Chapter 3

Two New Faces, One Friend

Minutes later, Katsuya and the mysterious young man arrived at an apartment complex. The bike pulled into a parking space and was shut off. The brunette got off and took his helmet off. When he turned to the blond, Katsuya noticed that his blue eyes were filled with annoyance. The brunette did not say a word and started to leave. Knowing that he needed to change his wet clothes, Katsuya followed him.

The brunette made his way to the third floor of the apartment complex with the blond following close behind. He did not realize that he was being followed until he got out his keys to his apartment and Katsuya sneezed. The brunette looked at the blond. "Why are you following me?"

Katsuya could not help but shiver. He hoped that the shiver would help convince the other male to let him into the apartment "I'm cold and you're the first person who could help me."

The other numbly blinked in response. "Why should I help you?"

The blond growled. "Because I said so, Biker!"

The brunette now nicknamed Biker scoffed and went in. He started to close the door but Katsuya zipped in at the last second. Biker growled at Katsuya barging in and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Katsuya growled back, but he was growling at the other's rudeness. "Hey, I'm cold and wet out here! Would you mind helping me out?"

There was no answer but the door opened and a few items of clothes were flung out. With the door closed again, Katsuya shook his head. 'What a jerk.' He made sure that that his wet clothes were folded up as best he could and then put on the dry clothes. The white shirt was a little big but the camouflage pants fit. With dry clothes on and wet clothes near the door, the blond looked around to take in his surroundings.

What was most surprising was the fact that the apartment was almost completely bare as if he could not afford furniture but the things that were in it were looked very expensive. Another aspect of the furniture that stood out was that all of the pieces were black. The living room had a black, leather couch, a black loveseat, a small coffee table, and a large TV hanging on the wall. The kitchen had only one thing that did not come with the apartment and that was the black fridge. Near where the blond was standing, there was a shelving unit with two columns and five shelves. Curiosity touching him, Katsuya took a close look at the items on the shelves.

There were a lot of supernatural and horror novels on three of the five sleeves. There were a few recognizable titles but most of them were novels that Katsuya had never heard before. There were no pictures; instead, there were figurines of dragons and other creatures of the night on the fourth shelf. On the top shelf, however, there was something that did not fit the décor at all. It appeared to be a stuffed animal in the shape of a golden retriever. The toy had a red scarf around its neck and looked like it was good for cuddling. Yet it was completely covered in dust, as if it had not been picked up in years. Katsuya felt a little sorry for the toy and started to reach for it when he head an angry voice snap, "Don't touch him!"

The blond reacted with a start and shoved his hand in his pocket. Biker came out of the bathroom, wearing a dry pair of black pants and drying his hair with a blue towel. Katsuya flicked a strand of wet hair out of his eyes. "Do I get a towel or suffer with a head-cold?"

Biker acted like he did not hear the blond, which ticked the smaller male off. Seeing the other's expression, Biker reached back into the bathroom and held up a small hand towel. The blond reached his hand out to take the towel but Biker threw it right at the blond's face, making a loud "smack!" Katsuya's face turned into a sneer. "What was that for?"

Biker stayed silent and brushed past the blond to get to the kitchen. He got a bottle of water out and took a long drink. As Katsuya dried his hair, he decided to break the silence to try and get Biker to speak. "What do you have against me?"

Biker looked at the blond. "Why do you think? You almost killed me with your masochistic ways."

Katsuya growled. "Do I look like the type of guy who would want to hurt himself?"

Biker looked over the blond. "Well, you did when you had your clothes on."

The blond took personal offense to that. "What does that mean? My clothes do not define who I am!"

Biker shook his head. "Whatever, retard."

Katsuya hissed, "My name is not retard! It's Katsuya Jounouchi!"

Biker shrugged. "Jounouchi, retard…same thing." Before the blond could respond, Biker asked, "So what do you want with me? If you didn't want to sue me or hurt yourself, then what did you want?'

Katsuya started to dry his hair, momentarily being quiet so he can concentrate. Biker scoffed and slammed his water bottle. "I asked you a question, mutt!"

Katsuya slapped the towel onto the floor. He could pretend to take most insults but he could not and would not accept being called a dog. "I am not a dog! How dare you call me that! You had no right to do that!"

Biker did not react to the blond's burst of anger. "Well then, answer the question."

Katsuya gained his control and took a deep breath. "Why were you so mean to me that other night?"

Biker raised his eyebrow. "The other night?"

Katsuya nodded and picked up the thrown towel. "Yeah, you were totally rude to me and my lyrics."

Biker took another drink. "What are you talking about?"

"The other night…in the park?"

Biker turned his back to the blond. "Not me." Katsuya opened his mouth to add something else but Biker got the word in first. "So tell me why you're really here, annoying the heck out of me. If you didn't want what was assumed, then what do you want?"

Surprisingly, Katsuya felt a small blush appear on his face. "Well…I…I just…wanted to see you…that's all."

Biker raised his eyebrow, trying to make sense of Katsuya's statement. His head then made a small snap as it straightened; it appeared that something clicked in his mind. "My gods…you give me that crap just because I was honest with your lyrics?"

Katsuya started to nod but then what the brunette said registered in his mind. "What? You just said you didn't remember."

"It's called suddenly remembering, you reject. You know what they say; you can't truly forget something that is either wonderful or horrific. Your lyrics were horrific. Even my neighbor's kids' jumping rope rhymes are better than your song."

Katsuya growled and threw the wet towel at the brunette's face but it was caught before it made its target. The blond then started his rant. "How dare you put me down like that! I have no right to be such a jerk to someone you don't even know! I'll have you know, I have more talent than you have in your small finger! So don't you go telling me that I don't have any talent!"

Biker didn't react. He simply said with a glare on his face, "Are you done stroking yourself? Because it's time for me to give you the truth. You have no talent for writing songs. In fact you're an insult to all writers. Now get out of my home before I literally kick you out." Katsuya stood in disbelief as Biker turned away. As the blond started to head to the door, Biker had one more thing to say. "By the way, the next time you feel like using someone else to hurt yourself, I'd stay away from all motorcycles…because if you get in front of me again, I'll run you over without a second thought."

Katsuya scowled and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

About an hour later, Katsuya was back in his apartment and just finished telling his roommates and his sister about his encounter with Biker. Riku was the fist answer. "So what's his name or is Biker his name?"

Katsuya shrugged and Naoki whacked him upside the head. "How could you let him screw you if you don't know his name?" Whether he meant what he said or was being sarcastic was unknown to everyone but him.

Riku threw her shoe at Naoki, who ducked out of habit, as Katsuya growled, "He did not screw me! I said he screwed my lyrics! Listen closer, you sex fiend!"

Naoki shrugged with a look of attitude on his face as Tetsuya rolled his eyes. "So now that you know that he's a jerk, you'll forget about him, right?"

Before Katsuya could answer, the phone rang and Naoki quickly ran to get it. Riku shook her head. "Must be his latest girlfriend, wanting to know when the next booty time is."

Having heard that, Naoki gave her a glare and continued to talk to the other person on the line. Tetsuya watched the guitarist with a bit of envy. Katsuya caught the bassist's look. "Hey…what's going on?"

Tetsuya shook his head and quickly recovered. "Oh…nothing."

Katsuya and Riku looked at each other. They knew that Tetsuya had a habit of watching Naoki with a special glint in his eye. They could not figure out why he looked at the woman-lover that way and why Naoki did not notice it himself. As they thought about what the look could mean, Naoki hung up the phone. "Guys, we're going out."

Tetsuya looked out the window and the dark, wet weather. "Naoki, it's still raining. No way are we leaving."

Katsuya agreed. "I've already been out there once and I don't want to get wet again."

Riku shook his head and crossed her arms. "Not me. I'm not going out in this rain."

Naoki shook his head. "We guys have to go. Lunar wants to meet us."

Tetsuya tilted his head. "Your internet friend? Why would he want to meet all of us?"

Naoki started to put on his jacket as he explained, "I told him about our band and Lunor sounded interested in joining them."

Katsuya sat up. This Lunar person could become the person that they needed to make the band complete. "Is he a drummer?"

Naoki shook his head. "No, he plays keyboard, but after hearing his voice, I think he would be great for backup vocals."

Katsuya and Tetsuya were obviously not so sure about having this Lunor person join their band. They were not sure if someone Naoki met on the Internet would fit in with their band. Riku did not care one way or another because it did not affect her. Naoki gave his roommates looks, seeing how unmotivated they were. "Come on, guys. Can't we at least go and check it out?"

Riku scoffed. "And what am I supposed to do, just sit here and stare at the wall?"

Smiling sweetly, Naoki went to her and took her hand. "You could wait for me."

Both Tetsuya and Katsuya rolled their eyes as Riku took her hand back. "I'll just go back to my place."

Naoki took a step back so she could have enough room to stood up. "Shall I walk you home?"

Riku shook his head and straightened her dress. "No way. I don't want you to know where I live."

Tetsuya laughed and pulled the guitarist away. "Come on, hot lips. Lunar is waiting."

Riku waved her brother goodbye as the group of boys left the apartment.

They soon arrived at a corner coffee shop. Tetsuya looked around, soaking in the surroundings as Katsuya shifted on his feet. He noticed all the stares they were getting because of how different they looked from everyone else in the place whom society would label "normal." A few workers started to get nervous, as if they thought that the three boys were going to start trouble. Naoki ignored all the stares and looked around, on the lookout for his online friend. Very soon, he pointed to a table in the back. "I think that's Lunar." When the two blonds gave him a look that said "you think?" he shrugged. "He never sent me a picture but he looks like us."

The blond looked at the young man sitting there and immediately nodded in agreement. He had long, black hair that reached down to the middle of his back. He was very pale but had pink lip gloss and purple eye shadow. His left eyebrow was formed in the shape of an arch. However, his outfit was the one thing that made him stand out the most. He had big, black boots that looked heavy to wear. He had a long, black skirt that seemed like a combination of satin and leather and it had a few chains around the middle of the skirt. The shirt was almost completely see through but had a design that was almost like belts. One went down the middle of the shirt and five went across. His right shoulder was covered with a small, black shawl. His left wrist had a black bracelet and his right hand had a black, lace glove. To add to the quirkiness of his outfit, he was fanning himself with a black Japanese fan, despite the cold weather outside. Tetsuya was the first to speak up. "He looks like a vampire."

Katsuya nodded while shuddering. "You neglected to tell us that part."

Naoki shrugged and answered honestly: "I didn't know." Just then, the guy they suspected of being Lunar noticed them. He gestured for them to join him with all of his fingers on his left hand. Naoki sighed. "I guess we're stuck." With that, he led his friends over to the back table. "Lunar?"

He chuckled and answered in a deep voice, "That's just my screen name…gift_to_all_women."

The blonds slowly looked at Naoki, who blushed. "That's my screen name." He cleared his throat. "I'm Naoki. This is Tetsuya and Katsuya."

Lunor chuckled as the three sat in front of him. "How cute…the two blonds look alike and have similar names."

The blonds blushed. They were not expecting such words from the man they just met. Seeing their reactions, Lunar smiled. "I'm just teasing. My name is Toya."

Katsuya nodded his hello. "Naoki tells us that you play the keyboard."

Toya nodded and closed his fan. "That I do. It's a hobby but I would like to play for money."

Tetsuya smirked and started to play with a straw that was lying around on the table. "That's a cool dream."

Naoki nodded in agreement. "We could use a keyboard player."

Katsuya raised his eyebrow. This was a new thing that he did not expect to hear. "We could?"

Naoki nodded. "Come on, Katsuya. It'll make our band more unique."

Seeing the looks on contemplating in Katsuya's eyes, Toya added, "If it helps, I can also sing."

Tetsuya's head lifted up. "That's good. We need back-up vocals."

Katsuya held up his hands, trying to get their attention. "Whoa! What about my say in this?"

All of them looked at him. The three faces appeared to say the same thing; Katsuya should give Toya a chance. Instead of arguing that he needed to be involved in the decision-making about the band, Katsuya's resolve cracked. "We'll give you a test run and we'll go with that."

Toya nodded. "I understand." He looked around and saw a keyboard up on the stage. Getting an idea, he smirked and stood up. "I'll do it now." Before he could be stopped, Toya was up on the stage and playing an unfamiliar melody that was both mesmerizing and haunting. While playing, his body moved to the rhythm of the tune, as if he was becoming one with the song. His eyes were closed and his facial expression was that of calm joy. The three roommates were deeply impressed with both the music and his tone and realized that he was one of the few things they needed for their band. After a few chords, however, the workers pulled him off the stage; nevertheless, he made an impression on everyone in the coffee shop as shown with their applause. He sat back down. "Well…how was that?"

Tetsuya laughed and pointed to the keyboard with his straw. "I say you're in by that stunt you just pulled."

Toya smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He looked at Katsuya, feeling that he needed the blond's approval above al. "Well?"

Katsuya hesitated for a moment. Feeling that his friend was taking too long, Naoki elbowed Katsuya's arm. "Answer him."

Katsuya hesitated for another moment to think it over and he nodded with a smile. "Toya, you're in the band."

Toya smiled. "Thank you, guys…and I must say, it'll be a pleasure to meet all you handsome men."

All three of them blushed deeply as Toya wrote down his address. "Here's where I live so come get me the next time you rehearse."

Katsuya chuckled. "We could always just call you."

Toya shook his head as he stood up. "Oh no…it's more polite and romantic for someone to be picked up." With that, he left, leaving the three speechless. Naoki spoke up first. "Well…what do you think?"

Katsuya scoffed and answered honestly. "He's dark, weird, and original."

Tetsuya nodded. "Definitely what we need."