So I hope anyone who read the first chapter enjoyed it enough to read the second. So here it is.
Same disclaimers as before: I don't own anything. I don't own K-On! I don't own any Gibson® products or other equipments used.
Chit chat aside, I present the second chapter of "A Brand New Page."
Roy was still smiling when he returned to the club room later that afternoon. His thoughts focused mainly on the performance he had witnessed several hours ago. The allotted time had come for any final decisions for those wanting to join the Light Music club, and Roy was on his way to the club room to hand in his official application.
On his way up the second flight of stairs in building C, he noticed a young girl looking up towards the club room. He recognized the girl immediately as one of the two he had spoken to in the hallway before. She was the girl that looked remarkably like Yui. The girl's eyes were focused on the doors to the club room so much that she didn't notice Roy walking up the stairs.
"Heya," he said as he came up behind her. She jumped a little before looking back at him.
"Ah, you..." she said softly before smiling at him. "Are you going to join the Light Music club?" Her features were almost as pleading as Yui's had been when she asked the same question.
Roy nodded. "Yeah, I was just headed up to turn in the official application," he said as he looked at the girl. Her face brightened up considerably and she almost looked as if she could hug him right there in that stairwell.
The girl sighed contentedly before looking back up to the Light Music club room. "Thank goodness... Onee-chan will be happy." She seemed much calmer than she had been several seconds ago, but something she said made Roy think.
"Onee-chan?" he asked as he looked up at the doors to the club room as well. "Then you must be Yui-chan's sister," he continued as he looked back down as her. "You look a lot like her."
The girl blushed before smiling back at Roy. "Yes, I'm Ui," she said with a respectful bow. "Nice to meet you."
Roy nodded. "My name is Roy," he replied. "Nice to meet you as well." He looked between Ui and the club room several times before asking, "Have you been waiting here since the concert to see if anyone would come to join?"
Ui blushed again and looked back up at the doors. "Yeah, Onee-chan and the others have worked so hard to attract new members to the club," Ui said as she turned back around, "but you're the first person to come up here all afternoon."
Roy looked surprised for a moment. He remembered the animal cosplayers handing out flyers for the club earlier. 'That's probably what drove everyone away...' he said to himself. "Were you planning to join, Ui-chan?" he asked after a few seconds.
Ui looked back at him with a straight face. She shook her head as he replied, "No, I don't know how to play any instruments. I don't think I could actually be in the band."
Roy gave a mock frown as he looked back at her. "Aww, that's too bad," he said, earning a giggle from the girl. "Well, sorry, but I have to go. I think they have to turn this application in by 5:00." He waved good-bye and started up the stairs. "Later!"
Ui smiled as he left. "Later!" 'Thank goodness...someone joined,' she thought as she turned to head down the stairs. She gave one last look up the steps as she head Roy knocking on the door of the club room before continuing her descent.
Roy stuck his head through the door after hearing Ritsu yell, "Come in!" again. Roy smiled as he entered the room. "Hey everyone," he said as he held up his club application form. "I'm here to officially join!"
All the girls smiled and cheered after hearing this. Yui and Ritsu rushed right up to Roy and began asking him questions. "When is your birthday?" Yui asked.
"August twent-"
"What's your blood type?" Ritsu asked next before Roy could answer.
"Uhh...-"
"What's your favorite food?" Yui asked next.
"Eh... uhh... umm…" Roy couldn't find a moment to speak.
"Calm down girls!" Mio interrupted. She looked calmly at Roy with a smile. "What instrument do you play?"
Roy smiled. "Guitar," he replied.
Yui almost squealed in delight. "Me too!" she said, raising her hand excitedly.
Roy smiled nervously as a blush creeped up his face. 'This girl gets way too excited way too quickly... but she looks so cute...' His blush darkened, and he faked a nervous cough to try and cover it.
Ritsu noticed the blush, though, and a sinister smile crept across her face. 'This year is going to be very interesting!' she told herself. Roy became very frightened of the smile the girl was wearing and decided to change the subject.
"Umm... Which of you plays what instrument?" he asked. "Besides Yui-chan playing guitar obviously," he added.
Ritsu came out from her evil plotting for a moment to answer, "Drums!" before huddling herself back into a dark corner of the room to plot ways of getting Roy into more embarrassing situations with Yui. 'It was fun when I got to tease Mio... but now I have a new target!' she told herself.
Mio gave a strange look at Ritsu before turning back to Roy. "I play bass," she said simply. "Left-handed," she added after a second. Roy nodded in response.
Mugi smiled at Roy before answering, "Keyboard." Roy nodded to this as well. "I was trained on piano from a young age, but I don't think I'm all that good," Mugi continued.
Yui quickly responded, "No, Mugi-chan, you're great with the keyboard!" Both girls smiled brightly at this.
Roy looked at Mio with a questioning expression, but Mio just shook her head in embarrassment. "They're like this all the time," she whispered to him. Roy nodded in acknowledgement before looking back at the two girls that were now sharing a friendly hug.
Roy and Mio laughed a little bit as Ritsu came back over to join them. "So," he said after the laughter died down. "Is there anything else we need for tonight?"
Yui looked curious for a moment before an idea came to her. She walked over to where her guitar was sitting and brought it back over to Roy. She smiled as she said, "Play something for us."
Roy smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but I actually have a policy against using other musician's instruments," he said sadly. "I can bring my own guitar and play a bit for tomorrow, though."
Yui looked saddened, but brightened back up quickly. "Alright," she said. "I want to hear you play tomorrow, Roy-kun!" Roy blushed a little at hearing his name with the added honorific.
Ritsu smiled evilly again before continuing, "Yeah, we're all looking forward to it, Roy-kun." Roy didn't seem to blush as much this time.
Mio looked at Ritsu with a strange expression again before looking at everyone. "Okay, everyone, that's all for today," she said. "Roy, we meet here right after classes end." Roy nodded.
Mugi, who had been rather quiet for most of this meeting, suddenly asked, "Roy-kun, are you American?"
Everyone looked at Mugi with surprise before the girls turned back to look at Roy. The boy looked back at them sheepishly before replying, "Yeah, I am." Mugi smiled at him. "I figured it was obvious, though, so I never actually said anything about it," he continued. "My family moved to Japan just a few months ago."
The girls all looked a little surprised at this. "Just a few months ago?" Mio asked. Roy nodded silently. "How did you learn Japanese so quickly?"
"Oh, we were planning to move here for a year now," he replied. "My dad owns a chain of guitar shops and he decided to expand his business to Japan." The girls nodded in response. "So he was been planning the move for a while, and we've all been learning Japanese for a year."
Mio nodded quietly. "Okay, that would certainly explain it," she admitted. "But I can hardly tell it in your accent at all."
Roy laughed sheepishly. "Eh, I've always been a quick study when it came to other languages," he said. "I used to know Spanish fairly well, but I can't remember most of it now since I've learned Japanese."
Mio nodded again. "Okay, well, we will see you tomorrow after classes, Roy," she said. "Oh!" she added quickly before Roy could even turn towards the door. "What class are you in, by the way?"
"Class 2-2," Roy replied. Mio looked surprised.
"That's the same class I'm in," she said. "Everyone else is in 2-1."
Ritsu realized a problem, though. "Wait," she said quickly. "Aren't you a freshman? How can you be in the second level classes?"
Roy sighed. "I'm entering as a second-year student," he replied. "I finished up my freshman year in America."
Ritsu simply nodded. "Alright, well sorry," she said with a small laugh. "Didn't mean to keep you this long."
"No, don't worry about it," Roy responded. He turned towards the door and called, "See you all tomorrow!" on his way out.
((A/N: Any conversations that only involve Roy and his parents will take place in "English" as opposed to "Japanese." It just seems like that would be easier on them as long as they're by themselves.))
"I'm home!" Roy called as he entered his house. The building wasn't far from Sakura High, so he was able to walk the distance. Both of his parents greeted him from separate parts of the house. Roy's mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner while his father was probably in his music studio.
Roy's mother was a good-looking woman with fair skin and a toned figure. Her hair was medium length and dark orange. She had a wonderful singing voice, but had never attempted to become famous; her family was more important to her. She decided, instead, to become a teacher of music, helping children find their own unique voice inside themselves. For that purpose, Melissa Page was now teaching vocals classes at Sakuragaoka High School. Singing in Japanese wasn't particularly easy for her, but the mechanics of singing were common nature to Melissa.
Roy's father was a rather handsome man with lightly tanned skin. He was a little overweight, but managed to present himself in a good figure anyway. His jet black hair was short, about 2 inches long and generally combed straight back. Although mainly proficient in playing bass guitar, Ryan Page was also fairly gifted in playing guitar and drums. When Roy was only four years old, Ryan opened his own music store, selling all types of music equipment. By the time Roy turned 13, Ryan's chain of stores had opened in several other cities and some in nearby states. Ryan Page's franchise, known as "Turn the Page," was making incredible business until the economy in America fell through. Ryan and his family (and his board of associates) decided to expand the chain of stores to Japan, where rock music was becoming greatly popular at the time.
Roy thought about how lucky he was to have such music-savvy parents. Without their encouragement, Roy probably would have been one of those kids that sat around all day doing nothing but playing games or reading fanfiction. Roy knew he was a very lucky child to have such loving parents.
After Melissa finished making dinner, the three of them sat down at the dinner table to eat (okay, I know it's hard to imagine a family actually eating together, but try.) After a while, Ryan decided to start a conversation. "So, Roy how was the first day of school?" he asked in English. "Did you decide on a club?"
Roy nodded. "Yeah, I'm joining the Light Music club," he replied. "The band gave a live performance and invited all of the new freshmen to come. Since I was there for orientation as well, I decided to go. And the band was pretty good."
Ryan nodded with a smile. "Alright, sounds good," he said enthusiastically. "How many people are in the band?"
"Any girls?" his mother asked with a strange emphasis.
Roy blushed before answering, "Yeah. In fact, the only members of the Light Music club are four girls."
Ryan laughed a little. "Ha! That's my boy! Get in good with all the girls!"
Roy blushed harder. "Dad!" he warned before laughing along with him.
The laughter continued in the Page household for some time.
It was a long day of first classes that seemed to drag on forever for Roy. He was waiting until 3 o'clock when he would have his first practice session with the Light Music club. However, the clock was being particularly unhelpful in moving faster towards that destination.
'Ah, why can't the clock go any faster?' he was screaming to himself. 'Only five more minutes! Can't we just skip it and leave?' Roy looked boredly across the classroom. Mio was in his class, but she was paying attention to whatever assignment they were supposed to be doing. 'Mio-chan's a bookworm...'
Roy jumped a little as the bell rang for classes to end. Some of the girls in the class giggled a bit before getting up to leave. Roy blushed a bit as he raised himself from his desk. Mio walked over with another girl that Roy didn't know behind her. "Good afternoon, Roy," Mio said with a polite smile.
"Hey, Mio-chan," Roy replied with a smile of his own.
Mio motioned to the girl behind her and said, "This is Manabe Nodoka-san," Mio said. "She works on the student council and helps with reminding Ritsu about certain application forms she forgets to turn in," she continued with a laugh.
Roy and Nodoka laughed as well. "Nice to meet you, Roy-kun," Nodoka said.
"Nice to meet you, too," Roy replied.
"I imagine you two were headed to the Light Music club room now that classes are over," Nodoka continued. Mio and Roy both nodded. "Good, I actually need to come, too. It seems Ritsu didn't actually turn in your application form last night."
Mio didn't look surprised, but Roy looked a little saddened. Mio quickly caught this and asked, "But he can still participate in the club today, right?"
Nodoka smiled and nodded. "Sure, as long as I get that form from Ritsu, there should be no problem."
Roy brightened up considerably and smiled at the two girls. "Alright, let's go!" he said as the three marched off towards the club room.
"Hello!" Mio called as they entered the club room. Roy and Nodoka repeated the greeting as they entered as well. Yui, Ritsu, and Mugi looked up as they entered and echoed the greeting back. Yui quickly noticed the odd shape on Roy's back and realized what it was.
"Ah!" she said excitedly. "Roy-kun brought his guitar for us!" Ritsu and Mugi cheered along with the hyperactive girl as Mio shook her head in a bit of embarrassment.
"Before that," Nodoka interjected with a stern look, "I need to get Roy-kun's application form from Ritsu."
Ritsu quickly stopped her cheering and almost fell over in surprise. "Oh, did I forget to turn that in?" she asked awkwardly as she righted her balance.
Nodoka nodded sternly and held out her hand expectantly. Ritsu searched through her bag and pulled out the form, presenting to the girl. "Sorry, sorry..." Yui and Mugi laughed sadly at her before turning back to Roy.
Nodoka stepped out the door as Yui asked, "Okay, can you play something for us, now?" The excited look on her face caused Roy to blush a bit, and said blush caused Ritsu's smile to turn slightly devious.
"Yeah, Roy-kun, why don't you play us a love song or something?" she asked mockingly.
Surprisingly, Roy laughed at this before setting his guitar case down and unzipping it to reveal a blue silverburst Gibson Les Paul. Roy removed the guitar from its case and walked over to one of the chairs in the room near the stage. He quickly tuned the guitar to the standard E A D G B E tuning before plugging the cord into the nearby amp. He strummed once to check his work before smiling satisfactorily.
He looked up at Ritsu. "I will play a love song, Ritsu-chan," he said abruptly, causing all of the girls to blush, "but I think we might have different interpretations of what a real love song is."
As he finished the sentence, Roy quickly jumped into the opening riff of "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. Yui quickly became entranced by the way Roy's fingers were moving along the neck as he progressed into the verse of the song. He didn't stay there long and quickly moved into the chorus. After only a few seconds, Roy quickly jumped into the first solo of the song. By now, all of the girls were greatly impressed. Roy stopped at the end of the first solo and looked up.
All of the girls, Yui especially, were blushing after hearing Roy play. Ritsu's mouth was slightly agape, and Mio's eyes had widened a little bit. Mugi seemed generally unaffected compared to the others, but Yui was beginning to look utterly ragged.
'Ah!' she screamed to herself. 'He's so much better than me!'
Roy smiled sheepishly and sweat-dropped at the girls' expressions. "Uhh... How was it?" he asked.
Ritsu was about to answer, but Yui beat her to the punch. "Awesome!" she screamed happily. "Really cool, Roy-kun!"
The other girls faulted a little at this, but regained their composure as Roy laughed. "Yeah," he said. "I've been playing for ten years, really. This stuff is actually kind of second nature to me now." This caused another fault among the girls and Roy sweat-dropped again.
Mio looked back at Roy before asking, "So you're an Aerosmith fan then?" Yui looked over at the girl curiously as Roy nodded.
"Yeah, they're my favorite band," he replied. "I've been listening to Aerosmith for about seven years now. Joe Perry is my favorite guitarist."
Yui looked thoroughly confused now. "Hang on a second!" she said quickly. "What is oreosmith and who is Joe Pelly?"
Everyone in the room looked at Yui with a very strange expression. Roy sighed. "Obviously, Yui-chan," he began softly, "Aerosmith is a band. And Joe Perry is the main guitarist." Yui nodded in acknowledgement.
"Okay, I get it," she replied feebly.
Roy shook his head at the girl in front of him and sighed. 'This is gonna be a long school year.'
A/N: Well, there we go. It took me a while, but it was actually mostly finished in one day. I'd like to thank Bloodstained Comma-chan for proof-reading once again and providing some minor intel on guitars. Also thanks to the 2 favorites and the alert for Chapter 1.
Please review! I'd like a review for this before I work on chapter 3. I'll even take a flame really. I'd like to know that someone cares enough to say something about my work though.
Translations:
Onee-chan - big sister
A/N August 30, 2009: Edited a bit and fixed Japanese words. Kept "Onee-chan" because "big sister" sounds stupid to me.
A/N May 24, 2010: Fixed formatting on my computer copy. Changed Sakuragaoka to Sakura High.