Takao is sprawled across his bed with his hands wrapped clumsily in white bandages. Grandpa has made him stay home from school because of what had happened to his hands, or as grandpa had said,

"Little dude! Your digits are all whacked up in the hizzou! What'd you do, do a tango with a grizzly on the top of Mount Rushmore? That'd be whack! Go upstairs and clean your grill, yo! No schooling for your rocking little self on the flip side."

Takao didn't understand a single word of it, but he figured that Grandpa wouldn't let him go to school the next day. And low-and-behold, he hasn't.

Takao swings his leg up and flops it back down again, the bed bounces slightly with the movements. He's bored, and he can't even practice Dragoon because of his hands. So all there is to do is to watch television, too bad Takao is too lazy to reach across his bed to go get the remote.

"Grandpaaaaa," Takao calls feebly as he flops around some more, "Graaaaaandpaaaaaa!!!!" When the old man doesn't respond to his whim, he sighs and slams his face into his pillow. "Ughhh, this sucks. I'm bored! Bored, bored. Bored."

Grandpa finally pokes his head into the room. "Hey, little man! Were you calling for me?" Takao looks up and narrows his eyes, "I've been wasting away in here for hours without food or water! I'm slowly dying! Grandpa, I just want to let you know, before I fade into nothing, I've always thought you were really weird." He falls back into his pillow and Grandpa rolls his eyes.

"Drama queen."

Takao looks up again and pouts, "Can you at least give me my remote? It's getting boring in here. I can't do anything!" He raises his hands up and waves them, "Nothing at all! Nada! Useless hands!"

Grandpa throws the remote at Takao and the guitarist is hit square in the middle of his head with it. He falls back into his pillows and grandpa chuckles, "Take it easy, little dude. You'll be going to school tomorrow, so just deal."

Takao mumbles something under his breath and grabs the remote, using extreme strength to press the buttons. The television flicks on to a kiddy channel with cartoons and Takao watches them for a little bit, a pout still prominent on his face.

But then, something happens.

Just a single little commercial turns Takao's world upside down.

"Bey-Idol has finally arrived, once again! Think you got what it takes to be the best? Singing, dancing, musical instruments, battle off! Only the best of the best will make it to the top. So come on down to audition, and then rock on out!" the television boasts, and Takao's jaw has dropped, "No…way."

The television continues, "Currently being hosted by the famous talent scout, Mr. Dickinson! Who knows, this just may be your shot at the big leagues."

Takao stares at the television long after the commercial has ended and gone back to cartoons, but he's in a world of his own. Picturing himself rocking out in front of a crowd, beating those in his path, winning the audience's favor… it was all he ever wanted.

He just needs to look into it more. The guitarist glances at the clock and sighs. The chief, Max, and Hiromi (he doesn't know she's out too) don't get out of school for another few hours. What a pain.

He flicks his television off and heads out of the room and into the computer room. He's got to know more about this, dammit, and his best bet was to use google.

He plops down into the seat and clumsily presses the 'on' button. Typing with all these bandages on will be hard, but he isn't about to ask grandpa for help with the computer. Grandpa might have hip lingo but he wasn't really good with technology. Last time he tried to use the computer he ended up throwing it out the window.

They wound up having to buy a new one.

So he makes a few errors as he types, but google is good with correcting things and knowing what you really want. He types in Bey-Idol (more like Beey-Iuidol) and what do you know, there it is!

He prints out all the paperwork for it, three copies. For him, Max, and the Chief. Hiromi was just their coach, and probably wouldn't want to take part.

He glances at the clock again and resists the urge to slam his head on the computer desk. How could that have only taken ten minutes? He wanted them to be out of school now!

Grandpa calls from downstairs, "Hey, little dude! You want some cookies? I just made some!"

Takao throws himself down the stairs to get at the baked goods.

"Grandpa, you'll never guess what happened!" Takao says as he sits down at the kitchen table and Grandpa looks up excitedly, "Oh, little man! Did you finally learn about the art of mastu…"

"BEY-IDOL IS COMING TO OUR AREA!" Takao cuts in without giving what his grandfather says a thought, "And I'm going to try out! I don't even have to win, I just have to do well. And that way I might get the attraction of a talent scout."

"You know, little man, we don't have child blocks for a reason," Grandpa sighs, but smiles. Takao is too busy ranting about Dragoon to pay attention to his poor old Grandpa, which isn't something uncommon in the Kinomiya household.

"And that's what we're going to do," Takao finishes with a nod, and shoves a hot cookie in his mouth. "O-Ouch! This is hot, ouch! I need milk!" he flails and sputters as he shoots up from the chair. He runs to the fridge and grabs the carton of milk. Much to Grandpa's dismay, Takao just opens the carton and drinks straight from it.

"Other people drink that milk too, little dude!" Grandpa complains, and Takao rolls his eyes. "Grandpa, you aren't supposed to drink milk. It gives you the runs."

Grandpa sputters now too, but from insult rather than burning hot cookie. Takao laughs and runs out of the room, milk still in hand, and Grandpa chases after him with the Kendo Stick. Just like always.

Running from grandpa makes the time fly by faster. By the time Takao collapses back on his bed, red faced from actually doing exercise, school has let out. Perfect timing! Takao grabs his cell phone and dials up Max, the chief would probably be with him anyway.

Max answers after a few rings, and Takao shouts into the phone for him and the chief to come over.

They get there soon enough, and Takao flings the front door open. "Guys, guys. We have serious planning to do."

Max and the Chief stare at Takao for a good full few seconds, and it's Max who is the one who talks first. Kenny is too busy blushing.

"Ah… Takao," Max says slowly, "Maybe you should put some pants on…" Takao looks down and his eyebrows lift in surprise. He's only wearing a white tee-shirt and a pair of checkered boxers.

"… Huh," he says after a few more seconds, "I could have sworn that I was wearing pants."

The chief shakes his head rapidly and Max just pats Takao on the shoulder. They head inside and Takao pulls out a pair of baggy blue-jeans from the unwashed laundry basket.

"Why wear something clean and new if I'm just going to take if off in a few hours?" is his logic, "Besides, I only wore these pants for a week and a half without washing them!"

Grandpa just shakes his head and throws the rest of the laundry into the washroom, and closes the door. Takao laughs and Max just smiles awkwardly while the Chief sits down in one of the chairs in the kitchen. "So what did you want to show us, Takao?" The Chief asks lightly as the rest of them sit down. And the rest of them consists of everyone but grandpa. Grandpa isn't allowed to hang out with them.

"Okay, so," he drops the papers in front of Max and the Chief, "Bey-Idol. We've gotta do this." Max blinks and studies the papers and the Chief rests his chin on his hand, "I know what that is."

Takao looks at the Chief with curiosity, "You do? Then why didn't you tell us about it?"

The nerd sighs a little bit and frowns, "I know you guys are working hard and all… but. Kai and the Singing Sharks'll be participating, plus other really tough garage bands. Like the Dancing Shells, the Whizzing Swordfish, and the Rocklepops."

Takao stares at the Chief for a moment, and then bursts into laughter. "Oh my God are you serious? The Dancing Shells? The Whizzing Swordfish!? The Rocklepops!? And I thought that The Singing Sharks was a horrible name!"

Max also looks like he's on the brink of laugher, and can you blame him? "Do all garage bands have these really horrible names? Is it some kind of trick to fool everyone into thinking they're weak and then WHAM? Cause it seems like that would work," Takao continues, "And don't you worry, Chief! We're going to beat them. And you know why? Because we're better than them."

The Chief doesn't look convinced, but Max nods his head in agreement. "Besides!" Max says, "We'll never really know if we'd be able to beat them if we don't try. Why quit before giving it a shot? It's not like they'll kill us if we lose!"

The Chief laughs nervously at the word "kill" but the other boys ignore him.

"Yeah!" Takao agrees, "And we've been working hard and we deserve a chance like this. So don't cut us out, Chief, okay? Even you could beat one of those stupid Singing Shark members if you tried."

Okay, so maybe that was stretching the truth a little bit. But Takao wasn't going to back down for anything! He was going to do this, even if his friends supported him or not. But it would make things a lot easier if they did.

Max gets up and heads over to the fridge, "Hey Takao! You got anything to eat?" He doesn't bother to wait for a response, though. He just opens the fridge door and reaches in. This was okay, though, because Takao has always told them "Me homesu tsu es comda homseu". The Chief keeps trying to tell him that he's going to fail Spanish if he keeps that up, but it's not like Spanish really matters.

Max pulls out the milk and pours himself a glass. Takao debates telling Max that he was drinking out of that carton no less than an hour ago, but decides against it. So Max downs some Takao-spit infested milk as the Chief types away at his laptop (when did he even pull that out?).

"It's not that I don't believe in you guys," he says, "I'm just worried. I don't doubt that they'll be out to get you if you enter, and that wouldn't be fair! And… And I don't want you guys to get hurt. You're my… best friends."

Takao blinks and stares at the Chief, as does Max. They both seem slightly surprised at the word "best friends". They never really brought it up before, but yeah, it makes sense to them.

"…Best friends, huh?" Max smiles as he places his now empty cup neatly into the dishwasher, "I really like the sound of that." Takao nods his head in agreement and flashes a smirk in Max's direction, "Would my best friend Maxie get me something to drink, too?"

Max smirks back and tosses a cup at Takao, who barely manages to catch it. "I got you the cup, you can fill it up," he teases, and Takao sticks his tongue out. The Chief smiles, "I don't want this to change! If something bad happened… I don't know what'd I do."

Takao grins at the Chief, "Like I said! We'll always be like this, don't even worry about it. We've got each other's backs through thick and thin, Hiromi too—speaking of the witch, where is she?"

For the first time since they got there, Takao has noticed that Hiromi isn't there. "You've got great perception, Takao," Max jokes as he sits back down into the wooden seat, "She didn't come to school today either. She did go missing without calling her parents. They probably got mad. Most parents would, you know? Plus, she's a girl. Parents are usually harder on girls than guys in that way. A lot of girls mess around and stuff."

"But Hiromi isn't that kind of girl!" the Chief counters, "She's really sweet and nice. And down to earth, too. She wouldn't go off and do something stupid, her parents know that." He nods his head with an air of assurance and Takao smiles a little bit. He may not notice some things, but he does notice this. The Chief himself probably hasn't even realized it. Or if he has, he'll never say or act on it.

Max shrugs his shoulders, "Yeah, I know. We don't know what she told her parents, though, other than lots of I'm Sorrys and It won't happen agains."

They all nod at this. "Well, she'll probably be in school tomorrow," The Chief says, "What about you, Takao? How are your hands?" He looks down at Takao's hands as he says this, as does Max. Takao lifts them up so the other boys can get a better look at them.

"They're sore, and healing. But they should be okay soon. I've been putting a lot of cream on them and stuff," he says with a smile, "I'm tough!" Max looks thoughtful for a moment, "Have you ever considered putting mayonnaise on them?"

The other boys look at Max like he's just told them he's really a girl or something. Max scratches the back of his neck with his hand and laughs lightly, "Hey, hey! I know it sounds weird or something, but it works! My dad used to do it for me all the time, back when I used to climb all over everything and get hurt. It's why I'm so fond of it, actually. I ended up licking most of it off and…well…"

He's still getting that weird look. He drops his head and stays silent, and the other boys begin to laugh. "I'll try it out, Max," Takao promises, "But I don't know how my grandpa will react to me slathering mayonnaise all over my hands. He'll think I've gone nuts!"

Max peeks up at them from beneath his bangs and gives them a shy little smile, "Okay, okay. I'm just saying!"

The next day is Friday, and they're all back in school. Turns out that Hiromi ended up getting a cold from being out in the rain and then tossed into a freezing warehouse for a few hours with nothing but her wet little sweater to keep her warm. Her parents had bought her story without a doubt, she was always honest with them otherwise.

She seems interested in Bey-Idol when Takao shows her the papers. "Hmm… I'm sure you guys can do really well," she says, "But what about your hands Takao? Are you just going to rely on your singing for a while? You're good enough to do that and beat out some of those wanna-be popstars, but eventually you'll need Dragoon, too."

Takao rolls his eyes and slams his head onto the lunch table. "I know, Hiromi! I'll be better!" His hands are still currently wrapped up in bandages, "But I've gotta face that Kai guy again! And I really want this. I won't let my hands get in the way." "Like you'll have a choice," Hiromi mutters, but otherwise stays silent about it. Max sips milk from his tiny school carton silently, but it's clear that there is something on his mind.

Hiromi looks at Max expectantly and he shrugs. After finishing his milk, he begins. "Well… this has been on my mind since last night, when I was thinking about the contest…"

"What is it, Maxie?" Takao asks as he tucks a few loose hairs behind his ear. He's wearing his hair down today for once, and it's long and soft. Hiromi is actually casting a jealous glance at it every so often. Max continues, "Does this mean we'll all have to play against each other?"

A silence overcomes the table.

Of course, Maxie would be the one to notice the key flaw in Takao's perfect plan. "Oh… yeah," Takao says slowly, "You're right. I didn't think of that."

They all glance at one another until finally Takao puts an end to it, "Well, if it comes down to that, may the best one win! Hopefully they'll place us in different sections so we won't have to play against each other until the end. Right?"

The other boys give a curt nod and Max seems to have a weight lifted from his shoulders. Takao grins and runs his fingers through his soft, loose hair. "Hiromi~! I see you're checking out my amazing hair."

She punches him and he falls over. "Hey, what was that for!? You crazy… crazy person!" "Who did your hair today?" she asks, "No way could you make your own hair so nice."

Takao tosses his hair, "My grandpa did."

"… Somehow, I'm not surprised," Max laughs, and the Chief giggles. Hiromi laughs so loudly that some other girls give her a nasty look and toss their heads, but this little group of friends doesn't care who hears or sees them acting like idiots.

They begin filling out the papers.

"Oh! So you can ask for a certain block! Let's all put different blocks, okay?" The Chief says excitedly as he checks off some boxes. Hiromi looks over his shoulder, "It looks like it depends on the type of instrument you play. Well, this is good. You all play different types!"

Max nods his head and scribbles down some more things on his application, "Oh, hey, I didn't even know there was an age limit. Only ages Fourteen to Twenty." "Who cares?" Takao butts in, "We're the perfect age! Oh, hey, what is a Social Security Number?"

"You'll have to leave that one blank. We'll give it to them if they want it later," The Chief says, "its important information! Don't let just anyone get it!" "Woaaaah," Max laughs, "Why do they need to know our Sexual Orientation?"

The Chief shrugs, "Does it matter? I just put that I like girls!"

Max looks thoughtful for a moment, and then checks something off on his paper. Hiromi isn't sure, but it doesn't look like he checked off the "straight" box. But she can't see too well from where she is.

Takao blinks, "… Uh. Sexual Orientation? That's like… who you like, right? Well, I don't really care about girls. Or guys. Uh. It doesn't matter? What would that be?"

Hiromi nearly chokes when she hears this and gives him a nice long stare. "You don't like girls?" she asks blankly, and he shakes his head. "I don't know… Oh, I know!" He scribbles something in huge letters on his application, and Hiromi rolls her eyes.

"Takao, Musicsexual isn't an option."

This gets some laughter from Max and the Chief, but it doesn't distract them from continuing with their applications.

Once they finish with their papers Hiromi collects them and promises to send them out in the mail that very day. She's reliable, so they trust her, and head off to their respective classes. Spanish test for Takao (he studied all night, too! Maybe he'll get a 40) and Max, gym for the Chief and Hiromi (though the Chief was planning on playing sick today).

About a week later, Takao gets a letter in the mail. He's going on break from school now (autumn break, you get a week and a half off just because the trees are shedding!), so this is perfect timing. It's a simple white sheet of paper, no huge packet like he was expecting.

But it's enough.

Dear TAKAO KINOMIYA,

Congratulations! You have been accepted into BLOCK A of the Bey-Idol competition. Please arrive promptly at the BEY STADIUM in your local area! Testing will commence there. Please bring your instruments, voice, confidence, and character to the stage! You will be tested not on talent alone. Take of that what you will.

We look forward to seeing you! Remember; testing begins a November 23.

- Dickinson.

Short, sweet, and to the point.

It was the 20th of November right now, so they had three days. Three days. Just three. Promptly, huh? He guesses that means that he has to be there bright and early. He calls Max first, and the blond picks up after two rings.

"Hello?" Max asks, his voice slightly slurred, "What…?"

"You're still sleeping? Oh, come on, Max! How late are you going to sleep on a Saturday?" Takao asks with a laugh, "You're so lazy!"

The sound of movement can be heard through the phone, and after a minute, Max speaks again. "Takao. It's seven o'clock in the morning. Or course I'm still sleeping…"

But what Takao tells him wakes him right on up.

"Oh, man? Are you serious?" Max asks as he dashes to his mailbox, "I'm going, I'm going!" No one else is even up in Max's house right now, but that doesn't matter. He yanks open his mailbox and… there!

"I got it!" he cheers as he rips it open, "It says I'm in Block B! B, Takao! Which means we're not going against each other!" Both boys end up cheering for about five minutes straight, but then they remember to call the Chief.

"Oh, let me do it!" Max pouts, "You got to call me!" Takao argues with him for a minute and finally gives up, Maxie is being stubborn.

Max calls the Chief, who picks up about five rings later. "Gee, Chief," Max says, "Took you long enough! Did you get your mail?" "Why?" the nerd asks, "Should I—Oh, Oh my! I totally forgot, hold on!"

The Chief runs to his mailbox and jumps a few times to reach it. Finally he pulls the little tab and the little plastic door flies open. He reaches in and pulls out his envelope. "I've got it," he breathes, "I've… actually got it! It says I'm in Block C! This means we're all in different blocks, right? Good!"

So their worries were alleviated.

That is, until the 23rd of November.

Takao is there first, and he's one of the first people on line. He's tucked inside of a large black coat which his grandpa had forced on him that morning. At 3 am. He had resisted at first, but it was cold out, and he was grateful.

He wears his hair down today too, because he wants to impress. Black jeans and black and white converse, a tight red tee-shirt with a guitar design flourishing the front, he's all decked out and ready to rock. Dragoon is snug in his new case, designed just for him. Yes, Dragoon is a he. Normally Takao would name his instruments as girls, but Dragoon just seemed to scream masculinity.

There are a couple of other people too, but they haven't even bothered to try to talk to him. One was a fatty kid, with large glasses and bad acne. He probably wasn't going to get anywhere. And there were a bunch of girls huddled together, wearing tiny skirts and heavy make-up. Takao rolls his eyes when he sees their faces; he never has understood why girls want to wear so much make-up.

He waits there for his friends to show up and the line grows and grows. Some police officers have approached the area and are keeping people in line. The Chief shows up and Takao waves to him, and he somehow manages to make his way through the crowd to stand with Takao. He's out of breath and clearly nervous, but also excited.

Max shows up too, a little later, and has a harder time getting through the crowd than the Chief did. They all stand together and whisper to each other, that's what everyone is doing. No one is bothering to be friendly to anyone they don't already know, because what would be the point in that?

They begin to move into the building and into their respective blocks.

"Good luck," Takao says, "I hope I'll see you guys soon! You better win, okay!"

"Call me if you guys need me," Max says, "and good luck! I'm cheering for you guys!"

"Let's try our best!" the Chief says, "We'll make it! I know we will!"

They pound their fists together and smile before head down their lines. They glance back at each other real quick, and then they're gone.

It's begun!