HELLLLLOOOOOO. Ok, so listen. I bet half of the people reading this story completely skip this part so thank you, for reading this. This story is something I'm writing just for fun, it does have a rather elaborate plot though. My writing style is also far from professional, so please bare with me through all the typos and confusing moments. Thank you!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FREE! OR ANY MUSIC USED IN THIS ENTIRE FIC
Summary:
Battle of the bands. A highly intense competition where bands have song challenges and fight for the title of KING OF THE BANDS. 11 bands. And Haru's rookie band is one of them. Haru, Rin, Momo, and Nagisa are in it to win it. Though they will discover that there are more problems than just the challenges when the last seasons winning band returns to the show in order to reclaim the title. Nagisa is obsessed with their bassist, Momo is convinced that their keyboardist is a girl, Rin tries to rekindle an old friendship with their drummer and Haru wants to know why the lead singer seems so familiar. Band AU. I also posted this on AO3.
Chapter highlight:
"No thanks we are quite busy and we have places to be. Maybe another time?" Rei apologized to Nagisa. The blond looked a little deflated but cheered up after the two swapped numbers and made a promise to meet up in the future.
"I'm going to hold that promise to you!" The small blond winked. Rei stuttered for a moment, looking like a fish out of water.
"He really will," Rin deadpanned and patted the other bassist on the back, "You don't know what you've just committed to. Good Luck."
"Haru-chan." Soft eyes bore into his own. The voice, swept into the wind, sickenly sweet, yet haunting at the same time. The smaller boy turned his head to avoid the kind smile that was specially tailored for him and decided to watched the headlights pass in the street instead.
"Drop the -chan." the mumble was barely audible but the taller boy still smiled at the predictable phrase.
"Haru. Please look at me." The moon shined behind the ghostly figure and the shorter tried to avoid eye contact. Under the painted black sky Haru usually felt calm, yet right now his heart pounded and adrenaline flooded throughout his body. His cheeks turned a rosy pink in contrast to the his pale skin and the breeze fluttered throughout his dark hair.
"Un. What?"
"Haru, I've been putting this off for too long. Haru, you're my best friend and I'm- I'm in love you…" Stunned by the words, he was left speechless. The few features Haru could make out on the figure began to look panicked, " Haru please say something."
He opened his mouth to talk, to say something. Anything. The emotions built up and his movements were all jumbled. He felt his footing slip and then the world started to fall in slow motion.
"Haru!" Sirens.
"Haru, Please! Wake up"
"Wake up!"
"Wake up!" The blinding ceiling light was partially covered by a shadow looming over him. Rin. Haru groaned and felt around for a blanket to pull over his head while his annoying friend rolled his eyes. It was too goddamn early for this.
"Idiot! We have to get going if we want to make it to the competition." The redhead scowled and turned on his heels to pack more stuff into an already bursting suitcase, "God, you're almost as bad as Nagisa."
"I had the dream again." Haru brushed past Rin to go to the bathroom in the small apartment his three other band mates shared. The sleep was slowly working it's way out of his system. A little too slowly for Rin's taste.
"Eh? That weird one where someone professes their love to you?" A sigh escaped Rin's mouth as well he kicked a pile of clothes mumbling under his breath.
"En." Haru made a weird noise and the toothbrush in his mouth wiggled as he 'spoke'. Spit dribbled down his chin a little.
"Eh! Haru-chan had the dream again? I bet it's some kind of magic stuff that is trying to tell you something." Nagisa's tired voice groaned from the pile of cloth that Rin had kicked earlier. His hair was in disarray as he sat up and stretched his arms above his head.
"Ah Nagisa! You're finally up!" A voice drifted from the closet, throwing articles of clothing in a bright orange suit case with every word.
"Momo! Don't just throw it in, you and Nagisa both have that bad habit. You have to fold it first!" The blue striped fabric was torn from Momo's hands and semi-neatly folded and dropped into a red suit case.
"Rin!" The always moving boy took the garment out of the suitcase and carelessly threw it back in...unfolded.
"Were going to miss the train. Battle of the bands isn't going to accept tardy people."
"Gosh Rin-chan! You are such a mom sometimes!" Nagisa snickered and finished throwing the clothes that were on top of him into a suit case. Who ever said that boys can't pack?
The sun had just peaked above the horizon and the cool morning breeze was just starting to roll in. Rin slapped Haru awake at around six and they didn't leave the cramped apartment until about seven. Running to the train was a pain, Nagisa almost got the four of them lost… twice.
He claimed there was a short cut going through the park, and lets just say that they will never go through a rough neighborhood park while it's still pretty much dark out again.
"The battle of the bands are going to love us!" Momo cheered hopefully as soon as they settled down in the cushioned seats. They all let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in. The train was a few seconds away from leaving without them, talk about cutting it close.
"Just don't go crazy on the drum solo, again, Momo." Haru stared out the window and watched the scenery, choosing to daydream. The train didn't go through many scenic areas, it just past through fields. It wasn't much of a view, if you asked Haru, but it was better than paying attention to Nagisa talking endlessly about something amazingly interesting he found on buzzfeed.
Haru had to admit that he hadn't been this happy since he moved to his new town and made these new friends. His past, was always haunting him terribly. He himself has no memory prior to the age of fifteen, when he got into an bad accident. His father swore before they decided moved, that Haru had absolutely no ties to the small town of Iwatobi. He had no friends. No real life. But Haru has still always wondered what exactly his days were like in the town.
Rin glanced at his dysfunctional band, wondering how he managed to make it this far without murdering one of them. But if he did that, he'd be lonely. Then again, sometimes he thought that being alone might be the better option.
Nagisa switched between dozing off and jumping up and down while Momo was practicing his drumming on his legs.
How were they going to win this competition? They had too. They needed too. Battle of the bands was a famous TV show where eleven bands from all over competed to get known. They get challenges and perform while living on the same campus. While every two weeks a band gets voted off by the viewers. It was a pretty straight forward process, but competition was stiff. Bands from all over are scouted and most made it on to be world touring bands. One amature band, the rookies, gets chosen each season. Though, now that he thought about it, Rin realized that those were usually the first bands to get voted off first.
I hope we'll be ok. Rin clenches and unclenches his sweaty palms. Amature bands sometimes do make it though...right? It was only by chance that Nagisa had dialed the wrong radio station trying to win Ed Sheeran tickets and ended up winning this slot. 'It's fate!' He declared after telling the rest of his band.
"Don't worry Rin-chan! We will do fine!" Nagisa sent him a reassuring smile. It was calming, for the most part. The competition was going to be a long, tiring, uphill battle but with this group of friends, Rin had no doubt that it was going to be anything less than entertaining. The redhead unconsciously let out a sharp laugh. Momo fiddled with his phone, and started out at the sun that was now high in the sky.
"I'm getting nervous ya know?" The youngest boy squirmed in his seat. Nagisa nodded along and Haru continued to remain silent.
The rest of the two hour ride was the most painstaking thing that Rin had ever experienced. Nagisa talked through about an hour and a half about it about some weird german lemonade recipe. Pure torture.
"We are about to pull into Akihabara Station. Passengers please stay seated until the train arrives to a complete stop." The speaker was slightly staticy but understandable. Passengers waited calmly for the train to stop but Nagisa and Momo could barely stay off their feet. They immediately shot to their up and ran out of the train before the doors were fully opened. The raven haired boy sighed and got up from his seat while Rin excitedly ran to catch up with the two other hyperactive boys. Their suitcases were nearly forgotten.
Nagisa peered around the station, his eyes were trying to soak all of it in. There were the walls of televisions listing the stations. Beside the station wall there was a lovely view of the skyscrapers. Nothing that you would get out in the county.
And over there by the trash cans, "Woah! Look! It's last seasons champions, State of Tranquility! I wonder what they're doing here." Haru's line of vision followed where the blonde was pointing. He almost stopped breathing.
"Haru?" Rin's voice called after the mindlessly wandering boy. The suitcase was abandon as he walked. He just had to see. Was it really that person?
"Haru-Chan! Where are you going!" He heard them. But as much as he wanted to turn back and just forget this thought, something was pulling him towards the group of guys. He kept walking. That figure looked too familiar though, he just had to see. The fog clouding his mind didn't clear away until he felt fabric in his fists and by that point he was too embarrassed to move. He had grabbed onto one of the band members shirt. Poor Haru.
"Haru!" Rin tore the odd teen away from the taller confused boy. Nagisa and Momo came trailing after shouting jumbled apologies to the other band. The guy observed them with a curious glance and his expression became friendly.
"We are so sorry for him. He's a bit of a handful." Nagisa bowed to their lead singer. When his pink eyes finally looked up he saw flashes of sadness and knowing in green eyes. Weird...
"It's fine. I understand. We all have our quirks, no big deal." The tall teen laughed it off. Yup, cause casually grabbing strangers shirts was no big deal apparently.
"Wow! You really are as nice as everyone says you are." Nagisa expression brightened at the brunette. Rin looked curiously at Nagisa. Who were these guys? And why does that really tall one in the back look so familiar?
"Acquaintance of yours?" The darker redhead questioned, letting go of his friend.
"I wish! Silly, this is the famous band State of Tranquility! Did you not read the magazine I gave to you?" Figures that Rin wouldn't read anything that Nagisa suggested. Though, no one could blame him. Last time, Nagisa gave Rin a magazine that had him questioning his existence.
"I wouldn't say Famous…" The brunnette scratched the back of his neck.
"And you're just as modest too! Guys this is Makoto Tachibana, the lead singer of the band. That's Aiichiro Nitori, the keyboardist. Rei Ryugazaki the bassist, and their drummer is-"
"Sousuke Yamazaki." Rin finished for Nagisa. He was slightly stunned at how fluently the name rolled off his tongue.
"Rin Matsuoka, long time no see." The tallest male out of everyone gave Rin a small smile. This was new. The last time he had seen Sousuke was in… elementary school? Possibly more recently. He barely remembers anything previous to the age of thirteen. Nervously drawn circles in the sidewalk were made by Rin's absent minded thoughts.
"Eh! You know Sou-Chan?" Pink eyes lit up as Nagisa ignored the questioning glance Sousuke gave him.
"Sou-chan?"
"Yea we used to go to elementary school together before I moved to our town. We even wrote letters for a while." The familiar smile made Sousuke stare in curiosity, "Well, this is my band. I'm the Bassist, Nagisa here is our lead singer, Momo plays the the drums and this little freak is Haruka. He plays the keyboard." Rin puffed his chest proudly. Rather than protest at the little quip like normal, Haru's sapphire eyes were still glued to the tall brunette, as if he were a difficult puzzle. Catching his gaze, Makoto smiled at him rather than glare like most people would. Haru knew him. But from where?
Being a blunt straight to the point kind of person, Haru cleared his throat and addressed Makoto, "Do I know you?"
The brunette first gave a quick once over and then came a nervous laugh, "No. I don't think I've ever met a Haruka before. Nope. Haha…" Next came the period of awkward silence. It was so quiet, you could hear the conversation from the platform over. Nagisa was the first to break the tension, deciding to take the friendly route, he addressed the bassist.
"Well lets go sight seeing! We still have sometime before we have to check in, do you guys want to come too?" Nagisa looked up at the blue haired boy wearing glasses.
"No thanks we are quite busy and we have places to be. Maybe another time?" Rei apologized to Nagisa. The blond looked a little deflated but cheered up after the two swapped numbers and made a promise to meet up in the future.
"I'm going to hold that promise to you!" The small blond winked. Rei stuttered for a moment, looking like a fish out of water.
"He really will," Rin deadpanned and patted the other bassist on the back, "You don't know what you've just committed to. Good Luck."
Rei's scared expression grew larger as Rin snickered. Today was the beginning of a friendship, hopefully. Haru nodded to everyone as a means of 'bye' as the two groups began to part ways.
Makoto smiled brightly in a way that felt so familiar to Haru. "See you later, Haru-chan." And that phrase...
"Drop the -chan." The taller boy gave a small laugh in response to the rude little comment that sent shivers down the shorter's spine. Haru turned and sped up his pace to keep up with the rest of his band. That was more than Dejavu, Haru felt as if he had done that countless times. But why?
"Hey, Makoto? Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." Rei put a hand on his elder's shoulder. Said boy was a bit pale looking and the his expression was somber. It was strange for him to not have his normal, kind, posture. But he just couldn't bring himself to fake the normal swooning smile.
"I guess you can say that." He half replied. His gaze was clouded and his response lacked its sweet tone. His band members and friends turned to him with a concerned look.
"You saw a ghost? Do you need to go to a doctor's?" Ai's hands rested on either side of Makoto's head and he moved it a bit, "Does this hurt?" Makoto shook his head.
"No, I'm fine. I just, saw a ghost from the past."
I hope you likeddd it! Sorry there wasn't much shippy moments if you're here just for that... It will come I promise...
~Penguin