Author's Notes- This chapter is a little slow, since there's a little background to cover before the main plot starts and the band's career begins to take off. And in case anyone is confused, yes, this now goes aaall the way back in time to the beginning of the whole back story leading up to the events in the first chapter.
Some parts may contradict canon. There's not many details given about Nittle Grasper's career, so apologies if I did miss any of the information that was there :). I'm not sure whether it's confirmed information or just a popular idea amongst fans that Ryuichi may be suffering from dissociative identity ("multiple personality") disorder, but I've chosen to write him as being a diagnosed schizophrenic instead. He seems as though he could be prone to disorganised thought patterns, and one could argue Kumagorou is part of a delusion.
Disclaimers- I haven't saved up enough pennies to buy out Gravitation since the disclaimer in the first chapter, and so I still don't own any of the recognisable characters or concepts. This is non-profit and no copyright infringement is intended.
Nittle Grasper got too famous, too fast.
Ryuichi was in a psychiatric institution before that. His only elderly relative had passed away quietly, no one else had shown up to take care of him and so he found himself ready for a lifetime in care at the age of twenty. A short psychiatric evaluation gave his IQ as within average range and he showed no suicidal tendencies or aggression towards others, but his naïve nature and dubious grasp on reality meant he was judged potentially at risk if left alone. In a few years he might have worked his way up to a 'halfway house', back living in the community under a nurse's supervision, with medicated schizophrenics, recovering depressives and agoraphobics as his roommates.
It wasn't so bad there. They tried to raise the mood with brightly painted recreation rooms and group activities and pretty gardens designed without any ponds or concrete surfaces where someone could hurt themselves. But some of the people there were terribly sad and Ryuichi thought it was those years of sadness that had somehow leeched into the air and the walls of the place. Sometimes he thought he could even see it, a dark blackish-green moss that crept over everything and quietly drained the colour from it. But no one else ever mentioned it, and so he kept quiet about it. He'd learned that was best.
The nurses tried to keep things upbeat. It's just that he could see them sometimes looking at him a little sadly when they thought no one was watching, and then it made it harder to pretend everything was alright. He had to work at it to keep things shiny sometimes, to stop the glitter fading and crumbling away to reveal what lay beneath. Ryuichi was aware there was another world just underneath the other one he saw, one much darker and more frightening. Most of the time he could pretend it wasn't there at all. There were just those moments, when his psychiatrist would ask if something was wrong in a strangely gentle tone, and for a moment the sparkle would begin to fade and his voice would falter before Kumagorou took over and made it all go away.
It was Noriko who had taken him away, and he would be forever grateful for that. She had been a patient there once, just a minor breakdown in her teens and they'd turned her life around within two short months. In return, she'd came back at weekends to lead a music therapy class. Noriko was in a small all-girl rock band at the time, wasting her talent for an audience who appreciated them more for their short skirts and raunchy lyrics than for the music. She'd heard him sing and taken the recording straight to Saburo Kuroki, the president of the record company that had signed her band. And that was how he had found himself, waiting in the company president's office.
The last twenty four hours had left Ryuichi uneasy. A few hours after his music therapy class and he was drawing quietly, in the rather calmer, clearer state of mind that singing always left him in. He had trouble keeping his thoughts straight sometimes, but never when he was singing. As soon as the music started, it was though a veil lifted and everything fell perfectly into place. There was no need for pretense, for drifting away into a shinier place. He could look straight at the world without any fear at all as long as the music carried him onward.
Then someone had came into the room and he could see by the nurse's face that she didn't like it at all, but he'd gone with them and answered a lot of questions, the same questions he had already answered the first time he came here. Another man had came in and asked him if he would like to be in a band. He hadn't liked that man very much. He spoke to Ryuichi slowly, in a patronising tone, but there was something predatory and eager about his eyes that didn't match his voice. Kumagorou didn't like him at all, but for once Ryuichi had ignored the rabbit's incessant commentary.
The president's room was a little intimidating after his previous calm, subdued surroundings. It was on the top floor of a tall building, a long spacious room with an entire wall of music equipment and an enormous polished desk carefully placed against a full-wall window, so that anyone facing the president had to stare into the light. It was stylishly decorated in chrome and glass and black leather, in a way that made Ryuichi worry about touching anything. There were awards and framed signed tour posters everywhere. Some of them were interesting, but he didn't want to go look at them, not while that other man was watching him. He was a little frightening. Ryuichi had put Kumagorou in a bag since he knew that other people found the bunny odd, but he could still feel the comforting weight of the rabbit settled against his side whenever that strange look turned on him.
People told him that Kumagorou didn't really talk to him, of course. He'd even had it explained that it was just another part of himself, but being told that didn't make Kumagorou go away. The rabbit even found it funny- when someone first told him he didn't exist, he had laughed constantly for days in a strange, mirthless way that had bothered Ryuichi. That delusion, together with his highly disorganised thinking patterns had given him the blanket label of 'schizophrenia' when he was first taken out of education and assessed. Ryuichi was vaguely aware there was something wrong with him, but the word meant nothing to him. If anyone had cared to explain it, he may have understood its literal translation of "shattered mind". The company president's psychiatrist who had recently reassessed him had thought that it was possible Ryuichi did indeed have some kind of schizophrenia. He clearly had certain delusions and his thoughts were often highly disordered and difficult to keep straight, jumping wildly from subject to subject without any obvious links between them. There were also certain problems with his memory and attention span that could probably be attributed to the disorder.
But there were other signs that were absent in Ryuichi's case. His character wasn't remotely flattened at all, a common symptom in schizophrenics. It was quite the opposite- he was highly sociable, energetic and needed constant stimulation. He expressed a rich variety of emotions and took a keen interest in the world around him. Then there was also the psychological regression back to childhood that Ryuichi often showed. The psychiatrist had found him to be a very interesting case indeed. He hadn't shared his findings with Ryuichi, who had been wondering if he'd "done well" in the tests or not.
"Mr Sakuma? Ryuichi?" He finally realised someone was trying to talk to him and blinked, the room swimming back into focus. Sometimes it was very hard to bring back the world when he went away like that. He could drift in and out so easily that his surroundings just simply disappeared. It was a useful trick at times when the world got too frightening, although sometimes he worried he wouldn't come back at all. "Ready to meet your new band members?"
Kumagorou's voice was muffled, but he could tell the rabbit was whispering something encouraging, and he nodded.
Tohma was particularly pleased with the way things had gone. He had received the phone call from Saburo Kuroki earlier that morning, and once he'd listened to the recordings he was sent electronically, had agreed to quit his current project. Saburo hadn't tried to threaten or force him into joining. He was well aware that Tohma would do exactly as Tohma wanted to do, no matter how much he was bribed, threatened or cajoled. He also had a feeling the icy blonde would end up on top some day, with or without the company. He'd offered him other projects before with a much better chance of commercial success, but Tohma had shook his head, given him that strange smile, continued producing high quality electronic music and was recognised as a genius by a very small, select group of people. Holding out for the right opportunity all along, perhaps.
He swept into the building at precisely five minutes to three, paused to tell the receptionist he'd arrived for the appointment and waited two minutes for the elevator. He glanced at his reflection on the way up and found it as perfect as always, calmly checked his messages and turned off his cell phone in case of interruptions, and with ten seconds to go emerged from the elevator, walked serenely towards the office and stepped through the doorway exactly on time.
Saburo was there, along with Takeo, one of the higher-up managers who had handled some of the most famous bands in the last few years. He nodded at the pair of them politely. Opposite the two stood a young girl he'd seen once or twice before in the building. She had a pretty, heart-shaped face surrounded by candyfloss waves of lush purple hair. A little too perky and young-looking for his tastes though, when he liked women he preferred them to be sophisticated and stylish. He had never seen the young man who clung to her side. The boy glanced up at him, his expression slightly skittish under dark hair. He was quite beautiful, but there was something a little strange about his wide, nervous eyes that Tohma picked up on instantly.
"Tohma Seguchi," Saburo removed a cigar from his mouth to introduce them. "These are your band members. Noriko Ukai and Ryuichi Sakuma,"
"Hey," Noriko said, uncertainly. Ryuichi began to say something, but Saburo cut him off.
"We're looking to move fast," He said. "I know between you, you've got two composers and a singer. None of you need any more lessons, but you'll get as many as you can fit into the next few days. Lyrics aren't a problem. I've got armies of songwriters who'll turn those out all day long if you three can't come up with any. There's a niche in the market right now, and I want a single out next week,"
Tohma raised an elegant eyebrow, mildly surprised. Saburo nodded at him knowingly.
"I know you're more than capable of it, Seguchi, and you know what we need. Something catchy, not too ..avant-garde. Oh, make it as technically impressive as you want. I know you're not the type to churn out chart fodder. Just make sure it's something the public will enjoy too,"
Takeo stepped forward. "I'll be managing the band," He said, signing one of the contracts Saburo had left on a low table. Tohma had heard about his reputation. The man was utterly ruthless, but whatever he did, it undeniably worked. He'd managed two of the three biggest sellers in the last few years. One of them was on hiatus, officially due to exhaustion after their fifth world tour, the others had permanently disbanded after the lead singer was left paralysed in a car accident. Oh, they'd managed to get the driver prosecuted and somehow he'd been charged with being drunk while in charge of a vehicle, but if the stories Tohma had heard were true, it was the singer who was coked-up in the middle of the road when the accident occurred.
Takeo was now waving a biro at him impatiently. Tohma ignored it and took out his own personalised fountain pen and signed with a flourish. Noriko added her name, her cramped handwriting surprisingly small and nervous-looking. Ryuichi's signature was awkward and sprawling, spilling into the corner of the paper.
"I have a list of band names around that we're not using-" Takeo began.
"Nittle Grasper," Ryuichi said quietly, his voice surprisingly certain.
"I like it," Noriko said brightly, forgetting her nerves for a moment.
"It has a nice ring to it," Tohma tilted his head, considering.
Takeo looked slightly off-balance. It was obvious he'd had something in mind and hadn't expected any resistance. He looked as if he was going to say something before the company president stepped in.
"Works for me," Saburo shrugged, gathering up the signed contracts. They disappeared into a safe. "I believe you live too far from the headquarters to travel easily, Miss Ukai?" He didn't wait for her to confirm it. "Mr Sakuma will also be needing a place to stay. I've arranged a small apartment near the premises," He waved his hand to silence her as Noriko began to thank him. "You can move in later tonight. I've already arranged a few appointments today to get your image sorted,"
Takeo escorted them out of the office. He clearly already had their image in mind as he glanced over the newly formed Nittle Grasper.
"Wardrobes are already being sorted," He said, eyeing them with some disdain. Ryuichi was dressed casually in jeans and one of the tshirts he favoured, in bright colours and random prints. Noriko had put some effort into dressing that morning, but his expression made her instantly feel cheap. Only Tohma looked as effortlessly stylish as ever, while still managing to look as though he hadn't put any real thought into what he wore.
"You two will need to lose some weight,"
Noriko's jaw dropped, her temper stirring. She had never had to watch her weight, ever. She ate everything she pleased and still managed to maintain a healthy, slim figure. There were thinner girls out there, but she couldn't be called overweight by anyone's standards. And Ryuichi didn't have any spare fat anywhere either.
"The camera adds fourteen pounds, easily," Takeo shrugged. "Either lose it yourselves or I'll sort out a personal trainer, dietician, prescription, whatever. It's coming off,"
After his scathing evaluation of their image, the day went in a whirl. They found themselves in a hairdressers where Ryuichi emerged with a dark green tint to his hair, Noriko's purple was lightened to a silvery lilac and all three were restyled. There were measurements taken, a short meeting with a choreographer, a recording studio session to test Ryuichi's vocal limits. It was late in the evening when they finally were allowed to return home.
The apartment arranged for them was nice enough. Someone had already dropped off all their possessions and Noriko stared at the boxes, a little angry at the thought of someone going through her room and packing up everything she owned. She picked up a stuffed unicorn, aware that the last time she'd seen it, it was sat on her unmade bed as she left her room, unaware that she wouldn't be returning that evening.
"It's going so fast," She said, collapsing into a chair. Ryuichi bounced over. He'd been exploring the place since they arrived, seemingly fascinated by almost everything after his short stay in care. She'd been kept busy turning the taps back off, packing things back into cupboards as fast as he could investigate them and switching off electrical appliances left running.
"It'll be fine, na no da?" He pounced quickly, hugged her and patted the unicorn on the head before leaping up and heading over to the window. "Look, someone's got a cat-"
She watched him a little fondly as he scooped up a mewing, protesting feline that was probably beginning to regret investigating the fire escape running up the building. Noriko could be difficult to work with. None of her previous band members had really cared that much about the music and she'd fallen out with them several times because they thought she was driving them too hard. She wasn't known for being subtle or a great diplomat. Tohma could handle that- she didn't really give a damn what people thought about her. But she'd watch out for Ryuichi. Let Takeo take care of covering up his issues. She'd manage the rest.