Well chapter three here. As of the time I'm writing this, no reviews yet, but I'm bored so here comes the writing.
Same disclaimers: No own. No own. No own. (I do own my OCs, though...a little)
"Yo everyone!" a mature feminine voice called from the doorway. Everyone's attention was quickly drawn to the door as Sawako walked in. She immediately noticed everyone gathered around the young boy sitting in a chair. After a moment's confusion, Sawako quickly realized what was going on. "I assume he is our new member," she said, pointing to Roy.
Mio nodded a little. 'Ah! I forgot about Roy having to meet Sawako-sensei... Hopefully this won't be too weird,' Mio attempted to reassure herself. "Yes, this is Roy...uhh...umm..." Mio turned to look at Roy awkwardly. "Sorry... What is your surname?"
Roy face-faulted a bit before smiling back up at the girls who were laughing nervously now. "Page," he replied simply.
"Right," Mio continued as she turned back to Sawako. "This is Page Roy-"
"Roy Page, please," said boy interrupted. "I prefer my given name first, especially since I'm American." The boy placed his guitar pick in his left hand as he reached his right up to greet the teacher properly. "Nice to meet you," he said with a polite smile.
Sawako accepted his hand and shook it politely as well. "I'm Yamanaka Sawako," she replied. "I'm the advisor for the Light Music club. Nice to meet you as well." The foxy grin that appeared on her features as she held his hand sent shivers up Roy's spine. The boy quickly pulled his hand back before looking around at the girls still crowding him.
"Did you want to hear anything else?" he asked.
The girls smiled back at him. Ritsu answered first. "Nope, I think that'll be fine, Roy-kun," she said before turning back to Sawako. "Sawa-chan-sensei, Roy is very good at guitar." She cast a wary glance at Yui before whispering to the teacher, "He's even better than Yui. He said he's been playing for ten years now." Sawako's eyes widened a bit as another foxy grin graced her features.
"Hmm, well," Sawako began, "it seems like we have a competition for lead guitarist then. Which one of you wants it?"
Roy looked at Yui at the same time as the girl looked at him. Both guitarists blushed and looked away. "I think Roy-kun should be the lead," Yui said softly. She lifted her head up to look at everyone with a bright face. "He's so much better than me!" she said excitedly, surprising everyone. "I mean, did you see his fingers moving during that solo? That was so cool!"
Everyone just stared at Yui as she continued on about how awesome Roy was. Mio finally looked back at Roy. "It looks like you're our lead guitarist," she said.
"Okay then." He clapped his hands together as he set his guitar back into its case so he could stand up. Mugi looked down at the guitar as he set it down and noticed some writing on the inside of the case along where the neck of the guitar lies.
"Robot Guitar?" she whispered the writing. Roy looked up at the girl with a smile. "Hey, Roy-kun, what is a 'Robot Guitar?'"
Roy sighed softly before answering, "It's a special type of guitar from Gibson. It has a built-in computer which allows the guitar to actually tune itself. I don't bother with the computer, though," he added as he leaned back in his chair. "I'd rather just tune the guitar myself. Having the computer do it is like cheating."
All of the girls looked at Roy with a little added appreciation... which was saying something after that guitarical display a moment ago. Yui stared at the blueish-silver guitar for a moment. "Les Paul..." she thought out loud before realization dawned on her and she went to grab her own guitar.
Holding the guitar down near Roy's, Yui examined both guitars. Turning up to look at Mio, she asked, "My guitar is a Les Paul, too?" Mio nodded.
"Yep," Roy answered as he stood up fully, "but yours is a regular Les Paul. It doesn't have the automatic tuning like mine." Yui nodded.
"Okay…" she replied.
Sawako suddenly turned to Mugi and said, "I'll have milk tea please." Mugi nodded and walked back over to the makeshift table of desks to prepare some tea. The rest of the girls followed her over and began placing their orders as well. Roy stared in disbelief at the group as the Light Music club quickly turned into a tea party.
"Oi!" he said quickly. "What is this? The tea party club? Shouldn't we start practicing now that you have a new member?" Roy attempted to look angry, but his rumbling stomach gave away his hunger. Yui and Ritsu began to giggle a little as Roy sighed. "Alright, I'll have a bit of cake, too." The two girls finally burst out laughing and Roy turned away to hide his blush.
Mugi stepped over and brought him a slice of cake. He accepted it graciously with a smile before pulling his chair up to the table as well. He stabbed a piece of the cake with a fork that Mugi had also handed him. 'Eh… incredible!' Roy couldn't believe cake this good was made by a 15-year old girl.
"H-hey... Mugi-chan..." Roy could barely get the words from his mouth. "Did you make this cake?"
Mugi shook her head. "No," she replied softly. "Most of the stuff I bring was given to my family."
Roy nodded. "Your family is fairly wealthy, right?" Roy asked in return.
Mugi nodded back. "Yes, my family owns several villas around Japan," she continued. "In fact, we used one of the villas for our training camp last summer."
"Training camp?" Roy asked. Ritsu and Mio looked at him.
"Yeah," Mio began. "We had a training camp last summer. We all went out to Mugi's villa for a few weeks and practiced, although we probably spent more time goofing off than practicing," she added with a glare at Ritsu and Yui, who laughed sheepishly and smiled.
"Sorry," Yui offered.
Roy looked curious. "Just the five of you?" he asked. Sawako shook her head.
"No, I didn't go last year," she said. "They took the trip before I became the advisor. I was hoping we were going to take another trip this year, actually." She glanced in Mio's direction who glanced at Ritsu who glanced at Yui who was staring off into space randomly.
'Very bright people, they are,' Roy told himself with a sigh. "So, are you planning a training camp this year?" Roy asked after a moment.
Mio frowned a bit. "Well, we had been thinking about it," she began slowly. "But with you joining the club now, we have a problem." Roy looked curious for a second before realization flashed across his face which was almost immediately replaced by a slight blush.
"Oh," was all Roy could say. "Yeah, I hadn't actually thought about that. Well, I suppose if Mugi-chan's villa is large enough, I promise to keep myself on one of the building while sleeping and bathing and you all can have your own section." Roy smiled shyly and his blush deepened a little.
Ritsu and Mio looked slightly surprised by this. 'So gentlemanly...' Mio thought. 'He really is a sweet guy, although it seems he's already taken a liking to Yui by how he blushes when he gets close to her. Or maybe he's just shy.' Mio shook her head. 'Either way, he'll be an easy target for Ritsu.' Said girl was still surprised from Roy's declaration, her mouth hanging open slightly.
Mugi was handing more cake to Sawako and Yui was still staring randomly, although it now seemed she was staring at her guitar which could be seen just over Roy's shoulder. Mio sighed. "So when do you all think we should hold the training camp?" she asked loud enough to pull all of the girls from their thoughts and actions.
Ritsu answered first, "First week of summer vacation!" to which Yui quickly agreed. Sawako approved as well, but Mugi shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she said. "My family will be traveling that week." Mugi smiled weakly. "We will be back for the second week of vacation, though."
Ritsu nodded happily. "Okay, second week of vacation it is!" she repeated with a broad smile and a fist pump.
Mio smiled before saying, "But it's still a few months until vacation." Ritsu abruptly stopped her cheering and stared at Mio with a blank face. "And we have finals in five months," Mio added darkly.
Ritsu smiled sheepishly and waved it off. "No matter," she said offhandedly. "I'll just have you help me in an all-night cram session as usual." Ritsu smiled, but paled at the stern look on Mio's features.
"What if I said I wasn't planning on helping you this time?" she asked.
Ritsu almost fainted right there. Roy took this moment to ask his next question. "Are we going to practice today?" he asked with the same force that Mio had just used. All of the girls quickly nodded and left for their instruments. Roy got up and followed them shortly after.
2 weeks later...
"Hey, Yui-chan, could you play the opening riff to that song again?"
"Sure," the girl replied before playing the riff. Roy nodded after she finished and repeated the exact same riff on his own guitar, a Gibson Flying V.
"Thanks, Yui-chan," he said with a smile at the girl. "It helps me figure the song out when I can hear it played by someone else."
Yui nodded and blushed a little. "Yeah, I'm kinda the same way," she replied.
"I think a lot of guitarists are like that," Roy said. "That's how I learned to play really. I listened to the songs and tried to repeat them on my own guitar." Roy grinned sheepishly. "It took me a few months before I could play a full song like that."
Yui did little to hide the shocked expression on her face. "Months?" she asked. "Was it a really tough song?"
"Actually," Roy began, "It wasn't really that difficult of a song." Roy grinned again. "It was just that trying to figure out each note of the song just by listening to it was difficult at first."
"Why didn't you use tabs?" Mio interrupted as she walked up to the guitarists.
Roy turned to look at the brunette girl. "I never liked using tabs," he said simply. "I'd prefer to just learn on my own. A lot of professional guitarists say it's better to stay away from using tabs as much as possible." Mio nodded.
"Tabs?" Yui asked.
Roy smiled back at his fellow guitarist. "Yeah, tabs are basically things that explain exactly what note to play for a song," he explained. "You can find tabs for almost any song online, but like I said, you're probably better off not using them. They're really only for people just starting to learn how to play." Roy looked at Yui. "But you're obviously too good to just be starting out, right?"
Yui blushed, causing Roy to look confused. "Well, I actually just started about a year ago," she replied honestly.
Roy whistled softly. "You're very good at playing for only having a year of experience, Yui-chan," he said with another smile.
"Umm… thank you, Roy-kun," the girl replied before going back to play a different part of her song.
Roy watched as the girl played her riff, his face twisted in thought about the song itself. "Yui-chan," he offered as she finished, "that last part that you played would be better if you added in palm mutes."
Yui looked back at the boy with a blank face. "What's a 'palm mute?'"
Roy face-faulted again before sending a desperate look to Mio. "She's like this even though she's been playing for a year," Mio replied flatly. Roy nodded.
"How do you play guitar for a year without knowing what a palm mute is?" he whispered before turning back to the cute guitarist in question. "Okay, a palm mute is when you cover the strings lightly near the bridge of the guitar to muffle and distort the sound. It's like this," Roy added as he showed the difference by playing some mutes and then some regular notes.
Yui nodded with a happy smile before attempting the riff with mutes added in. After a few tries her timing was perfect and Roy gave her a thumbs up. Yui smiled happily again and thanked Roy for his help.
"It's no problem at all, Yui-chan," he replied. "Oh, here let me show you another cool trick with the guitar." Roy played a sustained note and quickly moved his fingers up and down on the string, bending it only slightly. "This is called a 'vibrato.'" Yui watched eagerly as he repeated the vibrato.
Realization struck Yui as she played the vibrato on her own guitar. "Oh, this is like choking," she said softly.
Roy looked mildly surprised. "Oh, so you already know about choke," he laughed. "That makes my job easier then."
"Yep," Yui laughed as well. "Mio taught them to me at the last training camp."
2 months until exams...
Sawako smiled at all of the club members as she walked in. "Hey everyone," she said before she heard the greeting repeated back to her. Sawako looked back through the open doorway with a kind smile and nodded. Another woman walked in with a bright smile as well.
The woman was slim, but healthily so. She carried herself with confidence that only a woman of her forty-*coughmumble*- years could express. Her eyes were a chocolate brown color and her hair was dark orange. Melissa Page smiled at the Light Music club as she entered the room.
"Hello everyone," she said kindly.
Roy smiled brightly back at her. He answered before any of the girls could, "Hello, mom."
All four girls stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Roy, who seemed unsurprised by their gazes. They barely heard the woman reply, "Hello, Roy-kun," before she walked over to hug her son.
As soon as his mom let go, Roy turned to the club and explained, "This is my mom, Melissa Page. Mom, this is Hirasawa Yui-chan, Akiyama Mio-chan, Tainaka Ritsu-chan, and Kotobuki Tsumugi-chan," as he pointed to each girl in succession. Melissa smiled brightly and nodded to each girl.
"Nice to meet you all," she said in the same bright voice.
Mio was the first to ask, "Why is your mom here?" Her voice was normal, but her face still showed moderate signs of shock.
Melissa still smiled at the girls. "I work here at the school, actually," she replied. All four girls face-faulted again before Melissa continued, "I work in the music department, vocals specifically."
Mio blinked and regained her composure again. "You're a singer?" she asked.
Melissa shook her head softly. "Not famously," she replied solemnly, "although I've heard from many agents that I could have been famous years ago." Melissa sighed happily before continuing, "But I knew that lifestyle wasn't for me, and Roy had just been born so I couldn't go off and leave my only child so I could be famous." Melissa smiled brightly again. "I'd never take back what I did for the world."
Roy blushed. "Mom, you're embarrassing me," he said sarcastically.
"Sorry, honey," his mom replied.
Sawako finally spoke up, "Melissa-san is here to train Yui-chan and Mio-chan in singing." The two girls looked between Sawako and Melissa before Yui smiled.
"You can teach me to sing better?" the excited girl asked. Melissa nodded in response. "Hooray!" Yui immediately ran up and hugged the woman around her waist. Melissa laughed as she returned the hug. She gave a pleading look to the rest of the room.
"She's always like this," everyone said at once before Melissa sweat-dropped.
Mio regained her composure and bowed as Yui pulled away. "Thank you very much, Melissa-sensei," Mio said respectfully.
Melissa laughed and shook her head. "None of that now, Mio-chan," she replied. "Call me Melissa-san or Melissa-chan."
"Okay, Melissa-chan," Yui and Mio repeated at the same time.
1 week until exams...
Mio smiled as Nodoka walked up to her desk holding a bento box. "Mio, want to eat lunch together?" the student council member asked. Mio nodded brightly.
"Ah, Roy-kun?" she called to the boy. He looked towards Mio as she said, "Come eat with us, too." Roy nodded with a smile before walking over as well.
"Afternoon, Mio-chan, Nodoka-chan," Roy said as he sat down. Both girls returned the greeting and opened the boxes of food in front of them. Roy opened his as well and they began eating. Roy quickly noted the relaxed expression on Mio's features as she ate.
'It must feel good for her to get away from the calamity of the music room,' he told himself. 'It really does feel good now that I think about it. But I can't relax too much; finals are in only a week.'
"How is the Light Music club doing?" Nodoka asked. "Is Yui doing well?"
Roy nodded, but Mio replied, "When she remembers one thing, she forgets another. It's a disaster."
Roy laughed. "I can be the same way sometimes," he said and the two girls laughed lightly with him as well.
"Ah yes!" Nodoka continued after a moment. "Once she does something, she gets to an amazing level, though." Roy and Mio nodded their agreement.
A gleeful look crossed Mio's features again as she reveled in how great it was to talk quietly with friends.
"SURPRISE ATTACK!"
"Kya!" Mio nearly fell out of her chair as Ritsu appeared out of nowhere. Roy had jumped a bit, but maintained his composure successfully.
Mio began crying a bit as Ritsu hugged her friend. "Aren't you three getting along well?" she asked with a teasing grin.
"Hiyo!" Yui said as she approached as well.
Roy waved and replied, "Hiya, Yui-chan." Yui blushed a little at the bright smile on Roy's face, but passed it off easily as Nodoka inquired as to their presence in the classroom.
"It's rare for you to come over to this class for lunch," she said.
Yui laughed nervously before explaining, "Actually, it's about the finals." Roy laughed a bit as well.
"Rejected," Nodoka quickly replied.
If Roy looked surprised, Yui looked like she had just been called fat. "I," she began as the shock wore off, "I haven't even said anything yet!"
Nodoka failed to look at her friend as she said, "You're just going to ask me to teach you again, right?" Yui nodded as Roy, Ritsu, and Mio watched on. "If you don't do it yourself, you won't become better."
"You're mean Nodoka-chan," Yui said grumpily.
Roy smiled nervously. "I'll help you study, Yui-chan," he offered suddenly. Everyone stopped and looked at him before looking back to Yui, whose face was blank.
Everyone jumped as Yui suddenly lunged forward to hug the boy, saying, "Oh, thank you, Roy-kun!" Roy was immediately blushing as the other girls laughed at his embarrassment.
Yui pulled back and grinned brightly before continuing, "You can come to my house this Friday and study with me!"
The group went silent.
To say Roy was shocked would be like saying Chuck Norris is awesome. Understatement of the century. Nodoka, Ritsu, and Mio were wearing similar expressions, but Ritsu's quickly changed to a mischievous smile.
Roy quickly righted himself as well before nodding nervously. "S-sure," he said. "Friday night then." Yui nodded as well as she and Ritsu left to return to their own classroom.
As soon as the girls left, Roy looked pleadingly at the others. "What do I do?" he asked sadly as tears streamed quickly down his face.
"Don't screw it up!" Mio and Nodoka replied quickly.
Friday night, Exams begin Monday...
Roy was nervous. Okay, Roy was crapping himself nervous. He was staring down a fire-breathing dragon while only holding a (very flammable) notebook and a pencil. Yeah, Roy was nervous.
But nerves hadn't stopped him from entering the Light Music club and nerves wouldn't stop him now. 'After all,' Roy reassured himself, 'it's only a study session, right?' Roy gulped audibly and his face fell. 'Right?'
Roy attempted to push away the nervousness as he knocked on the front door of the Hirasawa residence. "I wonder if Yui-chan's parents will be home," Roy mumbled idly before blushing again. "What if we're here by ourselves?" Roy quickly regained himself as the door opened to reveal a younger version of the girl he had been thinking about.
"Good evening," Ui said from the doorway with a smile. "Roy-kun?" Roy nodded his reply. "Ah, Onee-chan is upstairs taking a shower. You can wait for her in the front room," Ui continued as she opened the door to let him in.
Roy ignored the statement about the shower as he walked in. "'Onee-chan?'" Ui nodded and Roy suddenly remembered. "Ah! Ui-chan!"
The girl nodded again. "Yep, you remember!"
Roy nodded as well. "Sorry, it's been a while since we met, and we haven't seen each other since." Ui nodded again.
"Yep, it's been... five months?" she asked. Roy nodded again.
"It's gone by so fast, though," he said. "The Light Music club really is fun." His smile fell a bit. "I wish we would practice more than sitting around eating cake, but it's okay."
Ui laughed a bit. "Well, like I said, Onee-chan is in the shower, so it'll be a while before she's ready." Ui began walking towards the kitchen. "You can sit around for a while or study or whatever. Just don't go upstairs."
Roy felt his cheeks turn red again a bit and nodded. "Alright," he replied as he sat down on the sofa. 'Yui-chan's house...'
Roy placed his notebook and pencil on the coffee table and began working a few easy problems. He looked up when he heard a voice call down the stairs.
"Ui! Is Roy-kun here yet?" Yui asked as she walked slowly down the staircase.
Roy started to answer, but Ui came running into the room, yelling, "Onee-chan! Don't come down in just a bath towel!"
Roy respectfully resisted the urge to look up at the stairs, but still felt a trickle of blood fall from his nose. Quickly composing himself, he called up as well. "I'm here, Yui-chan!"
Yui ran back up the stairs. "Sorry!" she called back. "I'll be down in a minute!"
Roy looked at the younger sister for a moment. "How did you know that she would be wearing just a bath towel?" he asked flatly. "She hadn't even come down the first few steps and you were in the kitchen anyway."
Ui giggled at the obvious embarrassment Roy was suffering from. "I know my sister better than anyone," she said simply. "She's used to coming down in just a towel after her shower. We hardly ever have company since it's just the two of us here."
Roy kept nodding silently, but surprise was etched onto his face at the end. "Two?" he asked simply. "What about your parents?"
Ui sighed lightly. "Our parents are very busy and they travel a lot," she said. "So it's just me and Onee-chan most of the time." Ui smiled weakly. "Roy-kun..."
Roy looked confused. "Yeah, Ui-chan?"
The girl didn't say anything for a moment, but finally mumbled, "Take care of Onee-chan," before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Roy stood there for a moment before the true meaning of those words hit him. His face flushed again and he almost fell back onto the couch. The only reason he hadn't fallen was the pair of arms gripping his shoulders. He turned around to find Yui-chan grinning at him cutely.
Roy blushed deeper and took a step away from the girl. He noticed that she was now wearing a loose pink blouse and white shorts. 'Cute...' Roy thought. "Okay, time to st-"
"Time to eat!" Ui called from the kitchen.
"Yahoo!" Yui called as Roy face-faulted before following the girl into the kitchen.
'I had dinner before I came over...' Roy reminded himself. 'Well, it would be rude to refuse, so I'll eat just a little.' Roy smiled as he sat down at the table. Yui was across from him and Ui was in the seat next to her.
"I had dinner a little while before I came over, so I'm not that hungry," Roy admitted with a sheepish laugh. "But I don't mind eating a bite or two. Need food to get the brain going anyway, right?"
The two sisters nodded eagerly. "Roy-kun is a second-year student, right?" Ui asked.
Roy nodded. "Yeah, I'm in the same class as Mio-chan and Nodoka-chan."
Ui smiled. "I'm still a freshman," she admitted. "But I think the exams are going to be easy enough. I'm glad you're helping Onee-chan study, Roy-kun. Usually she would have asked me or Nodoka-chan."
Roy nodded. Yui answered, "Well I did ask Nodoka-chan. But she turned me down." She smiled at Roy for a moment before continuing, "But Roy-kun offered to help me, and I asked him to come over tonight."
Ui bowed slightly in her chair. "Thanks, Roy-kun!" she said.
"Don't worry," he replied with a small laugh. "It's nothing. Studying with a partner is better for me, too."
10 o'clock that evening...
"Yui-chan, do you understand this?" Roy asked dully. His question was greeted by a soft sound like a cat purring. He looked up and noticed that his study partner had fallen asleep. "She's asleep..." 'She looks even cuter when she's asleep.'
Roy spared at glance to the stairs behind him as he sat on the floor in front of the coffee table. Ui had gone to bed a while ago, so it was really just the two of them now. Roy blushed for what seemed like the hundredth time that night as he turned back to look at Yui.
Pushing back his nerves again, Roy smoothly reached over and nudged the girl's shoulder. "Yui-chan," he whispered in a vain attempt to wake her. "Yui-chan," he said stronger.
The girl shuffled a bit, but remained asleep. "Roy-kun..." she mumbled contently.
Roy immediately stopped with his hand still in front of him. His body refused to move from the shock. Sweat began forming on his brow and a blush darker than any before it crept its way up his neck. He gulped and forced his hand to nudge the girl one last time.
"Yui-chan," he said softer than before. "You need to wake up. We need to keep studying." He smiled as the girl squirmed again.
"No," she said childishly and Roy blushed again. "I want to play guitar like Roy-kun."
He nearly face-faulted again, but Roy kept himself composed. He laughed again before leaving the girl to her sleep. "It's okay, we studied enough for tonight," he whispered to himself. He wrote a note for the girl explaining that they had covered more than enough material for her to pass so she wouldn't worry.
Roy smiled warmly at the sleeping girl as he collecting his possessions quietly. He stopped and leaned over to the sleeping girl. 'She'll have cramps in her back if she sleeps like this all night,' he told himself. Roy gently lifted the girl and carried her bridal-style to the sofa. He laid her down, placing a soft pillow underneath her head.
After a moment's hesitation, he kissed her forehead lightly and left.
He failed to notice the pair of eyes that watched him from the staircase as he left, however. "Take care of her," Ui said as she left for her bedroom.
(A/N: The anime said that the technique Mio taught Yui was vibrato, but it was actually a choke. Vibrato is actually a rapid motion of up-and-down chokes only without bending the string near as much as a regular choke. Search for Brian Kahanek on YouTube, he uses vibrato a lot and is a truly awesome guitarist overall. And thanks to Comma-chan for explaining the difference between the two techniques to me.)
So this took a while, but that's expected since it's longer than my other chapters. Hope you liked the cute moment at the end. I give Roy such a hard time embarrassing him; I figured he deserved a break. Also, I'm going to totally send him to Hell in the next chapter with the training camp, so this makes up for it.
Translations!:
Kya - (no literal translation as far as I know, but just a surprised sound)
A/N August 30, 2009: Edited some part and fixed more Japanese words. This is very boring. I'm probably going to stop for right now.
A/N May 24, 2010: Fixed formatting of my computer copy.
