Generations: Part Three
Chapter One
With the sun rising slowly into the sky, Kessuke awoke and gazed at the teen lying next to him on the bed. Blond hair, angel soft and long, with skin close to ivory white, the teen snuggled against his bare chest. So beautiful, Kessuke brought his left hand to the teen's cheek, caressing the soft skin with his deft fingers. This motion, so slight caused the teen's eyes to flutter open; gentle hazel orbs turned upward to gaze into the cobalt blue ones.
"Good morning, Kess." The blond teen whispered, moving closer to Kessuke's chest.
"Good morning, Shini." Kessuke wrapped his arm tighter around the blond, and leaned his head down to kiss Shinichi on the nose; then on the lips. "We should get up."
"Nnnnh." Shinichi shook his head and grabbed onto Kess, refusing to let him move.
"You don't want to get caught by your dad again, do you?" Kessuke pried Shinichi's arms away, moving from the now pouting teen's embrace to sit with his legs hanging off the side of the bed. "Things didn't go at all well when he found out—the last thing you want him finding out is we're still doing it."
"I know." Shinichi whined, sitting up in bed as well, legs still on the mattress, back against the headboard.
"If you know that, why do you insist on disobeying me?" Came a voice from the door, which neither heard open; both teens shot their sights to the man in the doorway, recognizing the blond hair and golden eyes of Shinichi's dad.
"I…I'm in trouble…."
"You bet you are." Yuki replied, staring icily at the two boys, cigarette in his left hand, between his fingers. Bringing the cigarette to his lips and inhaling, then removing it and exhaling, the novelist studied his prey with expressionless eyes. "Both of you get dressed and be downstairs in fifteen minutes." He turned to leave, pausing, his back to them. "Shinichi, you're grounded for a month."
"B…But…but…." Too late, his dad left before he could get his objection out. Steaming with frustration, Shinichi twisted his body and buried his face in his pillow, his hands clenched onto the white fluffiness. A few minutes passed before Kessuke leaned over the bed to gaze upon him.
"That's enough of trying to suffocate yourself." Kessuke said grinning to show his joke; when Shinichi didn't laugh, didn't even look at him, he placed his hand on the teen's blond head, ruffling the shiny hair with his fingers. He paused when he heard a sob escape from the pillowed face. "Shini-kun."
"I hate this, I hate him, it's fuckin unfair!" Shini turned his face out of the pillow, his hazel eyes red and full with tears. "He's not gonna let me see you for a month!"
Kessuke simply ran his fingers through Shinichi's hair, his cobalt eyes studying the sad, frustrated face gazing up at him. A wistful smile breaking the pursed line of his lips, Kessuke leaned down closer to the angelic face and pressed his lips to the pale forehead and then the visible cheek, ending with a quick peck on the nose. His lips still holding that smile, the cobalt eyed teen softly sang to the hazel eyed one.
-
Teal eyes hidden behind sunglasses, blond hair neatly combed and covered with a hat, Tohma Seguchi watched the band onstage with varied interest—the synth-player wasn't very good, but the bassist wasn't bad, and the guitarist was somewhere between amateur and professional.
That made the band average—not much worth his time, but when the singer sang, really belted out the lyrics, hitting all the notes—that propelled the band higher than average. They might just be worth his time if they got a new synth player, and a new bassist.
"What do you think of them?"
"The guitarist and singer have talent—the singer especially, but the other two ruin it." Tohma replied, turning to the person next to him, his trademark smile playing at his lips. "You really need to get better at judging a band as a whole, Toya. All the parts have to work together otherwise talent is wasted."
Toya turned red at his father's criticism, but recovered his voice before Tohma turned to leave.
"Today is the bassist's last day—he's being replaced, and I'm certain a new synth player can be found—you could help with that."
"And why would you presume I would help? What makes this band special compared to the hundreds who give me demo-tapes everyday?"
"Well the singer…." Toya mumbled and bit his lip, unsurprised by, yet disappointed by, his father's dismissal of the band.
"The singer—she's exceptional. But the guitarist is only semi-talented. Now if you waited for the bassist and synth player to be replaced before urging me to see the band, you…."
"I'm gonna be the new bassist."
Tohma's smile fell off his face as surprise sculpted his expression, his sunglasses slipping off as he jerked his head back.
"You're going to be the bassist? I…when did you learn…?"
"I've been using my allowance to pay for lessons for the pass three years. And…." Toya looked back on stage, "All of them agree I play better than that guy." He indicated the bassist on stage with a wave of his hand.
"I got to commend you for being able to keep it a secret from me. But I'll have to hear you play with the band before I can change my mind." Tohma smiled a genuine smile for a few seconds before putting his mask back on. "Replace the synth player too—or get rid of it altogether, when you do that I'll watch the band perform again." With that he turned and walked away from his son, heading out of the building.
-
"Toya-kun! What did your dad say?" The guitarist, long auburn hair held in a ponytail and green eyes, pushed through the crowd toward the brunette, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"He basically said no."
"What?" The guitarist froze, his eyes roaming over Toya to discern if the teen was joking.
"I figured as much." The bassist intoned, escaping the crowd the second before. "Lani and I suck—we dragged you down."
"Don't say that! You're not…you didn't…."
"They did." Toya affirmed, glancing through the crowd to see the last two band members make it through the crowds waiting for the next band to start.
"Toya, don't…."
"We need to replace the bassist and synth player before my dad will give us another listen."
"Well you're going to be bassist after tonight—that means we only need a synth player, unless you decide to replace it with drums." The bassist sighed, bringing his arms behind his head.
"Replace what with drums?" The synth player asked as she found them, eyes lighting up as she hugged Toya.
"You Lani, you sunk the band—you and Keni both." Toya replied escaping Lani's embrace.
"What? But…but…." Lani whimpered, looking from Toya to Keni, then to the guitarist.
"What's taking Rave so long?" Toya ignored Lani's whines and pleading eyes, instead looking for the singer.
"Yo. I'm here." The singer, Rave, appeared as though from shadow to stand beside Lani who gave her an evil look.
"Oh, done signing autographs already?" Lani asked not masking the contempt in her voice. "Oh, how nice it is to be appreciated."
"Come on, you have your fans too Lani…." Rave began.
"Only because she gives it away." The guitarist interjected. "If you know what I mean."
Lani turned beet red, pursing her lips against any retort.
"Ryusuke, take that back." Rave stepped toward the guitarist, eyes shining in the overhead lights.
"You'll let Lani get away with dissing you? She's always doing it, but you won't let anyone pay her back?"
"When she disses me, it's up to me to get her back—no one has the right to butt in." Rave turned away, toward Toya. "So what's the say on the band?"
"We need to replace Lani and Keni."
"Um…we have you to replace Keni, but I don't know any synth players."
"I…I think I know one—and I might be able to convince him to play with us." Toya said, looking at the darkened ceiling in thought. "I think he might…."