Author's Notes: Helooo everybody!

First of all, I have absolutely NO idea how the music industry works. I've never been in a band, I don't have friends in bands, and I'm clueless to it all. About the only experience I've had is high school fanfiction with bands and Gravitation. So, if I make a mistake, please just ignore it. If it's a huge BLARING mistake, I'd be glad to fix it and save myself further embarrassment. It's an AU story, so anything can happen!

Now, I know this story sounds a bit cliche, but I'm trying to add some of my own twists into it. I hope it works out and becomes something at least a little original...

Also, this story is shounen-ai and may become yaoi later on. It depends on how brave I am. Haha. Anyway… yes, if you have a problem with gay boys, please don't read this story. And if you DO have a problem with it, I frankly don't want to hear about it, kthnx.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story! Reviews are much appreciated :hug:

Chapter I

Rock Star

Guitar strum.

"Do you have the time… to listen to me whine… about nothing and everything all-at-once? I am one of those… melodramatic fools…neurotic to the bone no-doubt-about-it."

Lyrics they'd designed. Lyrics they'd patented. Melody they'd made up. Everything was theirs. All their own.

"Sometimes I give myself thee creeps. Sometimes my mind plays tricks oon me. It all keeps adding up. I think I'm cracking up! Am I just paranoid? Or I'm just stoned!"

Except the voice. The voice didn't belong to them. It wasn't the lead singer's voice that was screaming into the microphone. Sure, the music behind him was authentic, real, full. But the voice wasn't real.

"I went to a shrink… to an-alyze-my-dreams. She says it's lack-of-sex-that's bringing mee down. I went to a whore; he said my life's a boore… so quit my whining cause it's bringing-heer down!"

Sora closed his eyes and tried to ignore the words. To him, they were disgusting and juvenile, and they had no business being around him. However, the problem was that it was his voice that was singing the song. His voice that the lead singer was mouthing into the microphone with practiced ease. He closed his ears as the chorus was repeated and tried to pretend that the world around him didn't exist.

"Gras-ping-to-controol… so I better hoold oon…"

He imagined that he was back in his room studying for the next school exam. Back where he was comfortable with all of his things—CD's, DVD player, PlayStation 2, his homework… anywhere but here.

"Sometimes I give myself thee creeps. Sometimes my mind plays tricks oon me. It all keeps adding up. I think I'm cracking up! Am I just paranoid? Or I'm just stoned!"

And the final thrum. Sora heaved a sigh of relief and slumped as low as he could in his seat as the producer stood up and clapped heartily.

"Haha! Great job boys! Keep up this kind of music, and we'll be off on our third tour in no time at all!" He gave the four members a big, sparkly smile, and then he turned to the group's manager. "Alright, The next album—when is it due?"

"Next week," the man sighed. His eyes were tired, and he didn't seem to have had time to brush his hair out this morning—because it was sticking up in every direction. But anyone who knew that manager outside of work knew that his hair was always like that. Today however, it was spikier than usual. The producer didn't seem to care. Hell, all the producer was worried about was the money.

"Good! Thanks for the free preview fella's!" He gave them another grin. "I'll sign the papers and then I have to be off—I have an interview with Daily Three in an hour." The bulky man tipped his hat and toddled out of the concert hall, whistling a merry tune. The boys on stage gave each-other congratulatory high-fives and laughed. Sora pretended to disappear.

"Man, I hope this time we go to Europe." Demyx said. He was a blonde with a mohawk, holding his Sitar against his side like a lover. The boy at the drummer's seat, Seifer, another blonde with a scar diagonal across the bridge of his nose, just shrugged.

The second guitarist, Zell, grinned. "I don't care where we go—as long as there's girls."

The lead singer turned around, brushing his silver hair out of his eyes and giving a smirk. His eyes were a deep blue, and Sora had to admit, he was a lot prettier than him. He placed a hand on his hip and turned his head back towards the seats behind him.

"Well, I guess little Sora wouldn't want to come," he jested. "Girls don't interest him."

Sora closed his eyes and willed the floor to swallow him up.

"Shut up Kuja." The manager sighed. "His preference is no concern of yours."

Kuja smirked but left it at that and turned back to his buddies.

Cloud closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, flopping into the chair beside Sora. "I don't know why you put up with him Sora."

"I owe him," he muttered. "And this is what he wanted. I'm stuck, weather I like it or not."

"You know, he has a decent voice too. You really shouldn't do this for him." The blonde leaned back and watched the brunette. Sora just gave him a feeble smile.

"Like I said, I owe him. And it's not that bad really… I get some money, and he gets the groupies." Sora shrugged. "I think it's a win-win situation…"

Cloud sighed and gave up on that subject for the moment. "Anyway, how's school?"

"Boring, as always." Sora shrugged his shoulders again, staring at the stage of the concert hall with a tired gaze. "Hey, is it okay if I go home?"

Cloud gently shook his head. "Kuja's going to take his buddies, he's already told me. I'll take you home."

Sora looked at him and grinned, but it was a little too wide. Cloud smirked and rolled his eyes. "And where else do you want me to take you?"

"You don't have to if you really don't want to… but… I haven't been to B&N in a long time… pleeeaaase?" Sora gave him his large, blue puppy-dog eyes. Cloud laughed lightly and patted Sora's head.

"Alright, alright, I'll take you. You deserve it anyway."

"Yay!" Sora cried, throwing his hands into the air with a happy smile. "Thanks so much Cloud!"

Cloud just shook his head and stood up, clapping his hands. "Alright boys, time to pack up!"

Kuja and his band slowly packed their instruments away and loaded Kuja's car—a Hummer—all the while talking and joking with each other. Sora stayed near Cloud since there was nothing else for him to do. Besides, Cloud wasn't a bad person to hang around. He was the only one who'd befriended Sora in a long, long time, and Sora was very thankful to him for that. It made him happy to know he had someone to rely on.

Well, it was more than Kuja had. But Sora wasn't so sure of that, so he didn't put much more thought into it.

It took a half-an-hour to get everything ready to leave (because Kuja and his pals were too busy loitering and stopping in the middle of moving their instruments), but Cloud stayed until they could no longer see the white Hummer gliding away down the road. Once it disappeared into the busy city, Cloud turned to Sora and smiled. They went to his car, an older version of a Porsche, and climbed in.

Cloud reached up and turned on the radio, filling the car with sound as he pulled out of the studio parking lot and started off to the famous B&N. "So, what are you getting this time?"

Sora blinked and looked up at Cloud, then he smiled. "Well, some new manga, and maybe a strategy guide… Oh, and one of those huge cookies."

Cloud just shook his head gently. "It's a wonder your teeth haven't rotted."

Sora just grinned. The ride was silent except for the music. Sora leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

"They're not gonna get us… not gonna get us… not gonna get uuuss! Get uss!"

"I like this group," Sora muttered as Cloud pulled to a stop at a light. The blonde blinked and looked at Sora inquisitively. "They're original. Their songs have a dance beat to them."

Cloud shrugged. "They're Russian. Different culture."

"I still think it's original."

They were silent until Cloud pulled into the B&N parking lot, turning the car off and taking out a portable DVD player. Sora gave him an apologetic look as he moved to get out of the car, but Cloud waved him off, sticking in The Hulk.

Sora took a deep breath as he entered Barnes and Noble, smiling to himself as he made a beeline to the manga section. The coffee smell always comforted him whenever he walked in, and the quiet music playing overhead made him calm. He'd always loved bookstores, they were his haven, a place where he could just curl up with a good book and read, smelling the warmth of coffee and the gentleness of the music overhead.

He scanned down the shelf from A to Z, looking at each title while searching for the ones familiar to him. He caught sight of an off-white spine and read the words, his eyes widening.

"Earthien?" He whispered to himself, picking up the thick volume and looking at the front cover. "Wow…" He flipped the book open and paged through it, smiling at the old artwork and the poor backgrounds. Early work was always such a fun thing to look at—especially when the artist was someone like Yun Koga.

He sat himself down on the floor, near a table to stay out of people's way, and started reading. He was so lost in the frames and the art that he didn't notice the person peering over his shoulder at the book until they tapped him on the shoulder. Sora started and looked up, blinking as he came face to face with a young man wearing a baseball-cap backwards with pair of dark sunglasses. A few strands of silver hair caressed his eyebrows as he smiled down at the brunette.

"Uh…" Sora started, quickly scrambling to his feet. "I-I'm sorry, was I in your way?"

The young man shook his head and nodded at the manga Sora was clutching to his chest. "You like shounen-ai?"

Sora blushed and looked at the floor. "Yeah…" He waited for the usual response of 'ew man, you must be gay' or 'ugh, fucking fag', but it never came. Instead, he got something quite different.

"I like Loveless better. Yun Koga wasn't really very good at romance in the beginning. Earthien's okay." He shrugged, his lips pulling up into a small smirk. "But Soubi and Ritsuka have more chemistry."

Sora looked at the boy in astonishment, then a slow smile crept onto his face. He felt slightly familiar, but Sora pushed it off as deja vu. "I-I know what you mean. I haven't read Earthien yet, but I love Loveless. Have you read Ouran?"

"Uh-huh. Love Hikaru and Kaoru." The mysterious boy turned and leaned back against the table behind him. "Tamaki's so annoying."

Sora laughed, hugging Earthien to his chest tightly. "I think Tamaki's adorable—" Then he froze, a flush breaking out on his cheeks. The boy laughed lightly.

"He does have a certain charm, but he's still annoying."

Sora looked at the boy and smiled gently, thrusting his hand out. "Sora."

The boy smirked back and grasped Sora's smaller hand, shaking firmly. "Riku."

Sora took his hand back and smiled. "What else do you suggest?"

Riku shrugged, pushing off the table and moving towards the wall of manga. He scanned the shelves, pulling out a book here and there, and once he was finished he piled them all into Sora's arms. "All of those are really good if you like Yun Koga's style."

Sora looked down at the seven books, then grinned up at Riku, adjusting the pile so it sat comfortably in his arms. "Thanks… I'm so picky when it comes to manga. It's hard to find a series I like."

Riku smirked. "Me too. Anyway, I have to go." He leaned foreword suddenly. Sora's eyes widened and he leaned back a bit, but Riku bypassed his mouth and breathed against his ear, making the brunette shiver slightly. "Nice meeting you… Sora."

And just like that, Riku was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared. Sora was dazed for a moment, and then shook himself out of it. He took a moment to wonder why Riku was wearing a pair of dark glasses in a store and at night, but he shook it off. People did what they did.

"Better get to the strategy guides…" He muttered and hurried off.

" I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, I know a so—"

SLAM.

" Ev—ybo—die—er—s"

"Ugh…" Sora grunted, rising from the bed sheets like a zombie. He looked over at his clock and cursed mornings, especially mornings that included school in their schedule. He reached up and turned off his skipping alarm clock, then he sat in the middle of his bed and vegetated for a moment.

Alright, tomorrow I have a test in math, and then next week I have to study for the review in chemistry… Sora yawned. Screw remembering tests. He rolled to the side of his bed and pulled himself lethargically to his feet, pivoting on his heel and stumbling into his closet for a moment. He came out with a long-sleeved white shirt, a red tank top, and a pair of khaki shorts that reached his knees.

Slowly, his eyes half-closed, he shed his pajamas and pulled on the clothes for the day. The front of his red shirt had a small logo on the left hand side with a miniature Sasuke chidori-ing the life out of whatever poor soul who happened to be standing in front of him.

Slowly he trudged into the bathroom and began to tame his hair—at least slightly. Once it wasn't a living rat's nest he brushed his teeth, put on deodorant, washed his face, and then made his way into the kitchen. He glanced at the note his mother had left—she'd gone out again that morning, food was in the stove, apples in the fridge. He bent down and opened the stove, pulling out the bag of Cheezit's sitting on the rack. He didn't know why his mother did that… it was just something that made her well… herself.

He grabbed an apple from the fridge, picked up his school stuff, and finally left for the bus stop, munching his apple slowly. Ah, the morning routine, how he just adored it.

Bus came, Sora climbed on, found himself an empty seat, tried not to fall asleep, and then got off at school. He trudged into the grounds, not any more awake than he'd been when the "song that gets on everybody's nerves" first blared into his ears. He found a nice vacant wall to lean against and concentrated on waking up.

School wasn't Sora's favorite place to be. He didn't have many friends, and the ones he did have weren't really true friends. They were just school friends, the people he hung around because it was a little lonely sitting off by himself. He tried to keep himself awake by counting the passing kids, but it didn't really help much. It only made him sleepier.

Suddenly a face appeared in his vision.

"Ahh!" He cried, leaping back and tripping over his own large yellow shoes. He fell to the ground in a heap.

"Oops, didn't mean to scare you." The disembodied head said, blinking down at the fallen brunette. Sora looked up and came eye to eye with two orbs of ocean blue. scruffy blonde hair framed the boys face and he was hanging from the railing of the small staircase leading up to the second level of the school. Sora mumbled something and picked himself up, brushing his butt off.

"Thanks Tidus…" He grunted. The blonde smirked.

"S'not my fault you have no sense of balance." He said as he pulled himself back onto the concrete and brushed his blonde hair out of his face. Usually Tidus was followed by an entourage of people seeking his attention, all of whom he would be laughing and grinning at while he shamelessly flirted and made an ass of himself to those less fortunate than him. And those less fortunate included Sora, who, if there ever could be, was the president of the Tidus is an Asshole club.

So, after brushing himself off, Sora turned his head and started off to find a place that was not inhabited by Tidus.

"Hey!" The blonde teen cried, vaulting off the railing and landing with, of course, perfect ease before jogging up to Sora. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Anywhere that has no you in it." The brunette huffed, refusing to give Tidus his eyes.

"C'mon, I know you're jealous, but you don't have to be so obvious about it."

Sora just ignored him. Usually if you ignored someone they would back off, but not Tidus. When Tidus found you worthy of his attention, he was a leech.

"So, what have you been up to So-ra?"

Sora cringed. He hated it when Tidus said his name like that. The first time he'd done it, Sora had found it a little cute, but now it just got on his nerves, like an annoying itch that wouldn't go away.

"Nothing you'd care about."

"Oh really?" Tidus looked at him. "How would you know?"

"Because you don't care about much."

"Hey, I do so care about stuff!"

"Oh?"

"I care about myself!" Tidus beamed. Sora just rolled his eyes and took a sharp turn down a hallway. But Tidus was attached to him by the hip.

"Lovely." The brunette commented. Tidus just chuckled and shook his head, brushing his hair back again. Tidus was currently working for a small modeling company, playing Blitzball on the side, but nearly everyone in the school knew that soon the bigger companies would catch him and draw him in like a huge, meaty fish. Even Sora had to admit that Tidus was really good at his job. He'd seen some of the ad's Tidus had posed for floating around the girls groups and he was amazed. Tidus could make himself blend in with anything, especially products like jeans and colognes.

Tidus was a rugged kind of beauty. But unlike most beautiful people, he had a great mind to go with his body. He was an honor roll student, and if he'd run for class president, would have probably been chosen. Anyone would want him, man or woman.

Anyone, except Sora.

"Nice shirt," Tidus said once Sora gave up trying to get away and squeezed himself into a nook in the wall. "Anime again I see."

Sora just glared. Tidus smirked. Sora knew his glare was the equivalent of a week old kitten's hiss, but dammit why did Tidus always have to rub it in? "Why do you always have to pester me?" Sora asked.

Tidus shrugged. "You're so much fun to pester…"

"Don't you have a big group of wanna-be's to go and flirt at?" Sora hissed, wedging himself further. "I'm sure they want you to make an appearance… like… right now."

Tidus gave a bored wave. "I came to tell you about the karaoke thing. Since you don't talk to anyone, I figured you wouldn't know. Kairi's throwing a huge birthday bash at the sing-along place and she's inviting everyone to invite everyone else so consider yourself invited." Tidus smirked.

Sora rolled his eyes. He knew Kairi, she was a pretty sweet girl, but he didn't know her well enough to call her a friend. Besides, he couldn't go to a karaoke bar. If people heard his voice and matched it with Kuja's, the band would go under and Sora would be blamed.

"Why should I go?" Sora grunted, looking away. "I won't know anyone."

"You'll know me," Tidus said with a shrug, as if that solved everything.

"I'm not going," Sora sighed, pushing himself out of his makeshift prison and brushing past Tidus. "I'm just the guy everyone wants to go, but in the end it doesn't matter if I'm there or not."

Sora stalked off to his first period class without looking back, but if he had, he might have seen the far off look in Tidus' eyes.

The rest of the school day went as usual. Every period he was ignored by the teachers and his class mates. At lunch he sat and ate his Cheezeit's under one of the oak trees in the common's area alone, and then he rode the bus home and made his way to his apartment.

When he got home his mother was asleep on the couch, the television playing a drama show while the coffee table in front of her was littered with things like cups and napkins and half-eaten food. Sora just sighed lightly and brought his backpack into his room, then he proceeded to clean up his mother's mess and turn off the TV. Once he was finished he dragged his mother's comforter out of her bedroom and draped it over her before heading back to his room and starting on homework.

Around seven, when Sora was trying to figure out how many grams went into five-thousand megatons, his phone rang. He blinked and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Sora?"

The brunette smiled—it was Cloud. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just calling to tell you that the next recording is on Thursday at six. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Sora said, twirling his pencil around. "Fine as ever."

"Great. Well, I have to get going. Lot's of paperwork to do."

"'Kay. Bye Cloud." Sora sighed, and as soon as he clicked the phone off it rang again. The brunette furrowed his eyebrows and answered. "Hello?"

"Sora!"

Blue eyes widened.

"Tidus? How the hell did you get my number!"

"It's called a phonebook. Kairi told me your mom's name. So, are you coming to karaoke?"

"I told you no!" Sora growled, "I don't even have the time!"

"Oh come on!" Tidus whined, "It's going to be so much fun…"

"Tidus, when I say no, I mean no!"

"So-o-ora!"

Tidus could be soooo annoying.

"I'm hanging up now."

"No—wait!" Sora sighed and leaned against his desk, tapping his fingers. "Look," Tidus sighed, "If you go, I promise I won't bother you for a whole month."

Sora stopped moving. A whole month? Without Tidus breathing down his neck? That was mighty tempting. So tempting in fact, that Sora was just on the edge of agreeing. But then he thought of Kuja and his band, and how Kairi forced everyone to join in on her little games, and he sighed. He closed his eyes and leaned against the desk.

"I'm sorry Tidus, but I can't go."

"… Sora, are you okay?" It wasn't often when Tidus sounded concerned. Actually, Sora had never heard him talk in that tone of voice before. The brunette frowned.

"I'm fine… why do you care?" he didn't say it with scorn. It was a simple question—why should you care about me?

"Uh… well… you know it's… um…" Sora stared at the wall. Tidus was stuttering? "Okay… if you really don't want to go I guess I can't force you."

"It's okay," Sora frowned again. "Maybe… maybe some other time."

"Right…" Tidus sighed. "See you at school tomorrow, Sora."

"Yeah…" Dial tone. Sora hung up and leaned back, raking his fingers through his hair. After a moment of silence, he returned to his homework. "I hate metrics…"


Disclaimer: I don't own Basket Case by Greenday, Not Gonna Get Us by tAtU, nor "the song that gets on everybody's nerves". Or Kingdom Hearts.