Author's intro: Greetings to everyone! Welcome! Here's some general information about the story to save your time.

Setting. The story takes place in some sort of Third World country. A large city where our characters live is the center of a vast province (often referred as a prairie). Despite being distant from the big world the city is full of contrasts. The slums adjoin prosperous districts, business fights bureaucracy, underground youth confronts religious radicals.

The band. So in this universe the well known characters have chosen to boost their passion and energy into music. In the Dark Scene band "Shinsengumi" we have Harada on vocals, Nagakura on drums, Heisuke on bass, Saitou on guitars and Okita on keyboards. Hijikata is the band's manager. Of course, you'll also meet other familiar faces in new roles.

The plot. The chapters 1-7 form an opening arc. In chapter 8 the main plot starts off. The band happens to be an unwilling participant of a social conflict. Personal stories intertwine with the main plotline.

The heroine. In the original game the love story between Souji and Chizuru is convincing and well-written, but the author of this text takes a step aside from it. The heroine though sharing the same name with Chizuru has a different personality. I tried to think of a person Souji could like if it was not about otome game. We'll see if I succeed in it.

Illustrations: Illustrations lighten and brighten the stories. I occasionally draw pictures for "The Gang that Rocks". Recently I've established a Tumblr account for posting them. The nickname is the same (kurokiorya). Feel free to take a look!

Text quality: I have a beta reader. ImpracticalDemon helps me to fix grammar and vocabulary mistakes. I'm endlessly grateful to her for this selfless contribution.


THE GANG THAT ROCKS

Chapter I. Prologue

"But, damn it, guys, are you sure we really need a female member: won't she just be a piece of furniture?" Heisuke protested again with an annoyed expression. The whole pack had been arguing about that particular issue for the last few weeks.

"Are you implying that a girl's presence will disturb our precious fraternity, hmm?" Souji asked with his usual cold smile.

"He's afraid the girl will fall for anyone but him," Shinpachi put in.

The group occupied a tiny living room of Sanosuke's apartment. In fact, he rented it together with Shinpachi and Heisuke ("When will they finally get tired of each other?" was Souji's regular comment on it), but everyone thought of Sanosuke as the real responsible abode owner. The room was densely stuffed with furniture, bottles and pizza boxes. Heisuke's bass stand crowned the mess like an awkward antenna. It was Heisuke's turn to perform chores that week, but he usually saved such tasks until the last possible minute.

"Hey, guys, stop teasing Heisuke. And Souji really has a point because we were always a bunch of bachelors in public. It will be quite fun if we got stuck with a girl," As usual, Sanosuke was the voice of reason. "She would annoy our fans".

Hajime sighed in frustration and returned to his book. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Shinpachi opened the door and Hijikata-san rushed into the room, greeting them loudly and cutting into their banter. He looked very agitated. I have a bad feeling about this, thought Souji.

"Okay, everyone, all deadlines have passed, time to decide this case. We discussed the issue with Serizawa-san and he strongly recommends you to lend an ear to our reasoning. That includes you as well." He pointed an accusing finger at Souji, who had looked into the window with a meaningful expression. Souji snorted and returned an attentive stare to Hijikata-san.

"Serizawa-san believes that we've formed our core fan base and it's time to move further," Hijikata-san continued, ignoring Souji's intense stare. "So although it's not the common practice to involve a girl member with a male band, we'll try an experiment. We want to have a girl as a cute element, a bait for any other girl who can replace her image with herself. Thus we shouldn't make her too outstanding. And she will also entertain our male fans." He carefully listed their superior's reasons.

"Disgusting," Souji mumbled in a low voice. Hajime nodded. Nothing good could ever come from Serizawa. Except money, of course.

"Ugh, I surrender. If you think I adore this whole fucking idea, you are getting me wrong." Hijikata-san sighed, dropping his guard. "It is a strict recommendation of our producer. Do you miss rough work that much?! You sure are quick to forget how we lived four years ago trying to get to the stage. Far better musicians have to quit the damn business due to the lack of money! Be reasonable! At least we can find a capable fiddler and enliven the sound. Do you not like Emily Autumn? We can develop someone like her." He slumped heavily onto the couch as if he had suddenly ran out of fuel. His face betrayed a long lack of sleep.

"I'll make you some tea," mumbled Heisuke standing up.

"No need, thank you. I'm sorta in a hurry." Hijikata-san smiled sourly at him.

Shinpachi spoke up at that point. "E-Emily Autumn sure is hot. I'm starting to like the idea." This instantly broke the ice.

"Oh, if even Shinpachi-san approves the idea, then I suppose our answer is obvious," Souji said in a sarcastic tone. He got tired of roundabout discussions. "But, jokes aside, it's been a while since we've been writing new material with Hajime-kun and we thought about including violin. And our asshole-of-a-producer won't give up on his idea, that's for sure". He practically leaves us no choice. He didn't voice that last sentence though.

"Our possible references are Emily Autumn," Hajime nodded to Shinpachi, "Hannah Fury or Wakeshima Kanon."

"Okay! That's a start. What do you all think, besides Souji and Hajime-kun?" Hijikata-san glared at the rhythm-and-vocal section a.k.a Shinpachi, Heisuke and Sanosuke.

"I vote for cute gothic "Emily" with the violin," said Shinpachi. "What harm could she do anyway?"

Sanosuke nodded. "Plus we don't have to follow all the recommendations and expose the poor thing like a transparent figure for fungirls. She'll be a proper member of the band."

"I agree with Sano," said Heisuke. "We are not beasts, after all."

Souji uttered a snorting laugh.

"Alright, it's settled then," Hijikata stated quickly, preventing further discussion. "No more doubt and hesitation. We need to think of the necessary girl type, spread the information and organize the auditions..." He swiftly started to create a plan. He got up with a contented smile. "I could use your assistance with the audition arrangement. Sorry, need to go now. I'll call you all tomorrow." He nodded and left.

"I didn't expect this to settle so suddenly but it seems we are in the game now," commented Sano, a little wide-eyed. Shinpachi nodded in agreement.

"I hope we'll benefit from it." Souji sighed. "He's forced us to agree. But we must do it our own way. Serizawa dreams about us making a mistake. Well, it's already late, I should leave too. Tired of this shit for today. Are you going, Hajime-kun?"

Hajime stood up pushing his book into the backpack. The boys exchanged goodbyes with everyone and left.

...

The rhythm-and-vocal section stayed up late that night thinking of what the new member would be like, fooling around and eating their late meal. Despite Souji's doubt, they rarely got tired of each other. They were still in that stage when friends' company is preferable to loneliness or family.

Quite some distance away, Souji and Hajime parted and moved towards their houses. Souji rented a small flat on the northern edge of the Great Slums District. He could afford more comfortable housing but he liked the poetry of decay surrounding him in the slums. They were his source of energy. Plus it was not too far from his stepfather's house. Hajime lived in Campus. He'd graduated recently but still used an opportunity to live in Campus in the postgraduate area. Hajime valued Campus for its affordability and calmness. Young scientists paid no attention to the guitarist of a band slowly gaining popularity in the underground.

...

In one of the dilapidated houses of the Harbour District, a black-haired girl was surfing through the web in order to find a job. Everyone had already left the room that was their chamber orchestra's rehearsal space. She had announced her departure a while ago but still used the opportunity to practise there. Or maybe she wanted to spend less time at home… Her main specialization was violin and she had no intention to continue it with a classical music team. The decision to change course had been evolving for a long time and finally she had started to look for a new job. She tried not to think about her parents' reaction to her sudden rebellion.

Possessing a strong classical base, she had no illusions about the level of the classical scene of their city and didn't want to move to the Capital in order to compete with tons of skilled violinists. The dream solution would be a Dark Scene band in need of a fiddler. There was almost a zero chance of finding one, though.