Prompt: Sayaka and/or Ibuki helping Leon with his dream of being a musician; perhaps his first guitar lesson or voice coaching session
~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~
Leon Kuwata is a fucking rockstar.
At least, that's the plan. There's just one cockblocking problem...
He was born with the wrong talent.
He could have had a more punk rock talent like Ultimate Drummer or Ultimate Guitarist. Hell, he'd even take Ultimate Air Guitarist. That's still legit punk, right? There's a world record for that so it must count for something. Sure still beats his poor draw in the talent pool. Out of all the cool talents he could have had, it just had to be athletic and even worse, it was fucking baseball. It's not enough that he had to pitch balls, his coach even went so far as to have Leon's head shaved to match one. It felt so weird and wrong in so many ways.
He's had enough of the monk life to last him a lifetime. With a head full of hair again and a sweet goatee, he feels more like himself now. But why stop there? Nothing burns more with passion than the color red so he dyed them that way. Besides, chicks dig red, right? Add some piercings, a few shiny blings, and a wardrobe change later and BAM! Hot guy material in the flesh, baby! Now that's what a rockstar looks like. He's got the looks down so all he needs now is to learn how to play the part.
That's where Sayaka Maizono comes in. Because out of everyone in class, who else to better give him some pointers other than the Ultimate Idol herself?
"That should be enough. Good work." She claps at the end of their last vocal exercise.
"This was kinda boring at first but I can totally feel myself getting better!" He excitedly pumps his fists.
"The air's supposed to go into your diaphragm and not your head." She chuckles lightheartedly. "Don't expect to see results, not until after a few weeks."
"That long, huh? Well I was kinda expecting that. I'm not really good at this whole patience thing but I guess I just have to suck it up." He sighs and then crosses his arms. "I knew it was too easy. So what else do you have for me?"
"Hmm. That's it." She says with a smile. "Just make sure to do these practices every day and we'll slowly increase the pace as we go along. So just take care of your throat as best as you can."
Leon on other hand, isn't quite satisfied. "That's it? C'mon, I won't even break a sweat over this! Can't we step it up a bit?" This thing is way too easy. He needs to step up his game if he wants to make it big.
She slowly shakes her head in disagreement. "I know it might not seem much but trust me, it's much harder to maintain than it looks."
"Well I'm-" He starts but he gets interrupted.
"Punk and punks always bite off more than they can chew but swallow it all down anyways." She smiles knowingly. A bit too knowingly. "Right?"
"Yeah... " He drawls on with his mouth agape. What the hell just happened? "How did you know what I was going to say?"
A bubbly laugh escapes her. "I'm an esper."
"Es-per?" He asks confused.
"I'm kidding. I just have good intuition." She winks. It's hard to tell if she really is joking but still.
"Shit. That's awesome." He says in genuine awe.
"It has its perks." She giggles shortly and then brings her attention back to the issue at hand. "As for your request, I understand where you're coming from but you really shouldn't push it. At least, not yet. Your overall body may be trained but the neglected few parts like your vocal chords, still need to catch up. So you can't overdo it or you'll just end up hurting yourself." She lectures him sternly.
There's no shortcut to getting good unless he had the talent in the first place, which he didn't by the way. He can't even transfer his athletic skills into the rockstar lifestyle. He knew it wouldn't happen overnight but man, this is still too slow for him. He's just itching to get out there, rock out and then score some girls. Guess he has to put that on hold for a while.
"Bummer. And here I thought this was gonna go through the fast pace."
"Sorry but this is for your own good."
"Still, if I'm gonna keep it slow for vocals, then it should be cool for me to speed it up for everything else, right? Like lung capacity or endurance or some other shit I need. That's something even I can overdo, right? Since I'm an athlete and all that." Then an idea hits him as he looks at her expectantly. "Oh, I know! Why not give me your training regimen?"
"My what?" She jumps back a little, startled from his sudden outburst.
"Don't you idols train for this too?" He points out.
"I don't know…" She hesitates. "Idol training can be pretty…" She nervously looks away. "intense."
"Well punks are supposed to be intense too and I'm hella punk. So whatever intense shit you can throw at me, I can take it." He says all fired up and ready to go.
"Well, if you say so..." She's reluctant about it but concedes in the end. She pulls up her phone and sends an email to him. "Here's an edited version of my daily training. I can't give you all the information but here's what I am allowed to share." She smiles weakly at him.
The list is like something pulled straight out of a horror film.
Leon blanches instantly and pales further as he goes through the email. "Holy shit. You weren't kidding. This is some hardcore shit right right here. You idols really don't mess around. What the hell is this? It looks like a page from a fucking military handbook. You're not even in the soldier program. Is this even humane?" He stares at her disbelievingly. "Shit, man. How do you take this every day?"
She then gives him her brightest smile. She is shining right now. And there is no trace whatsoever of the struggles she has gone through with, has to still go through with. She is an idol and so she smiles. "The same way I take all my other a smile."
He isn't even aware but his hands move without thinking. He applauds her. "Fuck, man. I know I said I'm a big fan of yours but this changes everything. Now I fucking respect you. I mean, not to say that I didn't before but I'm taking it to the next level." He returns her smile with a toothy grin. "You're amazing for taking all this shit and make it look like it's nothing. I respect that."
"Thank you. Respect is something that's getting hard to come by these days." And for just a moment, he could have sworn her face became softer when she said that, and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was sadness in her eyes too. But in the next moment, it's gone and her smile is as bright as ever. "Now, let's go over everything you need to do."
She keeps on shining and he wonders if he'll ever reach her level someday.
Leon does the exercises just as he's told. He does them in the morning after he wakes up, he does them in the evening before he goes to sleep, and he also does them during breaks with Sayaka sometimes joining him. Really, what would he'd do without her? Sure, there's the internet to help him get started on what to do but that could only take him so far. Nothing beats advice straight from the experts. He feels much more confident now. He's definitely on the right track. He's actually improving now and becoming a rockstar isn't just some pipe dream now. He'll be a musician in no time. Call him cocky but he earned these bragging rights.
"Hey, Sayaka! You won't believe the good news I got!" He excitedly starts the conversation during one lunch break.
"Oh, but I totally believe that you broke your last record." She says calmly, her eyes sparkling with glee.
"What?" He looks flabbergasted that his thunder was just stolen so anticlimactically. He was going to drop that to her just now! "How did you know?"
"I can read minds." She giggles.
"Riiight. Good intuition, gotcha." He nods slowly and some part of him maybe believes in that. He's used to her freaky but cool shit by now.
She claps her hands. "Congrats on breaking your record. Your hard work is paying off."
"Hell yeah! And I have you to thank for it!" He yells with all his energy. He's fucking proud of his achievement. But he couldn't have done it alone. He lowers his volume but still keeps his energy through the roof. "So wanna go out and celebrate? My treat."
There's a pause. And she frowns slightly. "I'm afraid I have to turn you down."
"Wait. Is this about the whole idol rule against love?" Even he is aware of something so important. It's a sacred rule for idols to not have relationships or even appear to have relationships because it is considered treason to the fans. Breaking the rule does not only break the trust of fans but it could also break an idol's career. And he isn't so reckless as to put her in that risk. "Cause I swear I was asking out as friends. Actually, kinda as a tutor and tutee thing."
She smiles understandingly. "I know what you mean and you meant well. But I just can't." She shakes her head and looks at him sympathetically. "I'm also stepping down as your coach."
That is not how he expected this conversation to flow.
"What? Why?" He asks in disbelief. She can't be serious, right? "Did I like do something wrong? I knew it I'm just wasting your time."
"It's not that you're wasting my time. I just need all the time I can get" She bites her lower lip and you can see her contemplate on what to say next but then she sighs and steers herself. She leans forward and whispers in his ears. "Don't tell anyone but our idol group's going to release a new song." And then she pulls back and smiles.
Ooooh. So that's why. That makes sense. He lets out an internal sigh of relief.
This isn't bad news at all. This is great news. This is awesome! "Oh, wow. Congrats, man!" She says cheerfully. He's honestly happy for her.
"Thanks, just please don't tell anyone else. Any leak could cost us our careers." She pleads in a small voice.
"My lips are sealed yo." He makes a zipping motion with his hands over his lips and then winks at her.
"Good." Her shoulders visibly relaxes. She really did stress over whether or not she'd tell him but that just shows that she trusts him enough by now. "Now that you understand why, I'm going to use all my free time to practice for it."
"Bummer. For me, I mean. I won't hold it against ya. You go do your thing."
"Thanks, Leon. I'm glad you understand."
"Yeah, don't let me hold you back." He scratched the back of his head embarrassingly as he mumbled. "I already owe ya too much."
"You don't owe me anything. We're friends. It's normal to help each other out." "But I do feel bad for leaving you hanging so…"
"That's my cue, right?" An unidentified voice cuts through.
Sayaka just claps loudly once. "I got you another coach."
"You call for me and she appears. Let there be… FIREWORKS!" The voice boomed.
One of the storage closets banged open. "BAM! BOOOM! SWOOOOOSH! CHIKA-POW!"
"Just kidding, tee hee! It's dangerous to use them inside so Ibuki just made the sound effects. Ibuki already is colorful and loud enough like an actual firework!" Harps the student who just came out of the closet.
"I hope you weren't waiting too long in there." Sayaka comments.
"Not at all! Ibuki knows that all good things are worth waiting for and Ibuki is the best! How was my dramatic entrance? Did it make your hearts go zukyuuuuuuuun!" She holds that last note in a sharp note and then winks playfully. "It's the first time Ibuki stayed in the closet but she prefers to come out. "
Leon just stares slack jawed at the third person in the room. "No way! Aren't you the Ultimate Musician?"
She carelessly prances around in delight. "Hyahaaaa! A fan of Ibuki's? Then you must love music as well. Any music lover is a lover of mine. Right, Tiger?"
"Tiger?" Is that a nickname she came up with or did she just get his name wrong?.
Sayaka interjects before he could ask on it. "You're pretty much going steady with vocals anyways so I thought I'd hand you over to someone more experienced in the field."
"And Ibuki is more than happy to help. Ibuki is super high school level happy to help!" She yells with burning passion. "Heard you were totally rocking out your lungs. Oh! Ooooh! Let's have a screamathon and see who can hold a note the longest!"
"I still can't believe this is happening." He says, still in disbelief.
"As you can see, you're in good hands. Good luck on your training. And do your best, okay?" Sayaka pats him on the shoulder.
"You bet I will." He pumps his fists. "I'm going all out on this!"
"The passion is burning bright in this young 'un. Very bright indeed." Ibuki nods approvingly. "Are you ready to rock out?"
"Hell yeah I am!" He shouts passionately, his eyes burning with determination.
Ibuki yells even louder, "THEN LET THE TRAINING MONTAGE BEGIN!"
Ibuki's training is much more intense than Sayaka's but only in a weird way.
Unlike Sayaka's regulated regimen that's basically the same thing every day, Ibuki is unpredictable. They never do the same thing twice and a lot of times, it doesn't feel like what they're doing isn't even remotely useful or connected to music at all. One time, while they were looking for a spot to practice headbanging, she changed her mind and decided they should jump into the lake and then said something about youth and passion. Leon does not understand this at all. The closest thing they did to actual music training is that one time where she showed him the strings to the guitars. He learned more from her than he ever did from those hours off of youtube. But aside from that, all they do is mess around. He's not even that upset about it because he's having so much fun.
"Not to cramp up your style or anything but when are we going to do some actual practice?" He asks out of the blue one time.
She nods fervently, almost headbanging at her speed. "Ibuki hears your pleas and Ibuki understands very well. Kuwatater tots wants to grow up fast and do big grown up boy things already. Ibuki was like that too when she was your age."
"You're only a senior by a year." He comments offhandedly. He isn't fazed anymore by the nicknames since she just keeps bringing new ones every time.
"Aye!" She raises her hand in a rocker pose and lowers her voice so that it growls gutturally. "But Ibuki lives her life ten times more than the normies. So that makes you ten years too early, Lion cub!"
"Yeaaaah, if you say so." He says skeptically. "Can you at least tell me why we aren't jamming yet?"
"Mmmmmhhhh it seems like Leonel Ritchie still doesn't get it so Ibuki has to properly explain it to ya." She leans forward in a playful manner. "You can't play yet 'coz your level is still low. It's more like your heart is just thump thump when it should be more like BOOM BOOM POW!"
"Oh, I get it." He frowns and scratches his head in disappointment. "It's because I'm only doing this for the chicks." Well, he did expect it to bother her. It must be insulting for her to babysit someone who isn't even serious about music. "I should have been more thoughtful about you. You're probably pissed cause I have a shallow motive."
"No no no no no no non!" She shakes her head furiously, her long hair flailing about dangerously. "Lots of dudes get into music for the ladies. Ibuki understands this and that's okay." She then yells furiously, not just with passion but with anger this time. "What Ibuki hates are those d-bags who pretend to play music!"
That makes sense, he thinks. She's actually surprisingly pretty open-minded about this. But just to be sure, he asks her again. "So you're not annoyed by my motive?"
"Nah, Kuwater is different. You're not pretending. You're putting in some good efforts to be an actual musician. And you're really honest about what you want so that's cool too. Pretty punk attitude. Music is all about what you want anyways so you're basically living it." She crosses her arms and continues her lecture in a cheery voice. "It's okay to start playing for a reason other than love of music. There are people who fall in love with music at first hearing but Ibuki thinks it's great to fall in love with music along the way too."
Fall in love with music along the way, huh. Admittedly, he has been enjoying himself lately. He didn't think it'd take this much hard work but it's rewarding enough. He feels accomplished lately especially whenever he gets better at training, well at Sayaka's training regimen. He can't really tell if he's getting better with Ibuki's. But he does admit that her training might be the reason as to why he's more excited to play now more than ever. He almost forgot about the babe plan. Almost.
"Now that you mention it. I do kinda feel like getting into the music scene more. " He says as he holds his chin contemplatively. "To be honest, I didn't expect I'd be having this much fun."
"Well Ibuki did. It's all part of the special training after all! Plan doki doki to music zukyuun!" She strikes a pose and finger guns him. "Once you get that boom boom in your heart then you're ready for the big guns!"
"You better not be lying." He finger guns her back in agreement. "Yosh, now I'm fucking pumped!"
"That's the spirit, Kuwatops. Now let's get back to today's exciting episode!" She then starts chanting as she punches in the air. "Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Oraaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
He joins in with her and it's another fun day of "training".
Leon has given up trying to understand the purpose of Ibuki's erratic demands. It must be a musical genius thing. He still keeps doing Sayaka's vocal exercises though and he makes sure to practice his guitar enough every day. It helps that he's using a sleek new model now courtesy of Ibuki. He used to just have a shabby second-hand guitar he scraped from his extra allowance but after it broke down at their first and only session, she brought him a replacement the next day. Said that the school buys her these things if she just asks. Man, she has it good! At least she shares her blessings. Although he's never played it outside his room because most of the stuff they do on training don't involve guitars.
Until finally, Ibuki asks him to bring it with him to school one day.
"Cue in drum rooooooll!" She announces aloud and does her own beat by mouth. "DadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadaBUM BUM BUM!"
"I can't believe this is finally happening." He mumbles as he possessively grips his guitar.
She looks at him smugly and then proceeds to talk hyperactively. "This is it. The moment you've been waiting foooooor. Yoooooooour practice debut, Leon King!"
"Sweet! My first jamming session!" He says just as excitedly. After weeks of all whatever that was, he's finally going to play something other than single notes. It's not just those weeks though. He's been waiting all his life for this and this isn't even the big league yet. This is just practice. But not just any practice. A practice session with THE Ultimate Musician. This is a pretty huge deal. "So? Can we start now?"
"Heehee! Kuwait can't wait. But you simply must! All the characters haven't shown up yet!" She chuckles haughtily.
"Huh? Is there anyone else coming?" He turns his head and looks around.
That's when he hears a pop and all of a sudden there's confetti raining.
"Don't forget me!" A third voice chimes.
His eyes widen when he turns his head and spots her. "Sayaka! Holy shit. You're joining us too?"
"I'm sure that you already know the answer to that." She giggles and tilts her head toward Ibuki. "Was that entrance dramatic enough for you?"
Ibuki holds her head between her two fingers as she hums. "Hmm needs more KA-POW! Or Jajaaaaan! But we'll workshop that later."
"I'll have to think of something better next time then." She then waves at him. "Hello, Leon. Even though we meet in class, it still feels like it's been so long since we last hang out."
"Yeah, no kidding." He snorts. "It's been like a month, I think. Not sure. Wasn't really counting."
"No need to thank Ibuki." Her nostrils flares as she raises her chin up proudly. "She was just doing her job and training you right. It's super effective that you forgot about everything else!"
Compared to Ibuki's wild personality, Sayaka is much more tame. "It looks like you two are having fun. Mind if I join in?"
"We're just messing around most of the time." He shrugs nonchalantly. "But what gives yo? Don't you have to work on that uh thing you have to do?" He isn't sure if it's okay to talk about the upcoming single out loud so he decides to play it safe and not mention it.
"It's okay. Today's our rest day. We idols also take breaks too you know." She looks relieved when she says this and if anyone would have looked closer, they could have seen the traces of eyebags underneath concealer. But she still wears her award-winning smile nevertheless. "I told Ibuki in advance while we talked about how you were doing. And since you've been doing so great, we figured it was about time for actual practice."
"It's true it's true." She seconds the motion. "Ibuki has heard Leonardo di Caprio's heart go boomboomboom and Sayaka wants to sing tralala with us. This is the perfect time to sync with Ibuki's GIJIIIIN!"
Holy shit so this is really happening. Leon just hit the jackpot. A jam session with the Ultimate Musician and the Ultimate Idol? Move over Naegi, no one can get any luckier than this!
"Nice! My first jam is with the pros! This is gonna be so awesome!" He pumps his fist in celebration. "So what song are we going to do first? You didn't ask me to bring any sheets but I brought my phone just in case I need to google them."
"Yes, what song are we practising?" Sayaka asks curiously.
"Fufufufufu fools!" Ibuki laughs cheekily and then hollers proudly, "We are going to perform the greatest song ever! A timeless classic! The great equaliser favorite!" She dramatically points her finger to the sky. "The song of our hearts!"
As confident as Ibuki looks when she says that, the other two in the room don't look quite as sure.
"You lost me, man."
"I don't think I know of a song with that title."
"That's because it's not just any song." Ibuki says it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, which isn't by the way. "Basically just do what you feel like doing. If you just put your heart into it then your feelings will surely come across. That's why it's called the song of our hearts."
"Sounds sketchy. Don't we need to like practice something more, I dunno, concrete? Preferably with music sheets to follow."
"I have to agree. This sounds too disorganized. We probably won't harmonize at all."
"Everything will be fine! Ibuki has done this a lot of times with her old band. You just have to express yourself and learn how others express themselves until we all figure out a way to express together. This way, we won't just learn a song, we'll also get to know each other as we play." She gives them two thumbs up. "So you ready to get this party started?
Ibuki looks raring to blow off some steam. At least one of them is excited.
"Not really but okay." Sayaka reluctantly agrees.
"Whatever, man." Leon holds onto his guitar in anticipation. This sounds like a terrible idea but he decides to go with the flow. Besides, punk isn't about careful thinking. It's all about the heart and shit or something like that. Whatever. "Let's just fucking do this!"
They perform to their hearts' content. Leon is on guitars, Sayaka is on vocals, and Ibuki is on everything else plus guitars and vocals too. Each of them carry a different tune to the ongoing piece and it's a song that he's never heard anything quite like it before. It's amazing in its own way and just so unbelievable that anything like this could ever be made. The impression it leaves is so strong and he's sure that this tune will play long after they finish this. It must be the song of their hearts because Leon can literally feel his heart beating wildly in his chest.
The experience turns out to be out of this world.
And when it was over, they just stare at each other with glazed eyes.
"Whoa."
"That was…"
"OUR HEARTS TOOOOOOOOTALLY CONNECTED!"
"And then we all had collective arrhythmia until we had cardiac arrest at the finale. Finally the hellspawn is over and I can actually breathe now." Leon says sarcastically as he scratches his head. "Nah, man. It's totally obvious that we sucked."
"Well, it was definitely something at least." Sayaka says consolingly, her smile not quite as bright as usual. It looks like she took some damage from back then.
"Something totally awesome!" Ibuki yells excitedly and then proceeds to talk with surprising speed. "We were totally all over the place like crazy! My heart's going dokidoki wakuwaku like I'm in love!"
"Yeah, my heart's going wild too but for all the wrong reasons." He says as he holds a hand over his chest. Yep, definitely still beating like there's no tomorrow. "What's the point of that anyways? If we played a cover, we could've sounded better."
"Ah, but you wouldn't be having this much fun." She wags a finger and shakes her head. "Covers are fun too. Ibuki does that from time to time. But it's way more fun freestyle. You get it, right, Leonidas?"
"What's so fun about that? We still sucked."
"Of course we sucked. Ibuki didn't though. Not sure about Sayaya. But you definitely sucked."
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Tsk tsk tsk. You're not listening, Leono." She clicks her tongue and looks at him smugly. "You're supposed to suck. Heck, you're gonna get even worse than this sometimes. Ya can't play good at first try unless you're Ibuki. Sorry but Ibuki already has the musical genius role taken."
"Tell me something we don't know." He mumbles.
"But just because you sucked doesn't mean that's bad. You can't get better if you're already the best. So if you start at your worst then there's nothing left for you to do than to get better. And face it, Ibuki and Sassy-Saya were good but you were absolutely the worst." She cackles madly.
"Can't tell if you're cheering me up or insulting me." He says snappishly but there's no bite in his words. Unexpectedly, he already feels better.
"I think it's both." Sayaka comments from the side. "She's right, you know. Everyone starts out bad at first. Which is why it's all the more rewarding when you get better. You then treasure more all the achievements you make and all the hurdles you overcome."
"Well said, Sayakuza." She headbangs. "Now that we're at the bottom, there's no way else to go but up up up uuuuuuup!"
They both encourage him and man, who would've thought he'd have such awesome jam buds?
"So Leonardo da Vinci. Wanna go for round two?" Ibuki asks even though it looks like she'll play anyway regardless of his answer.
"What do you say, Leon?" Sayaka asks with a small smile of her own.
"Oh, what the hell." He laughs and it comes out light and free like how he feels right now. This is obviously a bad idea and they'll probably suck all the same but who cares? He's having the time of his life. And so with burning passion, he shreds his guitar again. "FUCK YEAH!"
And so they play to their hearts content and then some more. Everything sounds horrible, a cacophony of jumbled noises rather than sounds. But it's not so bad. Well, it really is absolutely terrible, the worst thing he's ever heard, but he doesn't feel horrible about it. In fact, he's proud of the jumbled mess of notes he's making. It's a shitty mess but it's still his fucking mess. It's a mess he's worked hard, poured weeks of blood, sweat, and tears on creating. And he couldn't have done it without the help of his two awesome jam buddies right here. They're way better than him when it comes to music but now that they're playing together and they all sound almost equally horrible, he feels his self-esteem grow. If the Ultimates can be bad at what they do then who's to say that he, an average joe, can't be good at this? There ain't no way he's gonna give up now.
He may be the Ultimate Baseball Star but who says he can't be anything else? Screw them haters.
Leon Kuwata is a fucking rockstar just you wait!
~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~
Shinra-ex-SOLDIER
~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~
A prize fic for in-a-state-of-trance who won in my tumblr guessing game.
It's an interesting request, I just hope I did it justice. I had fun. Mostly because I love swearing. I apologize for those who are uncomfortable with it but I asked permission from the requester and they were cool with it so I kept all the swear words. Although personally, I just really love to write freely so swearing comes to me naturally hahaha.
I enjoyed writing this so hope you enjoyed reading it!