The young girl sighed as she pushed through the hectic crowed to grab her black messenger bag from the baggage claim. She shoved her way back and exited the busy airport and took a deep breath outside. She removed her hood from her purple zip-up sweatshirt with black zebra stripes and ran her pale hand through her chin-length platinum blonde layered hair with pink streaks. She smirked as she looked around at the busy city with her grey blue eyes. "So this…is Tokyo." She pulled out her black mp3 player from her back jeans pocket and played some popular American music while she unfolded a piece of paper with an address on it, and began walking through the streets, desperately looking for someone to help her, in her short amount of time in Japan, she was already lost.
She eventually gave up, and saw a tall, blonde man in front of a bookshop. She took sighed and walked cautiously towards the person, sadly reciting the little Japanese she knew. She tapped him on the shoulder and he briskly turned towards her, and looked at her coldly with golden eyes. "…Hai?"
The girl looked at him and swallowed, and took a breath. "Uh...K...Konnichiwa, kono…" She took a pause, and looked nervously at the man, struggling to put the words together.' Ugh, all I wanted was to ask what street this was…'She thought .She noticed that he was still looking at her, and her face turned red from embarrassment. "Ugh…stupid Anna…" she mumbled to herself.
The blonde looked at her; he figured she was a foreigner. "Did you need something miss…Anna was it?" He said in English, with just a smidge of an accent.
Anna sighed with great relief. "Ah, thank goodness I met someone who speaks English….I was looking for this address?" She handed the man her little piece of paper, he read the address and looked at her suspiciously.
"…N-G Studios?"
"Uh…yes, I received an email from T…erm, I mean…" She paused, remembering the Japanese put their last names before their first. "I received an email from Seguchi, Touhma."
The blonde's eyes widened a bit, mostly with confusion. "You might wanna take a taxi; it's a bit far for walking distance…" He then took out a pack of cigarettes from his jean pocket, lit one up, and then walked away. Anna watched him curiously. 'He seems so familiar…' she thought, but then shrugged it off then got into a taxi and headed to N-G, her heart pounding in her chest.
Anna arrived at N-G, and stared at the large building in front of her. 'I can't believe I'm actually here…' She walked in through the automatic doors and looked around. The main floor wasn't too busy. Actually, it was rather empty, just the workers behind a front desk were the only people on the floor. She took a look at her surroundings, anything that you would see at the ground level of any big business, a large area to her right with several tables and chairs, most likely where people ate their lunch, a hallway to her left with a staircase, and an elevator with a sign "employees only" hanging above it next to the front desk. She walked over to the front desk, stuttering with her Japanese. "I'm here to see Mr. Seguchi?"
The male behind the desk looked at her from behind his glasses, and couldn't hide the fact he was annoyed with the girl for not knowing better Japanese. "Mr. Seguchi is very busy," He said rather coldly, while Anna simply stared back at him. After about a minute, he glanced up from his computer to see that Anna was still standing there. Seeing the girl's stubbornness, he sighed and said, "If you have an appointment, and by appointment only, his office is at the end of the hallway on the top floor. You may take the stairs."
Anna thanked him bitterly and walked down the hall toward the atrium of steps. After about climbing about 7 or 8 flights, she reached the recording floor, where the more popular bands labeled under N-G recorded their music. Curiosity got the better of her as she wandered around the floor. 'I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I wandered around here….right?' She stopped at one of the small rooms with a sign engraved on the door in gold English letters that said "Bad Luck". She paused at the door, and can faintly hear the band that recently got popular in America. The music suddenly stops, and there is loud shouting coming from inside the studio, followed by other voices, one seemed to be annoyed, while another seemed to be desperate….maybe even crying? There was a loud thud against the wall, and the pictures on the outside of the studio shook a bit, which was then followed by a loud bang. Anna stared at the studio door with confusion and some fear,' Was…that a gunshot…?' She then backed away from the studio and walked back to the stairs.
Anna climbed about halfway the flight of steps she was on, when she heard a voice and loud footsteps coming towards her. "WHAAH TOUHMA YOU'RE SO MEAN TO ME! I SAID I WAS SORRY!"
"Uhm…!" Anna started to say, but it was too late, a young girl, who was running and somewhat crying down the staircase with her eyes closed crashed into Anna as the both fell back to the recording floor, with the girl on top of Anna.
"Oh! I am sooooo sorry!" The girl stood up and leaned out her hand to help Anna up. Anna looked back at her, her hair was a deep sea-like blue, that reached around her waist, while tied back with a silver headband, but leaving a few side bangs around her face. Her eyes were a light blue green color, almost like teal. She wore a blue short sleeved corset top, with patterns of water in a lighter shade of blue, green, and silver on the corset, with puffy silver sleeves, and also wore a black mini skirt with black ballet flats. Anna took her hand, and on both arms she had black fishnet arm bands that reached up to her elbows.
"It's ok, I should have watched where I was going", Anna said in stuttered Japanese. The girl noticed Anna's stuttered Japanese, and figured out who she was rather quickly. "OH! YOU'RE THAT AMERICAN GIRL ANNA!" She said in Japanese, then reverted to English. "You might have to learn better Japanese. My brother forced me to learn English. Guess it comes in handy huh?" The girl smiled at Anna, who was looking at her with a confused look.
"Uhm…I suppose…." Anna responded softly.
"OH! Speaking of my brother you have to meet him!" The girl grabbed Anna's hand, and started running back up the steps. "I'm Seguchi by the way. Seguchi Miharu!" She looked back and smiled at Anna.
They reached a floor, and Anna was still being tugged by Miharu. They ran down a hallway, and stopped once they reached a large room that was closed by two double wooden doors. Miharu let go of Anna's hand and kicked open the doors, grabbed Anna once again and ran into the room. "I FOUND HER TOUHMA!" Miharu let go and ran over to her brother's desk and sat on it.
Touhma sighed, looked at his younger sister and stood up to look at her. "You were supposed to 'find her' when she first arrived. This back tracks my entire schedule." He said in a firm voice.
"Awwwww but Touhmaaaa I said I was sooryyyyy…" She said while holding out her words like a young child. "But she's here now!" She then said energetically.
"Yes Miharu I can see that. Now if you don't mind I have important matters to discuss."
After he said this, Miharu got down from the desk and went on the side that her brother was on, letting several stacks of paper fall behind her. She looked down at her brother and smirked. "Yes Nii-san." She then climbed back over his desk and skipped out of the room, leaving Touhma with an agitated look on his face.
Touhma walked over to the doors and shut them, and glanced over at a very confused Anna. He walked back over to his desk, sat down and smiled. "You'll have to excuse my sister Miharu. She's very…energetic. Please, take a seat." Anna listened and took a seat in one of the chairs closer to his desk. "You're probably wondering why I brought you here Miss Bennson. It must be sudden to receive an e-mail from the president of a record company of a foreign country urging you to come to Japan. Please keep in mind that if things do not work out, I will see to it that you can return back to your home, for absolutely free on your part."
"Uhm…ok…" Anna replied, her heart starting to beat faster. She stared back at the blonde, relieved that he spoke as clear English as the man she met earlier.
"Tell me. Have you ever heard of the band Nittle Grasper?" He asked, he put his elbows on his desk, and joined his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands.
Anna looked at him, and answered right away. "Of course! They're rather popular right now in the U.S., despite them singing Japanese, a lot of people I know really like them, but I liked them way before they were popular! I really like them." Anna's face then turned red, she realized that she got excited and started to shout.
Touhma smirked at her answer. "Well, Miss Bennson. I, Seguchi Touhma, am a member of Nittle Grasper."
Anna gasped and stared at Seguchi in awe. "You…you're the same person? The email was signed by Seguchi Touhma, and that's who I immediately thought of, but I never figured it would be the same person!"
Touhma smiled and looked at Anna in the eyes. "In one of my recent trips to New York, I heard music coming from what it seemed a coffee shop. When I walked in, I heard percussion unlike I have ever heard. Even thought the girl was playing softly to fit the jazz-like atmosphere, I knew she was very talented." Anna stared back at Seguchi in disbelief. It is true that she was playing a drum set at a large coffee shop because the original had gotten sick. Noticing that she was speechless, he continued, "Once the band had stopped playing at the end of the night and left, I asked the manager of the shop who the percussionist was. It took him a few moments to answer, but he answered with a name of Anna Bennson, age 19. "
Anna was speechless, but managed to form a sentence, almost in too much disbelief of what she was hearing "It's an honor that you think I have talent Mr. Seguchi….but why is it you wanted me to come to Japan…?"
Touhma smiled once again and replied simply. "I've wanted someone with a certain something for a while now, and it just happens to be a young girl from America." He took a pause. "How would you like it if you could play drums in Nittle Grasper?"
Anna stared at him in complete shock. 'What?! The Touhma Seguchi wants me to play in his legendary band?! In Japan they managed to sell two million copies of their album in just two days after the release! Why on earth would he want to add a new member?! And that new member being me?! 'Anna took a breath and answered shakily, "Mr. Seguchi, I am so honored that you would want me to play in Nittle Grasper. Truly!" She then got up to bow, a sign of respect in Japanese culture. She then looked up at him, and he was still smiling.
"This is rather surprising isn't it? But I am being serious. I believe that you would bring absolute wonders to Nittle Grasper. And maybe even bring us…to the number one band again in Japan. Maybe even around the world." He then stood up.
Anna was still in shock but couldn't help but to wonder what he meant by number one band again. 'He's serious. He really wants me to be apart of his band! This could change my entire life. I'd have to live in Japan now, and who knows when I'll be able to see my friends and family again…so maybe I shouldn't. But this is an opportunity that cannot just be passed up! I'm sure everyone will understand. "Mr. Seguchi…I accept your offer", she said in very confident Japanese.
Touhma smiled once again and reached out for Anna's hand. Anna shook his hand, and almost started to cry. Touhma let go, and sat back down at his desk. "I will find living conditions for you, you don't need to worry. But for now, you may stay here in the studio, Miharu can show you around, she is probably either right outside of this room or on the 7th or 8th levels. I do apologize, but I must end our meeting. I am a member of Nittle Grasper, but I also am president of N-G, and I have other matters to attend to. You may leave your bag here by the door."
Anna smiled at him and put her bag down by the door. She couldn't help but walk back over to his desk and hug him. "Thanks so much Mr. Seguchi." She let go of him and stepped back. "I won't let you down!"
He smiled at her. "I do look forward to working with you Miss Bennson."
On her way out she paused and turned around. "Uhm, one more question Mr. Seguchi. But you said that I might help bring Nittle Grasper to be the best in Japan again. Aren't you already the best band in Japan?"
Touhma sat at his desk and looked at her, smiled, but said bitterly, "Bad Luck has gotten quite popular recently. But please Miss Bennson. I do have a lot of work to do."
Anna nodded, bowed once again, walked out of the room and closed the door softly. She took a deep breath; her heart was practically pounding out of her chest. Once she started to relax, she heard loud footsteps coming towards her, and turned her head, only to find herself glomped by Seguchi Miharu.
"SO!? What did Nii-san want?" Miharu asked quite energetically.
"Seguchi-Chan…" Anna began, but was interrupted by Miharu.
"Seguchi-Chan? You don't have to be so formal, Miharu is fine!" Miharu said with a smile.
Anna smiled, and continued. "Miharu, Seguchi-san wants me to play drums in Nittle Grasper…" Anna said almost in a whisper.
Miharu stared at her for a few moments, thinking of what to say. "WHAAT?! NITTLE GRASPER HAS A NEW MEMBER?! COME ON!" She grabbed Anna's hand and ran downstairs to the 8th floor.
"Miharu….just where are we going?"
"Somewhere with someone that it's important for you to meet!" She shouted as they made their way to the 8th floor, outside of Bad Luck's studio. "OH! Anna is it?"
"Y…yeah?" Anna answered hesitantly.
"You're from America right….?"
"Y-yes…I'm from New York…"
"…Do you have any guns?"
Anna stared baffled at Miharu's question. "Guns…? Why would I have any guns?"
Miharu glanced at the door then back at Anna. "Oh…just curious in case things ever happened where you need self-defense…"
Anna didn't say anything to Miharu's statement. 'Self defense…?'
"Now Anna-Chan, when I open this door…just let your body fall to the ground on your stomach…ok?"
Anna stared at her, then remembering the yelling, thud, and the bang that came from the studio earlier. 'Was….was I right?' "Uhm…ok…" She said shakily.
Miharu took a deep breath, turned the door knob slowly and pushed the door open.
"HEY!" Shouted a voice…once the door opened up, gunshots were shot everywhere. After a few minutes they ceased and Miharu and Anna stood up. Miharu brushed off any dust that got on her clothes, like it was no big deal. While Anna, who looked quite pale stood up kind of shaking. She looked at their supposed attacker; he had bright blonde hair and deep blue eyes. "PRATICE IS IN SESSION!" He put his gun down, and looked over at a scared Anna. "Who's she?"
Miharu looked dully at the man. "K. We have news for Shuichi."
Anna looked around. She was in a real recording studio, something that she would often day dream about while she was in school or at her...well, former job. It just hit her that she was not only in a studio, but in the studio of a band who wasn't just taking Japan as Mr. Seguchi pointed out, but yet the world.
"Fine. Shindou-kun! Get out here!" K shouted trough the glass in the studio.
The pink haired singer of Bad Luck came out of the room, as well as his band members: guitarist Nakano Hiroshi, and Suguru Fujisaki.
"Members of Bad Luck, Miharu practically announced, "This young girl from America is the new…Drummer for Nittle Grasper!"
After a few moments of silence, Shuichi was the first to respond. "….WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! NITTLE GRAPSER HAS A DRUMMER?! HOW?! NITTLE GRASPER HAS ALWAYS BEEN; SAKUMA RYUICHI, SEGUCHI TOUHMA, AND UKAI NORIKO!" He screamed as ran around the studio unsure if he was excited about his favorite, yet rival band, had a new member, or if he was upset that there is more competition with Nittle Grasper. Hiro and Fujisaki looked at their fellow band mate dully, and then glanced back at a confused and pale Anna.
Anna looked back at everyone 'I…I am the new drummer for Nittle Grasper…I go from being a waitress at a coffee shop to an instant celebrity in Japan, now I'm in the presence of one of the greatest bands in history….' Anna started to sway, and fainted in the doorway.
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So. There's chapter one. :
Let me know what you think :