"

Kira made an exaggerated shuddering motion of her body, like someone had run their finger up her spine, and Megumi and Ai laughed at her – they knew she was thinking about Reita. You could say the girls all had their little crushes on one of the guys, which was very fitting considering there were five of them and five of the girls. Kira liked Reita because he was such a 'guy' according to what she said. Megumi liked Kai because he was so nice. Ai didn't admit it openly but she had a thing for Aoi because he was a dork just like her. Kikyo had the crush on Uruha because she loved his guitar skills and she played acoustic guitar herself. While Mika had it in for Ruki for several reasons – her excuse was there were too many to name, but her friends knew that she was secretly in love with his rebellious streak.

At the end of the little street that the store was located on, a long black van had slowly coasted around the corner. It was coming from a cross street and was now heading in the direction of the store, moving still at a slow pace as the driver was clearly lost. People walking along the sidewalks couldn't help but stare and wonder why a large odd-looking vehicle was in a regular suburban neighbourhood – it was the kind of car celebrities ride in. And the fact that it was driving slowly was odd enough. The driver was glancing around curiously, watching for any street signs that might tell him where in Tokyo he was. A couple of times slowing down to read a sign, but realising it wasn't what he was looking for, moved off again. He was transporting five other passengers, who were hiding behind extremely dark tinted windows for very good reason.

On the left side of the van, in the back row, a window was rolled down a couple of centimetres. A man with razored black hair and a lip ring sat beside it while nursing a cigarette to his mouth. Four other men sat around him. One beside him with bleach blond hair and black roots was busy playing air-bass while listening to music through earphones. Another with blond and frosted brown dread-locks tied up high was sitting beside him, busy writing something on a small note-pad. In the middle row, behind the driver's row, was another black haired man with faint frown highlights – he had a laptop sitting in his lap and was busy putting random songs together in a list. Beside him was a rather tall, slender man with multi-shades of brown hair, watching the window through large sunglasses as the world went by. All of them were just in every-day clothing.

"This is ridiculous! I think we should just stop and ask for direction. Pull up at that store over there and I'll go in myself".

The man by the open window finally said. He butts out his cigarette in the ashtray on the door-handle. The driver hesitates before pulling up on the side of the road directly across from the store, and the frustrated man in the back opened the sliding door of the van. Just as he was about to step out, the man with the lap-top grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Aoi! I don't think we should be stopping here and walking around without guards. You may just get caught and we can't afford that right now".

"Yeah, Kai is right. And it's your fault we got lost in the first place. Now we're late getting back!"

The tall man beside Kai said in a slightly annoyed tone. Aoi just made a face at him. The man with the dread-locks, Ruki, looked up from writing, turning from Uruha to Aoi.

"Exactly, it anyone see's us, all it takes is one person to call a screaming mob over to this car. We haven't got time to out-run fans right now. We should just call our manager to ask him how we can get back from here".

"Ah you worry too much. I won't be long. Give me five minutes …"

Aoi said with a grin that wasn't very convincing and twisted his arm free of Kai as he stepped out of the van and shut the door behind him. As Aoi crossed the road he adjusted his sunglasses and lifted the collar of his jacket up to hide his face. Aoi doubted anyone would recognise him as long as he kept a low profile. Everyone in the van was watching him until Uruha finally spoke up.

"I give him thirty seconds. He'll come running out being chased by fans. Reita … five thousand yen he gets caught".

Uruha reached backwards over his seat with his palm facing up. The bass player heard him and pulled one earphone out as he sat forward enough to slap Uruha's hand, giving a little chuckle before angling his head to try and see through the stores automatic door.

"Hmm I doubt it, from here it looks like the store is dead silent. Worst that could happen is someone recognises him and asks for an autograph. I mean he can't be that obvious to give himself away, can he?"

--

Aoi pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he walked through the automatic door of the shop. He stopped just inside the door and looked around, never removing his sunglasses. There were no people around except three girls sitting around at one register just a few feet from where he stood. Perfect … surely no one would recognise him while it was quiet. He bit his bottom lip and glanced around over his shoulder back at the van before walking over to the girl reading a magazine, with presumably her two friends leaning over either shoulder and reading along with her. At the same time the girls really hadn't noticed someone walked into the store until he was standing right in front of them. All three looked up at the same time to see a tall, mysterious looking guy, head-to-toe in dark clothes. He bowed a little out of politeness.

"Uh … sumimasen, but could you please tell me how I can get to the 'Yoshiatsu Dome' from here? I'm kind of in a hurry and was meant to be back there ages ago. I kind of got lost heading back …"

Aoi made a little nervous laugh after speaking, to try and make it more convincing that he was lost. He then made a quick glance back to the van to check that people hadn't swamped the vehicle yet. To his relief it was silent outside and he could just see Ruki's sunglasses peering through a gap in one of the open windows. He then turned back to the girls and smiled. Ai smiled back.

"That's the new building, isn't it? It's not far from here, I don't think. Go to the end of this street and turn left, that street will take you back to the main road. Take a right and follow that road, it will take you straight there. The only reason I know is because we're going to the GazettE concert tonight. What about you? You're going to the same venue".

"Yeah uh … my friends and I are … uh … on our way back there now. We uh … tried a shortcut but ended up getting lost in the wrong direction".

Phew, good save. Maybe he should be an actor … anyway he'd gotten what he came for – so they weren't far from the venue after all. Maybe Ruki was right; they should have just called their manager. The other two weren't really listening to the conversation – for a moment they couldn't help but stare at him … not only did he look oddly familiar, but his voice was too. But when Megumi looked at Kira, Kira mouthed something to her and suddenly it clicked. Megumi gasped sharply, while Ai and the mystery man jumped in surprise. Megumi snatched Ai's magazine and held up the front cover to show him.

"Hey, do you know of a Visual Kei band called 'the GazettE'? You could be Aoi's twin; he's one of the guitarists! You and Aoi could really be twins; you should cosplay him. Gee, I wish Mika and Kikyo could see this!"

Ai immediately elbowed Megumi in the side. Megumi mumbled something as she looked away and Kira snickered as she too looked away. Aoi couldn't help but let out a choking sound when one girl mentioned he looked like … well … himself. Aoi anxiously pulled the collar of his jacket up a little more and pushed the sunglasses further up his nose. Ai frowned at Megumi.

"Shut up, Megumi, your embarrassing yourself. This poor guy probably gets that comment a lot just because he has the same lip-ring".

Aoi went to say it was alright but quickly shut his mouth with the girl Megumi spoke again.

"Sorry, I just thought they look alike. Hey, can I take a photo of you to show our friends? I bet they would agree with me!"

This time Ai backhanded Megumi in the stomach, but not enough to hurt. Kira giggled but the 'Aoi look-a-like' shifted nervously from one foot to the other. He had a feeling they were starting to suspect something, and yet here he was still standing there talking to the girls. He'd gotten the directions a while ago but he still hadn't left … his band mates would probably come looking for him next.

"Meg, you can't just ask someone a question like that, it's rude. Not to mention he's probably embarrassed now! Don't mind my friend, she's just very persistent".

Ai was looking at Megumi first before turning to apologise to the guy. Aoi smiled and shook his head with a little laugh, to show that he didn't mind … in fact it was the first time he'd been asked for a photo just because a person thought he was someone else. Even Kira leaned behind Ai to swat Megumi's arm lightly, telling her to just keep quiet for a while. Finally Aoi decided it was probably time to leave.

"Sa … arigatou gozaimasu for the directions. Let's hope we all enjoy the concert tonight, ne?"

Ai nodded with another smile.

"No problem. Glad I could help, and you enjoy the concert too".

"Yeah, see you later! Enjoy the concert, and we may just see you there!"

Megumi said heartily with a grin. As Aoi bowed again, the front of his jacket fell open a little to reveal a promotional t-shirt for their 'One Night Stand' gig, currently only released to the band and staff. Ai just looked at the man for a second, noticing the t-shirt he was trying to cover up … it confirmed what she'd been thinking all this time. Aoi fumbled to close his jacket as he stood up straight, nodded a nervous thank-you to the girls, to which Ai returned the smile, and Aoi turned on his heel to leave the way he came. Kira and Megumi had seen the t-shirt too but didn't say anything. Megumi quickly ran over to glance around the edge of the glass door as she watched the man heading back to a shiny black van. Ai opened her magazine again to keep reading.

"Get away from that door, Meg, you can't have a photo of him!"

Kira just giggled as Megumi looked back at them and stuck her tongue out, but she stayed by the door to spy on him a little longer. The fact he was walking back to such a fancy vehicle was strange … a mini-van of all things. And he was certainly no younger than twenty-five, so what was he and his friends doing going to a concert that was mostly attending by hundreds of screaming girls? Any guys that went were either dragged along by their girlfriends or just there to listen to some hard-rock music. Maybe he was the type to go along to these concerts to pick up girls, and his friends were tagging along too?

--

Meanwhile outside, Aoi had left the store in such a hurry that just him leaving so fast would surely make people suspicious of who he was. As he got closer to the van, Aoi looked up at Ruki still peaking through the open side window. He swallowed hard when he noticed Ruki shake his head before closing the window again. Great, I'm in trouble again, Aoi thought grumpily. Running around to the side door, he quickly glanced around one last time before opening it and bending down to lean over the front seat. All the while his band mates were watching silently as he relayed the direction they needed to go. After that he moved to get back to his seat beside Reita, where he sat and then pushed the sliding door closed. The driver made sure the street was clear before moving off down the road again. It was now Ruki spoke up.

"You're an idiot! I saw you bow to the girls and then quickly cover yourself up. Obviously you are wearing our 'One Night Stand' t-shirt".

Aoi sighed harshly and just looked out of his window, clearly not interested in an argument – they were on their way again, what did it matter if he was discovered? Reita frowned and looked at Ruki.

"So? A lot of people wear our gig t-shirts, that doesn't mean it exposed him. Why is it a problem? Unless he shouts, 'Hey look at me, I'm Aoi from the GazettE!'"

Reita said the last part as he waved both hands in the air, pretending to be Aoi. Kai and Uruha snickered softly in their seat in front of the other three, but Ruki and Aoi didn't laugh … Ruki was too busy being moody and Aoi was doing the same. This time Kai decided to explain.

"Well, the t-shirt he's wearing hasn't been released to fans yet, only the staff and us. And by the way the girls were dressed, they look to be going to our concert too. Chances are if they think about it long enough, they may just realise who he is, or at worst, one of our staff".

Uruha glanced over his shoulder and made an 'oooo' sound at Aoi just to tease him. Aoi didn't respond, only continuing to watch as the van driver managed to find his way onto the main road the checkout girl had described. Kai smiled reassuringly at Aoi even though he probably didn't notice before turning back to stare at the set-list on his laptop. Ruki went back to writing in his note-pad. Uruha then looked at Reita.

"Hey! You owe me five thousand yen!"

"I fuckin' do not! He wasn't chased out of the store".

The bass player replied flatly, earning a cranky growl from the tall guitarist who promptly turned around again to slouch in his seat. Aoi was over the whole fiasco already, and was now only interested in getting to the venue quickly and safely. At least they'd stopped hanging the whole thing on him, it wasn't like he'd done it on purpose … and that was because it had been his fault. After practicing all day at the venue, he'd suggested going out for lunch, so the five of them plus the driver had left in a van to go further into the city for lunch. However on the way back, the driver came to a traffic accident, which was holding up a lot of cars on the road they'd taken and they couldn't get around it. Unfortunately Aoi was convinced he knew how to get around it, so he guided the driver off the main road and into a series of side-street "short cuts".

But of course they ended up lost and driving aimlessly on through more little streets, trying to find the main road again. Chances are if they'd stayed on the main road and waited for the accident to clear, they would have been back a long time ago, but Aoi was now feeling very stupid for thinking he could get them back without having to wait. From now on he wasn't going to try the sort of thing again unless he really knew where he was. The whole trip wasn't a complete waste of time though, he'd been able to stretch his legs in the store, and even talked to the GazettE fans normally without being jumped on. Whether they'd recognised him or not, it was a nice feeling. After a few minutes of driving along the main road, Aoi was sick of the eerie silence so he leaned forward to speak quietly to Kai.

"Hey Kai … I've been meaning to ask. What's the deal with building a venue like the Yoshiatsu Dome? It's only just across the road from Budoukan, isn't it a bit tight to put two big buildings so close together?"

Kai glanced over his shoulder and laughed at Aoi, nodding his understanding.

"I guess it is a bit close, but from what I've heard, it's trying to rival the Yokohama Arena. You know, because they have two stadiums beside each other? So Yoshiatsu is like a sister live house to Budoukan".

"But why name it something else? Why not just give it the same name, like Budoukan Two or something?"

Aoi made a joke on purpose to try and lighten the atmosphere, which had been successful before Uruha and Reita did laugh quietly to themselves. However Ruki was too focused on writing to notice as his pen flew across the page in rapid lines. Kai laughed again and shrugged.

"Well I wasn't in charge of naming the place so I don't know. But anyway, it's perfect for tonight seeing it's a Fan-Club Only live show. I mean it's a little smaller height-wise than Budoukan, with only one level of balcony seats instead of two, but the floor size is the same".

Uruha now turned to look at Kai.

"At least with the interior being the same as Budoukan, we can still find our way around easily. Once the stage was all set-up it was just like being at Budoukan again, only the ceiling was lower because of only one balcony level".

Kai looked at Uruha while he spoke and then nodded a confirmation – it would be an easy performance thanks to identical interior hall. And considering their stage layout was the same as their 'Nameless Liberty' final, it gave the guys just that much more of an advantage. This would be their last chance to have a decent sized Fan Club concert in Tokyo for a while because in just under a month they would be off on another Japan-wide tour. To promote the bands new singles 'Regret' and 'Filth in the Beauty', plus another new one in the middle of the tour, tonight's gig was just the thing they needed to work up the enthusiasm for the long road ahead. The guys just hoped that it would be a killer performance to remember.

NOTES:
1) 'Filth in the Beauty': This song is to indicate exactly when in time the story starts - November 2006
2) Yoshiatsu Dome: This is not a real venue in Japan so I wouldn't recommend trying to find it lol
3) 'One Night Stand' gig: Also not one of their Lives, so no t-shirts were made of course

Please read & review :)