Disclaimer: I don't own Cinema Bizarre or any of the music or shows mentioned in this.
~*~
We weren't exactly a novelty in our town, but we were unusual. As far as I knew, there were only a couple bands in our area that had gained any recognition. Some of our stuff was already on the local radio stations, much to my surprise.
"Tik tok on the clock, but the party don't stop, no..."
Music blasted from the stereo as we spun around my basement, drowning out all thought. It was our last night in town and we were supposed to be getting ready for a farewell concert, held out in the park behind the house I'd lived in before moving to Oklahoma; it hadn't sold, so we could still use it while I was around.
Our equipment, everything from lights to our instruments, was already waiting for us out on the basketball court. Bachiko and I had already warmed up and were now singing along to the Ke$ha CD that was playing loudly enough to make our skulls vibrate. Bottles of Powerade and Monster were waiting for us in case of dehydration. As it was, half-finished cans of Red Bull were already scattered across the table.
Ai's hair was dark this month, and there were blonde streaks in her bangs. Over a black tanktop she wore a loose, hot pink belly shirt. Her black skinny jeans were covered from the knee down by high-tops decorated with pink and silver stars.
Bachiko wore her medium-length brown hair in pigtails tied with blue ribbons that matched her bright cerulean eyeshadow. She also wore a grey vest with blotched of neon colors over a bright yellow t-shirt and black cami. A pair of grey skinny jeans and customized yellow high-tops completed the outfit.
Cho wore her hair in a ponytail with ice-blue extensions clipped in. She had on a white t-shirt with a big blue rose on it and blue denim shorts over black leggings.
Fuji's soft, light brown hair was simply pulled back with bobbi pins and colorful temporary dye streaked the front white and dark green. She wore a dark green tanktop and black jeans with lime green-and-black striped arm warmers. On her feet she wore black flats with silver stars on the sides.
I had done up my hair like Death Note's Misa Amane and tied it with red ribbons. I was wearing an old Labyrinth t-shirt, black leggings, and a red plaid skirt with a pair of old, beat-up black Converse. A worn Code Geass necklace was fastened around my neck and somewhere I had found a tube or red lipstick to use.
The summer air was just beginning to cool as we headed out and I took my place at one of the microphones near the front of the makeshift stage. Bachiko stepped up the the other while Ai and Cho moved to the wings and Fuji sat at the drum set.
"Hey! Hey you! Over there!" Bachiko called, pointed out into the surprisingly large crowd.
"Me?" asked several voices.
"Sure, whatever. Do you like tacos?" she asked.
There was a loud roar of responses and laughter in which not a single answer could be distinguished. I waved it away, laughing, and said into the mic, "Okay, okay. Now that we've established that, why don't we move on to something more important?"
"Tacos are important!" Bachiko protested, causing another ripple of laughter. I stuck my tongue out at her, but Ai, Cho, and Fuji began to play before I could retort.
I could hear Fuji's sticks tapping the skin of the drums powerfully, keeping the beat. She always was one to underestimate her talent. Ai and Cho played the same series of notes and octave apart. Bachiko's pretty alto voice began to hum, and I listened closely for my entrance.
"Inflicted by the past, your touch returns to haunt me..."
After "Kuro Tenshi, Gin Kago," we played our way through five other songs-"Midnight Dreamers," "Never There," "Voices In the Head," "Don't Wanna Be Romeo and Juliet," and our cover of Rise Against's "Ready to Fall."
As we played, lights roved across the stage, bathing us in a multitude of color. Blue and pink lights flashed over Ai's head as she concentrated on her cherry red electric guitar. On the other side of the stage, blue and yellow lights painted Cho's tense, focused figure. Fuji was swamped by the yellow and green lights in the back, and red and orange lights played over me and Bachiko.
As Ai played the last chords of "Never There," deafening applause started up. We looked around at each other, surprised. Whatever reaction we had expected, it wasn't this. In fact, I had anticipated only a smattering of applause. Nevertheless, broad smiles crept over our faces. This had to be the best way to end our last night in this town.
"Saya! Saya, get your lazy ass up!" a not-particularly-cheerful voice hissed loudly, waking me up. It was Fuji, shaking my shoulder to wake me. On the other side of Cho's large bed, Cho herself was trying creative methods to wake Bachiko...who in return simply groaned and rolled over. Knowing Fuji would try more drastic measures if I didn't follow her instructions, I rolled off the bed and onto the floor.
"Ow..." I grumbled, hoping the thump hadn't been too loud. I immediately yawned loudly, still somewhat under the effects of yet another knock-out pill. It would wear off sufficiently soon enough, but for now I would need my music.
I finally found one of my iPods just as Bachiko rolled over and threw my pillow at her attacker. I hit play and headed over to help as Cinema Bizarre's "Forever or Never" filled my ears.
"Mmrf groff mmf."
Those were Bachiko's oh-so-intelligent words as I tried to rouse her. Like the attempts of the bassist, it had no effect. Trying a new tactic, I sat on her stomach, careful not to injure her. Her eyes flew open as her breath escaped her.
"Get off!" she choked out, pushing at me.
"Nice to see you awake," I replied with a congenial smile, rolling off. Bachiko struggled into a sitting position, glared at me. "For a stick person, you're heavy," she complained.
I just shrugged and chucked a pillow at Ai's head, nearly invisible under a tangled mass of what was occasionally known as hair.
We all changed quickly once we were fully awake, eager to fulfill our dream of waking up Jim-Ai's bitchy neighbor. Giggling as quietly as we could manage, we stole out of Cho's house into e cool pre-dawn air. I shivered and pulled on my jacket at the last minute, glad I thought to grab it though it reminded me of the ex-boyfriend I'd stolen it from-I mean, forgotten to give it back to.
We all piled into Cho's jeep, into which all our noisemaking equipment was already packed. Ai, Cho, and Fuji crammed themselves into the front seat while Bachiko and I squeezed into the back with our Seattle-bound luggage. Driving a little more quickly than we normally would have if the streets had their usual traffic, we made good time to the gas station down the street from Ai and Bachiko's houses.
"We should get some donuts," Bachiko piped up suddenly.
Cho and I laughed at the randomness of the comment.
"On the way back," Ai replied with an amused smile, turning away from the gas station and into their neighborhood.
"Fine," Bachiko retorted grumpily. Moments later, Ai pulled up in front of her house and the five of us quickly tumbled from the vehicle.
Ai ran into the house to return her house key to her parents and to wake them up. That was the deal; we could wake up Jim as rudely as we wanted, provided that we woke and warned them first.
From the back of the jeep, Cho pulled two air horns, Fuji's cymbals, an old, green plastic recorder, and a whistle. Fuji took the cymbals, I took my recorder, and Bachiko snatched the whistle, leaving Ai and Cho with the air horns.
"Fuck-shit-dammit!" Cho hissed in quick succession as the horn slipped from her fingers, hitting the ground with a short squeak. We held our breaths, but there was no response.
Ai returned then, accompanied by her brother and his best friend. She took the other air horn and we lined up at the edge of the property.
"Hey Jim, get your fat ass up!" Jon yelled, rude as usual. Ai and Cho quickly joined in with the air horns, holding them away from our group. Soon after, cymbals flanged, the recorder squealed, and the whistle howled. All dogs within hearing distance erupted as well.
It wasn't long before Jim himself thrust his head out his upstairs window. "What the he'll do you brats think you're doing!" he roared at us.
Only the dogs were still making noise. Al around the cull-de-sac, there were lighted windows and angry faces. All seven of us had gone completely silent, composing our faces to look as innocent as possible.
While Mike and Jon remained silent, the five of us said in unison, "You said you needed to get up at four, Jim. You are-" we all pretended to check watches we didn't have, "-two minutes late."
Jim could only stare at us, dumbfounded. Then, without a word, he retreated back into his house. We all erupted into giggles and waved to Jon and Mike as they left us.
As we returned the equipment to e car, waiting for Jim to return, I check my phone. To my surprise, I saw we'd actually been right about the time.
We pulled blankets from the jeep and spread them out on the lawn in a half-circle facing Jim's driveway. We sat cross-legged on them and just talked, still waiting for the garage door to open.
When it finally did, we fell silent. Jim pulled out with the window of his car rolled down as if to yell at us...again.
"Good morning, Jim." Our monotone voices rose in unison, and, judging by the look on his face, Jim rethought his course of action. Without saying anything, he backed from the driveway and drove away.
Laughing again, we jumped back into the jeep and sped away.
Bachiko stopped suddenly as she climbed out of the jeep, now back in from of Cho's monstrous house with weak dawn light streaming down on us. After almost running into her, I paused to see what she would say.
"We never got any donuts."
Cho rolled her eyes. "We'll get some on the way out of town," she promised.
"We'd better," Bachiko huffed. I chuckled and pushed her out of my way.
Hurrying back upstairs, we dressed for a day of traveling. Luckily our bags were already packed and loaded into the two vehicles we were taking to Seattle, Cho's jeep and my Civic.
Ai wore her dark, highlighted hair in a high ponytail and had outlined her eyes in a soft purple. She wore a purple tanktop to match and light-wash denim shorts. After debating for a moment, she put her high-tops back on.
Bachiko wore a bright blue v-neck t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Her brown hair was held in a low ponytail and she had stolen my lime-green eyeshadow-or Ai's, I really wasn't sure. She wore an old pair of pink flip-flops that showed off her toenails, painted bright orange.
Cho wore a low-cut green tanktop and tight-fitting denim jeans. She left her long, layered, dirty blonde hair down and brushed forest green eyeshadow across her eyelids. She slid her feet into a pair of tall brown boots and left the room to find something for us to eat.
Fuji dressed quickly in a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. She brushed out her short, shiny hair and put on a pair of dark green Converse. She let Ai do her makeup and ended up with pale blue eyeshadow and teal eyeliner.
I put on a black tanktop and covered it with a dark grey half-jacket. Wi it I wore a pair of dark grey jeans that matched the jacket, and I tied the old Converse on my feet again. I pulled my long, dark hair into low pigtails, but, being too tired to bother with my appearance much more, I simply outlined my eyes in black.
When Cho returned, she was carrying a box of strawberry Pop-Tarts and a jar of peanut butter. I took a pack of Pop-Tarts but made a face when offered the peanut butter. The others shook their heads at me and attacked the food.
We finished our breakfast about ten minutes later, said goodbye to Cho's mom and sisters, and headed out to our vehicles. I climbed into my old blue Honda, passed down by my mom a few years ago. Ai slid into the passenger seat and hit the stereo as we followed the jeep out of the driveway. I had a Marilyn Manson CD in, and I couldn't resist tapping my left foot as "Putting Holes in Happiness" started.
After a while, we stopped at a gas station to fill up and get Bachiko's donuts. After that we drove wit communication until noon, when we stopped for lunch. Ai and I went through multiple CDs in multiple languages, talking almost nonstop as if we had no brain-to-mouth filter. In the back of the parking lot, I parked beside Cho and shut off the car, stopping "Reiketsu Nariseba" on my old Dir en Grey album.
We joined the others by the front doors, amused to see that they were all yawning and stretching like we were. As much as we all looked forward to trips to Seattle, the long drive was always a buzzkill. At least there was a furnished hotel waiting for us.
We ate a quick lunch, eager to get back on the road. It would have gone by faster, but, like most girls, we were big talkers.
"Did you talk to that guy? The one who's interested in our stuff?" Ai asked Cho, who nodded.
"Wmeenimntnsdy," she answered through a mouthful of burger. We all stared at her with blank expressions until she swallowed.
"We meet him on Tuesday," she repeated clearly.
We nodded in understanding and went back to trying to inhale our food, more eager than ever to get to Seattle.
About half an hour later, we were back on the road. Dir en Grey was blasting from my speakers again. We didn't stop until we reached Wenatchee, Washington, a town Bachiko preferred to call "We Naughty." I turned off "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by My Chemical Romance with the car. Grabbing our duffel bags from the back, Ai and I hopped out of the car and met Bachiko at the from doors. Cho and Fuji were already inside, getting the keys to our suite.
We joined them and headed up to the room. It was spacious and homey, just like a suite was supposed to be. There were two queen-sized beds in a room off to the left and a pull-out couch in the main room. There was also a kitchen on the right and a bathroom on the left by the door.
"We should get some more donuts," Bachiko stated as we surveyed the room in silence. We all turned to stare at her.
"Please don't tell me you've already finished off the ones we got this morning," Cho pleaded in a half-groan.
Giving us all a huge grin, Bachiko nodded. We sighed collectively.
"Fuji and I'll go get some food and stuff. You guys can get set up. I call sharing a bed with Saya!" Ai rambled, turning to go.
"Why not me? Or anyone else?" Bachiko whined.
"Saya doesn't kick or hog the bed," Ai explained almost condescendingly, walking out with Fuji following.
I picked up their bags from beside the door, taking them into the bedroom and tossing each on a separate bed. I tossed my bag on the bed with Ai's and headed back to the main room.
"I call the couch-bed-thingy!" Bachiko announced, throwing her bag at it. It landed about a foot short and she frowned at it as if expecting it to levitate itself onto the couch.
"Okay, but I call sitting on you to watch TV," I teased. Bachiko stuck her tongue out at me in response, making both me and Cho laugh at her.
Bachiko and I were settled in front of the TV watching Bones when Ai and Fuji returned. Cho was in the bedroom, typing up a story and listening to music. All three of us had already changed into pajamas.
As Ai approached us, she held up boxes of Chinese takeout in celebration. Bachiko and I immediately burst into cheers, drawing Cho's attention. We pulled up a table in front of the pull-out bed and settled ourselves around it.
Ai spread the food out in front of us with chopsticks while Fuji passed out one liter bottles of everyone's favorite sodas: Mountain Dew for Ai, Sunkist for me, Dr. Pepper for Cho, cherry Pepsi for Bachiko, and Diet Sunkist for herself.
Bachiko and I were to turn off Bones in favor of The Proposal, seeing as we had already seen every episode. "Superhero in the Alley" may have been one of our favorite episodes, but I had them all on DVD anyway. By the time the movie ended, we were all full and sleepy but still laughing hard.
Later, when we were all in bed, we heard Bachiko's voice from the main room singing, "From the window, to the wall, the sweat drips down my balls!"
The last thing I remember of that night was the whole suite erupting into laughter again.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Gah! Shut that thing up!"
BAM.
The alarm clock, Bachiko's voice, and Fuji's fist pummeling said alarm clock were the first things I heard the next morning. I pushed myself up lazily, yawning and looking around. I could see Bachiko sitting up in her bed too, her hair sticking up at odd angles. The sight caused me to burst out laughing, which in turn brought about the realization that my ribs still hurt like he'll from the night before.
Beside me, Ai merely rolled over. It proved to be just a little too far, and I watched her slide off the bed and hit the floor with a painful-sounding whump!
"Ow," she groaned.
"Morning," I replied with false cheeriness.
Fuji walked out of the room and to the bathroom with her bag slung over one shoulder, grumbling complaints about mornings. Cho sat up with a yawn, then rolled over to Fuji's side of the bed to grab her Dr. Pepper from the nightstand. Bachiko grabbed on of the takeout boxes and rooted through it with a pair of chopsticks. Ai stood up from the floor and joined her, picking up her Mountain Dew on the way. I waited till Fuji emerged, then went to shower and change.
An hour later, we were finally ready. Ai wore a bright blue tanktop and matching eyeshadow. She wore her high-tops with a light-wash denim skirt and navy leggings. An old dinosaur wristband, surprisingly still intact, was around one wrist. The front of her multi-toned hair was pulled back to reveal more of her face.
Bachiko had her hair up in pigtails again today. She wore a loose grey t-shirt of mine over a hot pink tanktop and hot pink skinny jeans, probably stolen from Ai. Somewhere she found hot pink eyeshadow and brushed it lightly over her eyelids. Today she wore a pair of relatively new high-tops.
Cho wore a simple outfit, probably packed last-minute. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail hanging over a black HardNox t-shirt and plain denim blue jeans. On her feet were a pair of beat-up, old knockoff high-tops. There was a large blue and black pendant on a chain around her neck.
Fuji's outfit was also simple, but still flattered her slim body. She wore a dark purple tanktop, black shorts, and an old pair of black running shoes. She left her hair down again and outlined her eyes in purple eyeliner.
I decided to revert back to a more gothic-Lolita style for the day. I wore a black Escape the Fate t-shirt, a black-and-white tutu, and black-and-white striped tights with my knee-high combat boots. On each wrist I had a black-and-white checkered wristband. I added black eyeliner and white eyeshadow as a finishing touch.
"How much further do we have to go?" Bachiko asked when we were standing outside again, our bags all returned to the cars.
"We'll be there by mid-afternoon," Fuji informed her, stuffing the map.
Bachiko let out a sound of frustration and hopped up into the passenger seat of Cho's jeep. Cho herself was on the phone, presumably getting details from the guy at Cherry Tree. Ai and Ai leaned against the Honda, waiting for the others to get ready to leave.
"Can you believe we're finally on our way?" Ai asked. Her voice seemed distant and she gazed up at the cloudless blue sky over our heads. The atmosphere was peaceful as we sat there, the sun caressing our faces and the painted-blue metal of my car warming our backs.
"Took long enough," I grumbled, but then I laughed. The day-and this whole experience-was too incredible to spoil with a sour attitude.
"Okay. Like I said, we have a meeting with this guy on Tuesday," Cho told us, slipping her phone back into her pocket.
"Gotta love YouTube," Ai commented, grinning.
"What's this guy's name?" Fuji asked, practical as usual.
"Robb Davis, AKA DJ Robb," Cho told her. She was grinning with barely suppressed excitement.
I smiled; her mood was infectious.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We'll have a lot to do when we get there," I announced, stepping around the car to slide into the driver's seat. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I shot a smile up at my good luck charm. The little Hanatarou Yamada cell phone charm smiled back at me, looking as excited as I felt.
Around three that afternoon, we pulled into the parking lot of our hotel. Cho let Fuji and Bachiko out of the jeep to check in while we parked. Thanks to my dad's insistence on using the Internet to get the best deals possible, we quickly obtained the keys to our suite and headed up with our luggage.
"Dude, this place is huge!" Cho announced happily, turning in a slow circle in the center of the room.
"We thought Bachiko might need a little more space for the mess she usually makes," I teased, poking the other singer with my index finger.
"Yeah, it's not easy making a huge mess in a small room," Bachiko informed us with a less-than-innocent grin.
Ai looked from Bachiko's mischievous expression to the duffel bag in her hand and back again.
"I don't even want to know how you'll manage that," she said finally, turning her back.
Just like the night before, Ai and I dropped our bags on the same bed. Cho and Fuji took the other while Bachiko hogged the couch. We changed out of our traveling clothes and regrouped to make dinner plans.
"Um, Saya? Why do you look like you're going to make a speech or something?" Ai asked, looking over my outfit.
I looked down at my blue pinstriped button-down and black slacks combo and shrugged.
"I was in a Sanji mood," I told her, as if that explained everything. She rolled her eyes but grinned at the One Piece reference.
"C'mon, Otaku, let's go eat," she chuckled, leading the way out of the room.
"I want Chinese," Bachiko piped up.
"We had Chinese last night," Cho reminded her, bopping her on the head.
I grinned. With company like this, Seattle was bound to be interesting.
We ended up at the Hurricane Café, a place we remembered our favorite band, Cinema Bizarre, recommending on Twitter a few years ago.
"Okay, so, DJ Robb wants us to play a few songs for him," Cho announced as she pushed her fries around on her plate.
"Two problems with that," I replied, trying to shove my hair back so it wouldn't fall into my food, "One, as long as we're in the hotel, I don't think they'd appreciate us practicing. Two, we shouldn't be spending time practicing because we still need to find a place to actually live. Did you check that real estate website I sent you the link to?"
For a moment, Cho just stared at me. Then she cracked a cheesy, sheepish grin. "I, um...might've forgotten about that," she admitted.
I facepalmed. Cho was great at taking care of details, but only if the task at hand interested her. Trying to get her to focus on housing details throughout the year had been like trying to teach a dog to speak English.
"Well, we've got a few songs memorized, right?" Bachiko butted in, trying to smooth over the moment.
"Yeah," Ai agreed, "We can just play 'Midnight Dreamers,' 'Voices In My Head,' and 'Don't Wanna be Romeo and Juliet."
"What if he wants to hear some new material?" Fuji asked seriously. Her brow was furrowed in thought as a fry hung, forgotten, from her fingertips.
I gnawed on my lip as I considered the songs we'd been working on lately.
"Well," I said finally, "As long as we let him know they're works in progress, we could probably play 'Run' and 'May the Next Girl Have It Better,' right?"
Ai nodded, grinning.
"Cross your toes," Fuji reminded us cheerfully, "This could lead to all different kinds of strange."
The next few days passed in a flurry of inconveniences caused by tight living quarters, too many real estate listings to remember, and a vague memory of a Bleach cosplayer. Tuesday morning must have dawned dark and drizzling; I wouldn't know because I was dead to the world until just after noon.
"Just keep on trying, keep on flying, I will be the light..."
My phone woke me suddenly with Shuntaro Okino's "Cloud Age Symphony," the opening theme song of the anime Last Exile. The song woke Ai too, and she promptly kicked me in the ribs.
"Turn it off, it's too damn early," she whined, burying her face into her pillow.
"It's not early," I grumbled, "In fact, we only have an hour before we're supposed to meet this DJ Robb guy." I looked around the room, only marginally surprised to find that we were the last ones to wake.
"I want to reschedule," Ai stated with a groan, rolling over and draping her arm over her eyes.
"Get your lazy ass up," I told her, though I felt equally reluctant as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
Twenty minutes later, we were all dressed and ready to go. We all wore jeans, jackets, Converse, and novelty t-shirts-Death Note for me, Charlie the Unicorn for Bachiko, Wonder Woman for Cho, Blood On the Dance Floor for Ai, and Keyboard Cat for Fuji. Still feeling sluggish, we left the hotel and took Cho's jeep to the Cherry Tree offices.
The moment we walked in, we were greeted by a man who looked only about five years older than us. He had dark olive skin and short black hair, and his dark eyes seemed to twinkle as he smiled at us.
"Hello, INK3D," he said, greeting us with an air of familiarity that left me feeling somewhere between welcomed and unnerved, "I'm DJ Robb."
As he led us back to a room in which we could play for him, I studied the paraphernalia hanging in the halls. There was a myriad of albums, awards, and signed photos. I couldn't help but feel a little impressed through all my nervous excitement.
"Alright, what've you got for me?" DJ Robb asked, rubbing his hands together as he faced us. I handed him a list as Ai and Cho tuned their guitars.
"Close your eyes, begin to dream. Darkness comes, so try to sleep..."
We played through our familiar songs flawlessly, which nearly eliminated the nervousness I'd felt before. Luckily I was able to keep the bubbly sense of levity under control, realizing that there were more unfamiliar songs to come. Ai began playing, and I glanced at Bachiko to see an eager, reassuring smile cross her lips. Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth.
"Here I am again, left out in the cold..."
"Well, I definitely think a promo concert is in order DJ Robb told us when we'd finished. His wide grin mirrored ours, which pleased me almost as much as his words. I couldn't really think; my head seemed full of what Bachiko might call "happy clouds."
A short, breathless laugh escaped me as we left the studio. I could feel a significant bounce in my step, though I resisted the urge to skip.
"I'm so glad she's not driving," I heard Fuji mutter from behind me.
Okay, maybe I do need a little more self-control.
"Are you ready? Where's Bachiko? Where did Cho put the setlist? Has the sound check started yet?"
I crossed my eyes and pretended to faint under the impact of Ai's barrage of questions. She paced around the room we waited in, panting after firing off four questions in one breath. I was grateful for all her nervous activity though. If I hadn't been so amused by her antics, I might have been in the same situation.
"Chill, Ai," Cho sighed, looking slightly dizzy as she watched the guitarist pace a permanent right into the carpet, "Everything's on time and it's all going according to plan."
"Knock on wood," Fuji told her, the calm monotone betraying none of the apprehension I could see in her blue-grey eyes.
Cho complied, reaching over to tap the doorframe with her knuckles a few times. As if summoned, Bachiko suddenly slipped through the opening between the door and it's frame.
DJ Robb was behind her, looking slightly frazzled. I wondered what Bachiko had been up to, then realized I probably didn't want to know.
"Okay, time to go on. Ai, Cho, go on out there first. Go right into the first song; Saya, you can introduce everyone after that. Also-"
"Yeah, yeah, we know," Ai interrupted, waving her hand dismissively as she passed him, "Please the crowds, but don't go overboard with the publicity stunts just yet."
DJ Robb rolled his eyes but didn't contradict her. I shrugged apologetically as I passed him, and he returned the gesture with a small smile.
Then I was looking out at the stage. Blue lights swarmed across the smooth, worn boards and the excited, restless crowd. Ai and Cho looked like ghosts, adjusting their instruments over their shoulders while shrouded in fog from two large machines backstage. I readjusted my black skirt over my white-and-black striped tights, trying to push aside my anxiety. Finally, I stepped out through the fog cloud myself.
"Summer days and summer dreams almost caused me to forget you..."