A/N: Wow, well this idea is pretty weird. I don't even listen to rock that much yet I found myself listening to a lot over the past few days. The sound, it's just crazy. I'm more hip-hop and alternative then anything but there's always room for more. Much love to KittiKat626, this story is half inspired by her own but luckily it goes down a completely different path. I'll say the name of the song and artist at the end of each chapter. Oh this is pretty much AU but with some character similarities. So let go, enjoy yourself.
Note: :-:-:-:-:-: are my page dividers.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the bleach characters, nor do I own any of the songs in this fic besides my own that I myself created.
A NovaSky Fic
Sunlit Sake
I: New Offer
A crowd of 600 people rose to their feet in a local bar as the last act was about to come on during a warm summer evening. The stage began to light up as people fought to get closer to it. Behind the stage curtain two men watched in utter surprise.
"Geez, how big of a star is this kid here?"
"Please, in this town he's huge. He may not be a household name but I can guarantee you that he will be in the coming months."
"This much praise for some seventeen year old kid, especially by many who don't even really know him, it's not bad at all." The man ran his hand through his whitish blonde hair.
He was a producer, not a big time producer but he had his share of popularity. So far he had some acts but nothing that was good enough to start his dream of having one hell of a record label. Out of the twelve acts that played so far two of them were by artists whom he had recorded with. Both were from this town but they hadn't received praise like this kid. He thought about rethinking his position, redoing his whole image and its future. As he thought an announcer walked on the stage.
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHH BOOOOYYYYYY! I hear ya out there. Let's give it up for the last act."
There was a small cheer in the crowd but even the announcer knew that the crowd just wanted to move on to the last act.
"Alright, alright, are you ready?"
The crowd echoed with excitement.
"Here he is, Karakura's very own, Toushiro Hitsugaya!"
The crowd cheered in a thunderous applause.
Toushiro walked out on the stage his blue guitar in his hand. He took a moment to look at the crowd. Then with a straight look on his face he spoke into the microphone in front of him and with one word asked
"Ready?"
The crowd began to pound the ground underneath them. Toushiro put his hand up in to the air.
"1…2...1.2.3.4!!!!"
The strings began to echo a sound that Toushiro loved to death. This was him, he was a rocker, nothing else. The sound was hard, so much that it produced a sound of meaning. As he softened up he sang into the microphone…
"There
must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the
thief
There's too much confusion…
I can't get no
relief
Business men they.. drink my wine
Plowmen dig my
earth..
None will level on the wine
Nobody of it is worth"
Again his fingers moved right back to the hard pulsing sound that echoed throughout the entire bar. He couldn't stop, he had to keep going.
"No
reason to get exited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many
here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I
we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So
let us talk falsely now
The hour's getting late…come on"
The crowd began to scream and pound as Toushiro put his hand to the strings ripping an insane amount of chords. One by one he tore the notes of the beat from the chart and created it into his own personal servant ready to do his bidding. He was putting on a solo for the ages and 600 crazy people were loving it. As the beat softened up once more he began to sing…
"All
along the watchtower
The princess kept the view
While all the
women came
And went… bare feet servants too
Outside in the
cold distance
A wild cat did growl..
Two riders were
approaching
And the wind began to howl"
He was close to the end. The beat was smooth as he played a straight set. His foot tapped along the beat as he played. The supporting band behind him seemed to play in tune with his exact words and melody. And with the strike of six straight chords he ended the song.
The crowd cheered automatically. Toushiro looked on with amusement. With a bow he turned and walked off from the stage.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Toushiro began his walk home with his guitar slung around his back. He couldn't tell what kind of mood he was in. Was this the way it was going to be for the rest of his life? This was his fourth act at that bar. He was a usual at certain bars and clubs but it was nothing big time. He had seen it happen before. People, who had some considerable skill, become crazy hometown acts but nothing more. That wasn't him. Or at least that wasn't the way he wanted to be.
The sun had started to go down as he walked when a car suddenly pulled up beside him. It was a fairly large sedan but it was so highly customized that Toushiro couldn't even make out what model it was. The car stopped and a door opened revealing a whitish blonde haired man wearing a slim black suit.
"Hitsugaya right?" the man asked.
"Who wants to know?" Toushiro replied with a bit of hostility.
"Oh, please forgive me, where are my manners!?" the man said with a grin. "My name is Kisuke Urahara, I'm a producer."
"Congrats" Toushiro said as he began to walk away.
'Hmmm a lively one' Urahara thought. "Do you not care for what I have to say?" he asked smoothly.
"Let me guess" Toushiro started. "You're some big time producer who thinks I have some talent so you want to sign me. But you also want to me to sign a contract stating that I'm at the mercy of your changes and whatever you want me to be."
Urahara gave a slight grin. "Yeah right, I wish I was some big time producer, but-"
"Ok so you're a low-nobody-knows producer who wants me to help take him to the top."
"Well-…" Urahara didn't know what to make of the whole statement. Surely he had never expected some seventeen year old kid to size him up. He figured he'd jump at the chance to be in the music business.
Noticing Urahara silence Toushiro cut in and said "whatever you're offering, I'm not interested." He had been cheated too many times in his life. So much that sometimes he felt like he really didn't care about getting into the business anymore. He continued to walk off.
Urahara looked on for a quick moment. He had been in Karakura and all of its neighboring towns for two weeks. This wouldn't be the last chance for him to find a breakthrough artist, but for some unclear reason he wanted to sign with this one.
"What are you afraid of Hitsugaya?" Urahara said. "I'm not going to lead you astray, especially being so you'd be my lead artist."
Toushiro stopped dead in his tracks. He had never been offered a lead artist position without some sort of catch.
"Oh and just to let you know, I'm not down for catches" Urahara said.
Toushiro's eyes widened. He felt stupid, like he was walking into another trap. But there was a certain feeling about this guy that he just didn't get.
'To openly trust this guy would be a crime, I just know it' he thought to himself.
His past experiences with producers and agents made him socially aware of who was a liar and who wasn't. Before, he had met men and women who flinched when they spoke of deals. Some got very nervous or even defensive when Toushiro brought up his terms of the deal that he wanted. One lady who had offered him a horrible deal of being a back up laughed in his face when he brought up his own plan. Another man of a major label actually let him record a track before stealing it from him and giving it to another one of his artists who was now the biggest name in rock. It was as if all the experiences made him very sharp. Still this man was different. There wasn't anything major to his name but a dream, yet in a way it was the same for Toushiro.
Urahara stood there with a slight grin that was more serious then any poker face Toushiro had ever seen. A street light flickered overhead signifying the overlapping darkness of the sky.
"I'll tell you what" Urahara started. He began to walk towards Toushiro. He then pulled out a small black card. "Take my card. I'll be here for one more day, if you decide that you want to see what's ahead of you, call. Or you can continue doing the same thing being pissed everyday that you play random volunteer shows at local pubs." This time there was no grin. He was completely serious and Toushiro knew it.
Without another word Kisuke Urahara got back into his car and drove away leaving Toushiro to
drown in his thoughts.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Toushiro closed the door to his room in his apartment. He lived with his grandmother who was very supportive but mostly let him stay in his own affairs. He put his guitar down and fell forward onto his bed. Lying there for a minute made him think. He had never been intrigued by a person this much. Out of all the other people and promises the only person who came close was the first producer who promised him a deal.
However back then he wasn't alone.
He grabbed a remote in front of him and turned on his T.V. He began to flip through the channels as if he was looking for something specific. Then he saw it. He turned up the volume to hear an announcer talking.
"Welcome back to the Singer's Guild Awards. Here with me is Momo Hinamori, the best of the best in my opinion. Hinamori you're nominated for best singer, best freshman album and best song, how do you feel?"
Hinamori looked directly into the screen. Toushiro felt his heart skip as if she was right there in the room looking at him. Her smiled still touched him after all this time.
"Well first" Hinamori said. "I would like to thank all the people who've helped me get to this point."
She then began to list a few names. Toushiro clutched his remote. Hinamori continued.
"And most of all I would like to thank-"
………………….
………………….
………………….
………………….
Not one of the names was his.
He stared into nothing for awhile. For a quick moment he wasn't in his room, but instead he was in complete darkness. It enshrouded him, closed around him and in time there was nothing left. It was if he wasn't even alive. Suddenly his focus came into view. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black card. There was nothing on the card but a small picture of a hat and a phone number in silver print. He reached for his cell phone and dialed the number.
It rang twice before he heard someone pick up. There was no hello, no introduction of who it was. There was only one word.
"Ready?"
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A/N: Interesting stuff here. Please review if you like it or not. I'm open to critique. Next chapter will be up in a day.
This Chapter's Song:
All Along the Watch Tower-Jimmy Hendrix