A/N: okay yeah, hi. I know a ton of you followed me for that Fairy Tail story (that I really didn't plan on continuing) and you're probably disappointed that I'm working on a different fic, so first and foremost, I should apologize for that.
and now for this story: I just have to say that it is a tad confusing because I didn't want to use names in the beginning—I hope you figure out why—so there's a lot of "she"s floating around that might throw readers off. but hey I tried to make it as understandable as possible, so...enjoy!
Two days.
Forty-eight hours.
That's all the time she was given? They had to be joking.
She pushed the door open with much more force than necessary, adjusting the strap on her shoulder and stomping angrily into the busy sidewalk. The sun shined directly down on her head, almost taunting her misery with the bright and cheerful day. With a scowl, she shrugged her shoulder again to fix the strap of the guitar case that kept sliding off from her anger-fueled strides. The other pedestrians gave small sounds and comments of displeasure as she pushed past them with little to no politeness.
Maybe she shouldn't be this angry. The audition had gone without a hitch. She—no, they—performed flawlessly today. The judges had been impressed; it was written all over their faces. But there was one, tiny, minor, itty-bitty, ginormous problem with her band.
There was no vocalist.
Of course, it wasn't always like that. She had a vocalist, a pretty decent one at that. But the band had started falling apart when that vocalist started to go through her diva phase, going on for days about how they should be aiming for higher, unrealistic goals. Fights became a daily routine, and soon, it was time for the vocalist to go. And now the band had no voice to verbalize their powerful music.
Figures. They came this far in their dreams just to be rejected for not having a vocalist.
Well, not completely rejected.
Two days, she reminded herself. Two days to find a kickass vocalist.
She sighed with frustration and slowed her pace. Where would I even start? she asked herself as she walked. With fliers? Should we really recruit a stranger for such an important record deal?
The idea irked her, mainly because she doubted she would ever find anyone good enough to win over her trust with something as big as this chance. But what was worse? Enlisting a crappy vocalist and going through with the auditions again…or giving up without even trying?
Her hand tightened into a fist around the case strap.
No…no! Not without a fight.
She'll make fliers. Tons of them. Spread them all over town. Find someone, anyone.
With her mind set and determined, she quickened her pace into a jog, eager to get home and start printing out as many fliers as she can.
That's when she heard it.
The song.
She froze in her tracks, feet skidding on the pavement. That song! Where…what is it? Who's humming it?
She looked wildly around for the source of the melodic hum, the one carrying the tune that made her heart clench painfully. She couldn't place the name, but she…recognized it.
There!
Leaning against the side of the building, one foot flat against the wall and tapping out a slow beat, was a girl with reddish-pink hair and a light smile. She had a casual grace about her, something people these days lacked. The song she hummed was hauntingly beautiful, and everyone who passed her did a double take or slowed their walking to listen.
She listened numbly as the red-haired girl hummed, so transfixed that she almost missed the beat-up guitar case leaning against the wall next to her. A musician! she thought with excitement.
The girl pushed her red hair back, pulled out her phone to check the time, and shrugged off the wall. She shouldered her guitar case and started walking the opposite direction.
No…wait, I need her! I need someone like…like…
"Iwasawa!" she screamed after the girl.
What?
Why did I call her that? I don't even know her! She pulled out the most disturbing question and highlighted it.
Who was Iwasawa?
But even as she asked herself that she felt like she should know. And she felt terrible for not knowing. Not…remembering.
With a shock big enough to jolt her stomach around, the red-haired girl stopped and slowly turned back around. For a good minute or so, the two stared at one another while the crowd skirted around them with disinterest.
She broke their tense atmosphere first.
"Are you…Iwasawa?" she asked the redhead.
In response the girl walked towards her with a slight frown. "Hi…Hisako?"
The name sent a bolt of electricity through her. Hisako? That's…that's not my name! But why does it feel so familiar to be called that? What does it feel like that is—or was my name?
The redhead's frown intensified. "Didn't you always have ponytail?" she asked, pointing at her loose, brown hair.
Her hand flew to her hair. How did—
"How did you know that?" she asked rather defensively.
The redhead shrugged. "Why did you call me Iwasawa?"
She had no response.
What…what am I doing? I don't have time for this sentimental amnesia crap, I have to find a vocalist! But…
That's right. She had been considering this mysterious red-haired girl as a singer because of that song she was humming.
"Listen, you got a minute?" she asked, running a self-conscious hand through her mentioned loose brown hair and wishing for the first time in two years that she could tie it back into a ponytail. For some reason, she felt a nagging familiarity and slight discomfort with this peculiar girl.
"Sure," she shrugged.
They crossed the street and entered a spacious park. There were children running around with parents, birds chirping in the trees, and the occasional dog barking in the distance. They picked a bench and sat at opposite ends, their guitars propped up between them. For a moment they sat in silence, observing the life of the park and the brightness of the sun.
"So, why did you call me Iwasawa?" the redhead started casually.
"I'm not sure," was her lame reply. "Why did you call me Hisako?"
She gave her a serene smile. "I'm not sure either." She leaned back with her hands clasped behind her brightly colored hair. "It's strange, though. Iwasawa isn't my name, but when I hear it, especially from you, it seems so…familiar."
"Yeah same here," she muttered.
Why was it, though? She'd never known an Iwasawa all her life. But thinking about it, all these facts came to her like she'd known her whole life: Masami Iwasawa was her full name, she was a fantastic singer and guitarist, she had an awful childhood but escaped with music, and she had written songs—wonderful songs that expressed herself more than anyone could dream of.
Why? I've never even met her, and everyone knows I'm terrible at judging people from their first impressions. So why can I figure out this much from her? And why did the name Hisako sound so personal to me?
"Hey, that song you were humming before…did you write it?"
It surprised her that the redhead took a moment to consider it. "I think so," was her ambiguous response. "I mean, it feels like I wrote it, but I just don't remember when."
"C-can you…sing it?" she asked nervously.
She seemed taken back by such a request, but her look melted into a soft smile.
"Sure, if I can remember the lyrics." She bent to take out her guitar from its case.
An acoustic, she observed. It looked old and beat-up like its case, but when her fingers strummed the strings, it sounded like an angel's harp. After a few tuning notes, she broke out into a series of soft chords and began to sing with a clear, mellow voice.
It was more entrancing than her humming. Her voice was…perfect. Any other word would taint its quality. She stared in awe as the girl sang her powerful lyrics and strummed out the melody while her red hair swished back and forth with her bobbing head. Time itself seemed to stop as her song rang through the air, stopping everyone within earshot and enveloping them with her raw musical talent.
It was her smile that broke the spell.
That smile, the smile that she always wore when she was on stage performing a song, the one that never failed to light up her face with a glow of pride and joy. Memories came flooding through her mind, ones with flashing lights and screaming crowds and flying lunch tickets and the pure satisfaction after a good show. Ones with a lone acoustic guitar, lying without an owner on a cold, dark stage.
She barely noticed that the song had ended; she came to as the last chord flowed out like a trickling river. She looked at the red-haired girl with new eyes, teetering on the edge of screaming her heart out in joy.
"Iwa…sawa," was all she could manage.
She put down her guitar and shot her a smile, eyes shining with fierce happiness. "What'd you think?" she asked.
I can't believe…I found her. But then that means I actually am Hisako! How? Was it possible?
The answer wasn't hard to figure out. She was Hisako. And she was here. And so was Iwasawa. That's all that ever mattered.
Charged with this revelation, Hisako grabbed Iwasawa by the shoulders.
"You…I…I know this is sudden, but how would you like to join my band?"
The redhead blinked with surprise. "A band? Really?"
"Yeah! I mean, I won't be offended if you refuse, but we were just short a vocalist and we have a chance with this bigshot record company, so I was thinking—"
"I'm in."
Hisako stopped mid-sentence. "W-what?"
"I said, I'm in," Iwasawa repeated. "You should know I've never played with a band, so I don't know if I'd be able to follow along well. But if you want me to…even though I don't really know you…something tells me that I should go along with you."
There was a pause. Hisako blinked. She blinked some more. And then she burst out into a fit of laughter. For a good moment all she could do was laugh and laugh, until she was clutching at the stitches in her side and struggling to catch her breath. Iwasawa watched her with a bemused expression.
"You-you really are passive as always. I'm asking for you to be the vocals; you're the one we'd be following. It doesn't matter if you don't know how. We'll work to match your pace and fill in where you need us to," she explained, wiping a tear from her eye.
Iwasawa dropped her gaze and smiled sadly at the ground. "It's strange…those words sound so familiar but I don't know why."
In response Hisako gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "You'll remember. Sooner or later."
"So what's your band called?" the redhead asked.
"Uh…" Hisako frowned up at the sky. "We never really decided. It's always changing around. Right now we have this stupid name like Girls Dead Monster. We're looking for new ideas." She shot a sly smile in Iwasawa's direction. "Got any ideas?"
She thought for a minute, pondering with an intent look in her eyes.
"How about…Afterlife Battlefront?"
credit (kind of) goes to fivecentimeterspersecond because her anon made me want to watch this show
and partly because she seems like an awesome person