The Chief and Takao spend a lot of time together now, ever since their little jam session. They eat lunch together and walk to class, talking about music while Andrew talks about some girl named Hiromi. Takao still doesn't care about girls (Grandpa had even tried to give him "the talk" in hopes if piquing interest) and can't stop thinking about music.
The Chief isn't exactly the same way, though. He checks out girls all the time and blushes. He never actually says anything about them to Takao (he'd be far too embarrassed to talk to Takao about it anyway) but the truth is that he really wants a girlfriend. He had tried to create a cyber girlfriend one time… but we'll get to that later.
Takao taps his hands on the table as Andrew talks about the math test they had all taken last period. The Chief isn't in their math class, so he doesn't know what the test was like, but from Takao's expression… he totally bombed it.
"Well, who's gunna use math in real life anyway?" the guitarist says as he flips his hand, "for me, it's all about music. And food! But you can't play food." Andrew laughs while the Chief sighs and plops his laptop on the table. "But Takao! You have to have a back-up. Not everyone makes it in the music industry, you know."
Ah, the Chief. Always so logical.
"I'm going to." Takao says this with such an air of assurance that the Chief doesn't want to damper his dreams. So he opens his laptop on up and begins to type away. Takao takes this time to plug his headphones into the Chief's laptop. They've been doing this for a while. The Chief opens up his playlist and plays it for Takao, and goes back to his statistics.
Andrew watches them carefully, and can't help but to feel a little jealous. Takao has only known this kid for a week and they already know each other so well. The Chief even has a playlist of Takao's favorite songs all set up on his laptop, ready to use whenever Takao happens to plug his headphones in.
But at the same time, he's happy. Takao hasn't ever had many friends who can he really talk to. And the Chief is that kind of guy (even if he is tiny and nerdy), the kind Takao can talk to about what he really enjoys.
"Eaaaarth to Andrew!" Takao says and waves his hand in front of his friend's face. "Are you even listening to me? Hey! That's pretty rude, you know." The Chief laughs, "So is listening to music while Andrew talks!" and Takao pokes the boy's forehead with his index finger. "Did I ask youuu? Eeeh, did I?"
"I was saying," Takao starts up again, "I heard that there's going to be a little music competition down in the park!" Andrew blinks and the Chief nods his head. "I've heard that too, actually. Anyone interested in free food should come; they said it's just for fun!" "Why?" Andrew asks as he sips his milk carton and Takao shrugs. "Does it matter?"
The Chief types away. "I think it was to welcome a new kid to the neighborhood…"
Takao isn't listening (they've gotten used to this kind of thing) but this time it's because he's downing his hamburger with a ferocity that would scare small children. The bell rings and Chief tucks his laptop into his extremely large bookbag (yep, he's that kind of kid. The one who always has a bigger bookbag than body) while Andrew flings their garbage into the trash can.
Takao grabs his binder (like he bothers with taking notes) and heads off to his next class. The Chief is off to gym (where he's going to get abused) and he's not sure where Andrew goes. Home, probably. He doesn't have a last period.
Takao has Spanish last period. He's failing that class, too. Or he would be, if the teacher didn't think he was adorable.
He slips into his seat quickly and stares out the window, just like he always does. But this time, he sees something he doesn't normally see. Carlos. Stealing more instruments. That guy… he wasn't that good, was he? And why didn't any of the teachers see this? Were they just turning a blind eye?
Carlos was still lugging around his garbage-like piece of equipment on his back, along with the white bag filled with his spoils.
Takao grits his teeth in his seat and slips down a bit, so that he can rest his chin on his arms. He's glaring into space, but the poor kid in front of him thinks he's done something wrong and is hiding his face in his hands. Other kids eye Takao warily but he doesn't notice them at all. He ends up staying in that position until the bell, and would have stayed that way longer if the teacher hadn't thrown chalk at him.
On his way out of the room he bumps into a kid he doesn't recognize (this is common, though. He doesn't pay much attention to his peers) and gives a quick apology. The blond just grins and says, "No problem!" and goes on his way. Takao rushes to his locker and shoves his binder in. He should take it home and do his homework, but he never does that. Ever.
He's meeting up with the Chief, after all. They've gotta get ready for that competition in the park tomorrow! Plus, it's Friday. Who the hell does homework over the weekend? He slams the metal door shut and pushes his way through the crowd to the music room. The Chief is already there when he gets in and looks up when Takao staggers into the room.
"What took you so long?" he asks as Takao plops himself down onto a stool. "We don't all pretend to be sick and get out of gym early, Chief!" is Takao's tart reply. The Chief blushes and looks down at his laptop, avoiding the topic of gym (it brings back bad memories for the little guy). "Well…anyway. We should get some practice in before we go home for good. We wanna be in top shape for tomorrow, right?"
"Right!"
Takao strums the guitar and plucks a few tunes, and the Chief eyes him for a second. Takao can't see the Chief's look, but he gets that prickly feeling on his skin and looks up. "What is it, Chief?"
"Takao… have you ever considered singing?"
He chokes.
"Takao! Don't do that, you almost gave me a heart attack!" The Chief's voice can get really shrill when he's nervous, it really can. "Well, Chief, you caught me off guard! I can't sing," Takao says after downing some water from the Chief's superman water-bottle, "I don't have a good singing voice." The Chief puts his hands on his hips and lifts his chin a little bit; he's feeling a little stubborn today. "Let me hear! Here, I've got the perfect song for you to sing."
The Chief digs back into his bookbag (after tossing in the water-bottle) and pulls out a bright blue folder. He flips through the pages and mutters to himself while Takao tunes his guitar, silently dreading the thought of vocals. "Here!"
"Eh?" A few sheets of paper are shoved into Takao's face and he blinks. He quickly grabs them and studies them. "Hey… I know this song!" he says after a few seconds, "It's an old one, isn't it? … But why do you have backstreet boys in your music folder..?" The Chief blushes and slams his folder shut, "None of your business!"
Takao shakes his head, "Don't you have anything less…" "Less what?" the Chief says indignantly, and Takao rubs the back of his neck. "Something less gay?"
The Chief shrugs his shoulders and opens the folder again, this time looking through the papers more carefully. "Hm… what about this one? It might be more…" He holds out a single piece of paper and Takao takes it gingerly.
"I forgot the name of the song and the artist," the Chief admits, "so it's just the lyrics. Unless you can remember the name?"
"Oh! Oh, oh!" Takao looks excited again, "I know this! I really like this song, haven't heard it in a while. Can you give me some back up, huh?" The Chief nods his head and scurries over to his giant system, and presses a few buttons. "Just focus on singing, okay, Takao? I'm just curious."
Takao sends him a glare and the Chief grins nervously. And then he presses play.
The music swirls out of the speakers and Takao takes a breath, waiting for that right note to begin to sing. The guitar notes are strong and sharp, easy to keep in tune with. He just hopes that the Chief can stand bad singing.
There.
"I hold on so nervously…to me and my drink, I wish it was cooling me. But so far has not been good…"
The chief raises his head and watches Takao sing, stunned. Sure, he wasn't like a professional, but Takao was good vocally. A little rough around the edges but clear and catchy. His voice was the perfect tone for this song… he wasn't raspy or anything.
"Louder, Takao!" the Chief shouts, turning up the music a little so Takao has to sing louder in retaliation.
Takao shrugs his shoulders; everyone's gone home by now. No one else'll hear him, right?
"Well I'm not paralyzed, but I seem to be struck by you~! I want to make you move because you're standing still. If your body matches what your eyes can do, you'll probably move right through me on my way to you."
The Chief looks excited, and he finally presses the off button. Takao takes a breath and releases, his throat feels sore. He's not used to singing. "By the way, Chief," Takao says after a few seconds, "the song is called Paralyzed. By Finger Eleven."
"Takao! That was amazing, you're nuts!" The chief grins as he grabs his cell phone. "I know exactly who we need to help you get it to perfection!" Takao holds his hands up as the Chief frantically dials. "Hey, hey! We're not letting anyone else hear my voice, okay?" But the Chief isn't listening.
"Oooh, I hope she's still here…" he's muttering, "she said she'd be here…" "Who is she?" Takao asks with a playful glance. "Your new voice coach," is the prompt reply.
"… My what?" Takao frowns, "Hey, now. I just like the guitar…"
"Ah! Hello!" the Chief gasps into the phone, "is this Hiromi? … eheh… heheheh… it's… uh, it's Manabu…."
Takao blinks. Manabu? Who the hell was that? … The Chief actually had a name? (Who would have thought!)
"… no! I'm not hitting on you, honest! But I know you were looking for someone to coach and I think I've got your guy! We're in the music room, right now!"
After a few minutes of "Yes! Yes! Yes!" he hangs up the phone. "Don't worry, Takao. She won't tell anyone she's coaching you."
Takao groans and falls back onto the stool dramatically, swinging his arm over his forehead. "Chiefffff! How could you do this to me?" but the Chief just crosses his arms. "Takao! A good musician has to be able to play and to sing. And she'll help you. We're lucky she had to finish an assignment for art class."
The door opens, and there she stands. A tall girl with short brown hair, and even shorter shorts. "Alright, where is he?" Her voice is piercing, and Takao nearly falls out of his seat. The Chief blushes slightly and points his finger at Takao. She turns her fierce gaze on him.
"Well, he's got the looks, but does he have the voice?" Boy, is she condescending. He glowers at her as she strides over to the Chief. "Manabu!" she barks, and he jumps. "Y…yeah?" "Play a song, I don't care which one. I want to make sure I won't be wasting my time. I mean serious business."
"Nice to meet you too," Takao mutters, silently dubbing her the wicked witch of the eleventh grade. She waves her hand and then rests it on her hip. "No, not that one Manabu! He needs a song with good range. We have to see where he's good and where he's NOT good. And if he's not good at all, I'm leaving."
Takao seriously considers making himself sound like a dying hobo.
But no. That'd break the Chief's heart. Plus, it was all for the music, right? He could deal with one crazy girl if it would help him achieve his dream, right? The Chief shrugs his shoulders and flips through his music files, until she finally finds one she likes. "Ready? Now!"
He flips the 'on' switch.
Takao crosses his arms and glares at them. They didn't even bother to give him lyrics or tell him the song! But then again, maybe the Chief knew he would know. And if that was what he had assumed, he wouldn't have been wrong. Takao knew what song it was from the first few chords.
"And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me…and this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you!"
Hiromi studies him for a moment and then nods her head as he continues with the song. The chief is watching them both, going back from Takao to Hiromi, Hiromi to Takao.
"Breathe your life into me. I can feel you; I'm falling, falling faster. Breathe your life into me."
Hiromi seems less vicious now, like she's going to be investing her time into something worthwhile. "He's pretty good," she admits, "but he needs work. It's potential. Not everyone can sing Red. Breathe Into Me isn't an easy song to sing, most people can't hit those higher notes. Not without cracking, anyway. But he didn't." She smiles now, for the first time since she slammed into the room. "He must sing in the shower."
"We'll need to work on his stamina. It looks like he's already getting tired. It doesn't mean a thing if he can sing but can't keep it up for more than fifteen minutes."
The Chief smiles too now. He knew it would be a good idea to call her up. He had met her in his gym class a few days ago, and swapped some information with her. She was the reason he knew about the music contest in the park in the first place.
Takao finishes the song, takes a deep breath, and coughs. "T-There…" he says as he stomps up to them, "I finished your song!" Hiromi smiles at him and drops her eyelids, "That's just the first of many, Takao Kinomiya!" and he stares at her like she's just eaten a baby. The expression makes both Hiromi and the Chief burst out into a fit of laugher.
After a few seconds, Takao joins them in that laughter. "Okay, okay. Maybe this won't be so bad! After all, if I want to be amazing, I'll have to work on my flaws," Takao gasps, "as few as they may be!"
Hiromi smacks him on the back for his pride, but doesn't stop laughing. She's actually happy, she really is. She never really fit in with anyone else before. And now she has these guys. What a motley crew, huh? But they're happy.
The next morning, Takao woke up with a sore throat.
"Grandpaaaaaa," he calls feebly, "I can't go to school today. I feel siiiiiick." He turns over in his bed and snuggles his face into the pillows, "I think I might have a rare disease!" No response. Takao tries again. "Graaaaandpaaaaaaaa!!!"
Finally, the old man sticks his head into the room. "Sup, little dude? Aren't you gunna be late?" "I can't go to school today," Takao moans as he turns over onto his back, "I feel sick." "Well, that's not a problem, bro!" Grandpa says cheerfully. "You stay in bed! Today is Saturday, after all!"
The old man barely has time to move as Takao flies past him to get to the bathroom.
"Ah man! I totally forgot! The music competition in the park is today, and Hiromi will kill me if I miss it. She's even going, can you believe her?" This grabs grandpa's attention. "Hiromi… as in…a chick?? Little man, do you have a…"
"Grandpa!" Takao cuts in, his eyes wide. "Have you seen my sneakers? I can't find them!" Grandpa shakes his head slowly and frowns at Takao. "Heeey. You're not going like that are ya? You look like a streetswaddler!"
"I don't know what that is, Grandpa."
"It's not good! You can't let a little lady see you like this! No, no! Put something cooler on. I know you have nicer clothes! Didn't you go through that I wanna be a sex machine phase? You have the wardrobe; now don't waste it, yo!"
"Grandpa! It wasn't a sex machinephase," Takao grumbles as he flings his closet door open, "It was a I wanna be suave phase." He digs through the piles of clothes and pulls out a pair of skinny black jeans. Grandpa shrugs his shoulders. "Isn't it the same thing?"
Takao ignores him and digs further into the pile. Finally, he pulls out a brown tee-shirt with TRIVIUM printed on the front and throws it on. He adds a belt, not for style, but because he's lost some weight. That happens when you forget to eat because you're practicing so much. And for Takao, such a thing had never happened before meeting the Chief.
"I'll be back later, Grandpa. I'll call you!" Takao shouts as he bursts out the door, and Grandpa shakes his head as he watches the boy run off in the wrong direction. "Heh. What a crazy cat," grandpa chuckles as he grabs his broom.
Takao is ten minutes late, and Hiromi and the Chief are already waiting at the park bench. He gasps and doubles over, "I… hate…running…" It was the whole reason he chose to take Health instead of Gym. The Chief had been too slow for signing up for that class, but Takao had ran for it. The only thing he would ever really willingly run for.
"Geez," Hiromi sighs as she walks up to Takao, "you should have woken up earlier!" The Chief stands up (he was sitting on the bench) and smiles, "At least you made it, right? Let's go! We want to get there early to set up."
Takao nods and adjusts his guitar case strap across his chest. Hiromi shrugs her shoulders and marches down the street and the Chief follows after her. After a few seconds Takao follows her too.
As they walk they talk about Takao's future voice training. Apparently Hiromi's dream is to become a famous voice coach, and Takao was going to be her very first project. She had taken lessons and her mother had been a voice coach as well.
"So, Takao! Do you think you'll be up to my intense training?" she asks with a dangerous little smile. Takao has a dangerous look on his face as well and the Chief feels very, very awkward. "Oh, you bet, Hiromi. Throw whatever you want at me, I won't lose to you!"
The Chief briefly wonders when this became a competition in itself, but that don't seem to matter to Takao and Hiromi. They bicker between themselves and the Chief just smiles, he likes this. Friends who he can just be himself around. They climb the hill to where the competition was taking place and come face to face with a bunch of tables and a small stage.
"Alriiight!" Takao pumps his fists when he notices all the kids with guitars and other instruments. "Hey, thanks for coming!" says a voice. It sounds like he's heard it before, so he turns. Before him stands a blond kid with bright blue eyes, and a few freckles sprinkled across his cheeks. "Hey!" Takao points at him, "You're the kid from yesterday! In Spanish!"
The blond looks a little taken back but quickly recovers. "Oh, oh! You're … yeah! We bumped into each other, right?" Takao nods and rubs the back of his neck, "I've never noticed you before that! Weird, right?" The kid laughs and shakes his head. "Oh, no. Not at all! That was my first day of school. They even introduced me in front of the class, but I guess you weren't paying attention?"
Takao smiles sheepishly and nods his head, confirming the other boy's suspicions. "Yeah, sorry. I kind of space out in that class." "And every other class," Hiromi adds. He shoots her a look and Max laughs a little bit. "It's okay! I'm Max! It's nice to meet you…"
"Takao! Takao Kinomiya," he replies promptly, giving Max a friendly punch on the shoulder. "You're into music too? Or just free food?" "The first one!" Max says, pointing to a set of drums. "I had my dad set those up here; I'm a huge fan of the drums. I guess you like the guitar..?" He motions to Takao's bag and the guitarist nods his head, "Yeah! I've been playing ever since my older brother got me into it when was… what, four? Five?"
The Chief listens with slight awe. He had no idea that Takao had been playing the guitar for that long. He had assumed for a good few years… but since he was four or five? If you rounded it up to the older age and subtracted it from his current age – 16 – he had been playing guitar for 11 years. That was something impressive.
Hiromi was also suspiciously quiet as Takao and Max spoke. "Really? Wow, that's awesome!" Max says with pure enthusiasm, "I haven't been playing the drums for that long. I've been on them for about seven years now." Takao grins even wider, "Really? Are you kidding? That's great! Hey, are you going to play in the competition?"
"… eh? Competition?" Max tilts his head and blinks, "This isn't a competition."
The Chief, Takao, and Hiromi look at him with wide eyes. "Eeeeeeh!?" they say together, totally caught off guard. This reaction elicits some more laughter from the blond, "You guys thought this was a competition? It's just an open thing! Publicity for my dad's music shop!"
"Your dad's music shop? You mean that one down the road?" the Chief asks lightly, still stunned from the turn of events. "Yeah, that's the one!" Max says as he points to a tall man with dark brown hair handing out some fliers to musicians. "He likes to do this every so often. I helped him advertise this time around, so more people heard about it than usual. But I guess something got messed up, huh?"
"You can say that again," Takao shrugs, "But it doesn't matter! Playing for fun is just as awesome. As long as there's music involved, I'm down!"
"That's the spirit" Max cheers, "so, wanna check out my drums?" Takao nods his head vigourously and flies after Max. Hiromi laughs and rolls her eyes, "Hey, Manabu! Let's go get some food." The Chief nods his head and fixes his bookbag strap (for some reason he brought his bookbag somewhere on a Saturday). "Okay! I didn't have lunch yet anyway, so I'm hungry."
As they head over to drool over food, Takao drools over Max's drums. "Hey, hey! Don't get saliva on the seat, okay?" Max laughs lightly as he strokes his precious drums. "You wanna try them?" he asks, and Takao's eyes go wide. "Oh yeah, I do! Totally!"
He plops down on the stool and Max hands him the drumsticks. He balances them in his hand for a second and nods his head approvingly. "These look like they're made well." "You know instruments?" Max questions, looking slightly surprised. "I do! I usually end up studying the history of music when I should be studying the history of Japan," Takao jokes as he taps the drums with the sticks. "Do you know how to play a song?" Max questions as he shifts his weight to rest on one leg.
Takao shakes his head no. "Nah, I never got into drums that much. I always went back to the guitar." He tapped the smaller drum and played a small rhythm, nothing fancy. "Can I hear you play something, Max?" he asks suddenly, "it doesn't matter what!"
"Hahah, okay! But move over!" Max slides into the stool and reclaims the sticks from Takao. "Hmm… what should I play…?" Max taps his chin with one of the sticks. "Oh, I know!"
He begins to play slowly, beating the drums with a steady hand. "Slow and steady, that's my motto," he says as he looks up at Takao, "drummers who just rush into the song'll never play professionally."
Takao can appreciate this. "I know what you mean! In some bands the drummer just plays to quickly and the other can't keep up with him. That always bothered me. I guess it's no wonder why they never made it big." Max laughs as he finally begins to speed up his tune, bringing in different beats and fronting a definite pattern.
Takao can't help himself. He rips open his bag and pulls out his guitar, his head whipping around in search of an amp to plug it into. Max laughs, "There's one over there, if your chord is long enough." Takao grins and plugs it in, "I got the extra long, just in case I needed it. Better long than short, right? Don't wanna end up rocking out and then going a step too far!"
The Chief watches them from a distance, and pokes Hiromi in the side. She looks up from her burger and looks in the direction that the Chief is pointing in. When she sees the two of them playing together, she smiles. "SING, TAKAO!" She shouts out, and Takao looks in her direction. He raises a brow, and then shrugs his shoulders.
"Hey, Max. Wanna play a song I can sing to?" he asks as he looks back at his new friend, "I've been working on my vocals." Max gives a thumbs-up, "Sure, Takao! That song do you want to sing? I've got a pretty good range on what I can play."
The boys whispered to each other and the Chief and Hiromi watched from the distance. "What. Are they planning," Hiromi hissed to the Chief, and he shrugged his shoulders. "With Takao? It could be anything."
Both Hiromi and the Chief burst out loud with laughter when they heard Takao and Max's song choice.
"It's tearing up my heart when I'm with you, but when we are apart I feel it too. And no matter what I do, I feel the pain… with or without you!"
A few of the other musicians look up and grin when they see Takao and Max playing an NSYNC song. Before they know it, they have a group around them. Takao sways with the music as he plays his guitar, and Max pounds his drums. Both of them are singing, and Max isn't half bad. Takao's voice, however, is more distinct and direct.
Max's dad watches on with Hiromi and the Chief. "They sound pretty good together, don't they?" The Chief and Hilary just nod their heads and watch the two boys jam up one of the gayest songs ever.
A little while later, they all gathered around and drank some lemonade, courtesy of Max's dad. "You guys sounded great together!" Hiromi grinned as she pressed the plastic cup against her mouth, and the Chief nodded in agreement. "You did! Sometimes you guys were a little off, but that's because you never played together before, but I'd say it was very impressive for a first time!"
Takao leaned back against a table. "I guess this means me and Max'll be playing together more, right?" he glances at Max, "unless you don't want to." Max blinks and then smiles, a bright smile. "Are you kidding? That was the most fun I've had in weeks! Of course I want to play with you again, Takao!" "Cheers, then!" the Chief pipes up, holding up his cup. They all smash their cups together and end up getting covered in lemonade, but it was hot out, so it was okay. Only Hiromi complained about getting one of her favorite tee-shirts sticky.
For the next two weeks, they all hung out together. Max joined their little group, and they all ate lunch together and practiced in the music room. Takao's singing improved dramatically, much to the Chief's surprise. Hiromi said it was because she was such a good teacher, but it was also because Takao was a good student. Max had made a joke about that being amazing, and they had all laughed.
Max worked on his beats with Takao, too, when Hiromi wasn't forcing him to sing. She made him sing bars, meter, soprano, alto, and some other things he forgot the names of. She even made him sing his order in a restaurant once. The Chief was endlessly interesting in improving the instruments they used, by making them better shaped to hold or whatever else he could think up.
But one day, that all changed.
"I can't believe that we got so much homework," Takao mutters as he walks down the path. His guitar case is slung over his chest and he's wearing something his grandpa forced him into. Blue jeans and a button up shirt, with a belt. Max wears his usual sweatpants and tee and the Chief wears some weird kind of knickerbockers thing.
Max is drumming the air, his head filled with pretend tunes. But he responds to Takao anyway, he's good at multi-tasking. "Yeah, I know. I can't either; you'd think they'd give us a break. Right?" The chief just shrugs his shoulders, "It could be worse. We could have to write essays!" "Oh, god, knock on some wood, Chief!" Takao moans and he forces the Chief to go over to a tree and rap his knuckles against it.
Max looks to the right, "Hey, guys, you hear that?" Takao looks at Max and then in the direction that he's looking. "Huh? … Hey, I think I do. Is that guitar?" Max nods and heads in the direction of the music, and Takao follows. The Chief scurries after them after scrubbing his knuckles with a baby-wipe (he has tons of things in his vast book-bag).
They're surprised when they see Carlos playing his clunky guitar. A couple of guys are handing over their instruments, and among them is Andrew. He looks completely beaten, and his only instrument, a violin, is also tossed in Carlos's pile.
"Andrew!" Takao calls out, running to catch up to his friend. Max runs after Takao and the Chief jogs, neither of them want Takao to face Carlos alone. "Hey, Carlos," Takao shouts when he reaches them, "I think you've done enough instrument-napping."
Carlos grins, "Oh really? I don't think so. They lost. So I get to keep their instruments. It's a fair game!" "Hardly!" Takao retorts as anger bubbles in his chest, "I know for a fact that Andrew just started the violin about a year ago, and your guitar has years on it. How is that fair?"
"…Takao… its okay," Andrew sighs, "I was the one who should have been more careful." This only succeeded in making Takao angrier. "Andrew! Wasn't that a gift from your grandma? She wouldn't have wanted it to end up like this. He'll probably turn it into firewood!"
Carlos laughs and Andrew just bows his head. "He… he's really good Takao." "…" Takao clenches his fist in anger. Max pats his friend on the back and the Chief looks at the pile of instruments. "… Carlos," Takao finally says after a minute, "Play against me. If you win, you get this."
Takao pulls out his prized guitar, the one he spent years saving for, and shows it to Carlos. It's sleek and classic, and has not a scratch on it. Carlos eyes it for a second and then smiles, a dangerous smile. "Heh… alright, fine. Name your price, not that you'll win."
"Everyone's instruments. You give them all back."
The boys who lost today look hopeful, Max and the Chief look nervous, and Carlos looks just plain smug. "Okay. That's fine." He shrugs his broad shoulders, "Like I said, you won't win."
They begin to play. The way that it works on the street is a little differently than normal competitions. Usually there's an audience to vote on who stays and who goes, but obviously there's no one around to do that. So they play until one completely drowns out the other.
In the end, it was the singing that pushed Takao to the top. Carlos didn't sing. All he could do was blast his tunes, but Takao's song had words to go with it.
Carlos falls down onto his knees, his hands bleeding. There're cuts and scratches, even blisters, just from playing against Takao. Takao is also tired, but thanks to Hiromi's training, he's become used to endurance. His fingers and throat are sore, but he did it. He won.
Carlos glares up at him and spits on his shoes. Max mutters something and glares, but doesn't do anything. The chief is busy collecting all the instruments that Carlos has stolen from players. Takao walks up to the pile and grabs the violin, and with a "Here, Andrew!" he tosses it. Andrew catches and cradles it against himself. "… Thanks, Takao…"
"No problem, man. You've got my back, and I've got yours."
"Looks like you lost, Carlos." This is a new voice, one Takao has never heard before. But from Carlos's panicked expression, he knows who it is. And he knows that he's in trouble. "… Ah, that's. I was tired! I played against these losers and then I had to play against him – it wasn't fair!"
Boy, was Carlos scared. Takao looks up the hill to see a silhouette against the sun. It's a guy, obviously, from the body shape. He's got some serious muscles, unlike Takao's fairly scrawny self, and on his back there's a guitar. Oh yeah, Takao can tell it's a good one, unlike the one Carlos had been lugging around.
And this guy, he had serious eyes. Takao briefly imagined lasers shooting out of those eyes. His daydream might have gone on longer if he hadn't started speaking again. He was coming this way, too.
"That's not an excuse, Carlos."
"Kai, c'mon, cut me some slack!" Carlos begs…Kai, was it? Kai. But Kai isn't having it. Takao grins a little bit and leans back on his heels, this was pretty interesting. But whoever this Kai guy was, it looked like he was bad news. Max doesn't seem to know who he is at all, and tries to catch Takao's attention. Takao just shrugs his shoulders and looks at the Chief, who has gone pale. Totally pale.
"… Chief…?" Takao questions, but the shorter boy just shakes his head and presses his finger to his lips. It's the sign for stay quiet, Takao knows, but he doesn't know why.
Now that this Kai character has gotten closer, Takao can see he's a pretty good looking guy. Even prettier than Hiromi and some other girls. "…" Takao shakes his head and blinks. "Well, that was weird," he mutters and Max raises an eyebrow in question. Takao didn't tend to think of guys as "pretty".
Carlos stands up and brushes off his clothes, but not before sending Takao the nastiest look ever. Takao just sticks out his tongue in retaliation and the Chief sends him a warning look.
"Kai, just give me another chance. I'll smash him into the dust, honest!" Carlos begs again, and before he knows it, Kai's hand zings its way across his cheek. He stumbles back and blinks, silent for once. His cheek is a bright shade of pink, where Kai's hand made contact with his skin.
"Enough. You lost, Carlos. And we don't accept failure in the Singing Sharks, you know." Kai says as he kicks Carlos's guitar into the river. It makes a small gurgle as it goes under and drifts away into the current. Carlos watches his precious instrument sink in silence, but once it's gone under he makes a small keening noise.
Takao makes a small noise when he hears the band-name Singing Sharks and Kai's intense gaze makes its way over. "What's so funny?" he asks, and Carlos takes this time to step back and away from Kai. "…. Nothing, nothing." Takao holds up his hands and steps towards Kai, much to everyone's amazement. "Anyway, you don't have to be so hard on him. He just lost once… even if he's a jerk; he's not that bad of a player. I mean…"
Kai turns and looks back at Carlos.
"He… Hey!" Takao says indignantly, "I wasn't done talking to you!"
"I was done listening." Kai says shortly, "And Carlos. Don't show your face around the warehouse if you know what's good for you. I want you gone." Before they can say anything else, Kai walks off, leaving them all in the dust. Carlos looks like he's about to cry and Takao is annoyed that he was just jilted. "What the hell? Who was that guy, anyway!?"
The Chief looks down at his shoes. "That was Kai. He's the lead singer of the Singing Sharks, the toughest and best garage band in the area. He's dangerous, Takao."
Takao blinks and then covers his mouth with his hand.
"Couldn't he have picked a more intimidating band name, then?"
"Come on. Let's go back to my house," Max finally puts in something, "My dad was making some noodles." The chief nods his head and walks off with Max behind him, but Takao stares in the direction that Kai has headed off into.
The best garage band in the area, huh?
He wanted to see this guy in action.