I had been right. It was indeed a long night. At least they had let me shower first.
And there was no concert. It was nothing more then a practice session. When I asked Chibiusa why she had said there was a concert, she answered, "We're the band and you're the audience."
I glared at the teen. "One person an audience does not make," I said.
Chibiusa gave me a blank look. "Nani?"
"Never mind," I said, chuckling.
We entered the room where they were having their practice jam. Hotaru was there, setting up and making sure everything was in tune. She smiled when she saw me, and even went as far to hug me. I was taken aback. She was usually quiet and I didn't think she would be this forward.
"Hello, Caden-san," she smiled up at me.
"Drop the 'san', okay," I said.
She smiled and the others began to get set up on their respective instruments. Chibiusa, being vocals, simply walked to the mic and began dancing with it. Nori surprised me, by picking up the guitar and placing the strap over her shoulder. Hotaru played bass. And Sachi, the most feminine of the group, took her place at the drums. She picked up the drum sticks and beat out a random beat, waiting for the others.
I looked over Ken'ichi, who had taken a seat on one of the many chairs in the practice room.
"You don't play," I asked him.
"I play the piano, but I don't play in the band," he said. "I'm just the tech geek." He smiled when he said.
"Prefer the behind-the-scenes stuff, huh," I said.
He nodded and looked as if he wanted to say something else. But the girls began playing and we both turned to watch.
They weren't half bad. It surprised me that Chibiusa really did have a decent singing voice. But there were notes she should just leave alone. Nori also had a decent singing voice, but I could see why she was only a back up singer. Her voice was deep for a girl and trying to hit anything higher would have been painful. I would know. I had the same problem.
They played a few songs before taking a break. The music wasn't bad, just not my tastes. It was like bubblegum rock, if there was such a thing.
Chibiusa bounced over to me, smiling and panting slightly. When she sang, she put everything she had into it. "So what did you think, C-chan?"
I nodded. "Pretty good."
"Just pretty good," she pouted.
I laughed. "It was good," I said honestly. "Just not my taste. Its a little too...perky."
"Oh, thank Kami someone agrees," Nori said from behind Chibiusa. Nori sat her guitar down and came to stand beside us. Hotaru and Sachi followed as well, taking seats and bringing them closer for everyone to sit down. From an outsider's view, I'm sure we looked like we were plotting something being huddled so close together.
"So what do you like," Nori asked.
"Just about everything," I said. "But I like a lot of the moodier and darker stuff more. Just depends on my mood, really."
"Do you still play the guitar," Hotaru asked me.
I looked at her, surprised. "Did I ever play with you around?"
Hotaru shook her head. "Iie, but Michiru-mama told me. She said you played piano really well but preferred the guitar."
"You play," Nori asked. As I nodded, she stood and walked over to guitar and brought it back, handing it to me. "Play something.
Let's see how good you really are."
It sounded like a challenge. And the way she was smirking only supported this theory.
I took up the guitar, sliding the strap over my shoulder and adjusting it so the guitar was actually higher up then where Nori had had it on herself. She chuckled at me, shaking her head, but the others seemed excited. I stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what would best to play. I was more of an acoustic guitar player, but I could play an electric one.
"Well, let's go," Nori said. "We haven't got all night."
"Be nice, Nori-chan" Sachi scolded her sister.
A song came to mind, and I couldn't help but laughing at myself. As I began to play, the song began to build and build in tension. I was glad I was in a different time, let alone a different universe. The next notes were very quick and my fingers began to cramp as I tried to keep the pace right. Anyone from my world would have recognized the tune immediately: The Power Rangers theme song. As my fingers danced along the neck of the guitar, the others realized why I had hiked the guitar up so high on my chest.
I didn't play the entire song. The version I was playing was a rock version and about five minutes along. And without an accompaniment of drums, the song lost some of it's umph. But the point was made and I smirked at Nori, who smiled back. I loosened the strap and slid the guitar off, setting it gently back into it's stand before walking back over to the small group.
"Happy now," I said.
"Maybe," Nori said. "Now how's your singing?"
I looked at the girl. "I feel like I'm at an audition." I looked around at all the smiling faces. "Oh, what the hell."
"We had heard great things," Sachi said. "We wanted to see if you could play."
"Besides," Nori said, "The songs Chibiusa sings are sickeningly sweet. We need more flavor."
I couldn't disagree.
"Come on, C-chan," Chibiusa pleaded, clinging to my arm.
I sighed. "What do I have to do?"
I became the band's second guitar player and second lead singer. I was mostly back up, but if there was a song that needed a deep voice to sing that part, it usually fell to me. I asked why me and not Nori, but Nori preferred to play over singing. I liked both so it only made sense, Chibiusa had said.
As the weeks passed, we played several gigs. Chibiusa said their popularity had been picking up since I had joined, saying my choice is 'dark' music helped to appeal to a larger crowd. The dark music, as Chibiusa put it, were actual songs from my time. But we had done extensive research and found that my music didn't exist here in any time. I had even gone as far as to ask Michiru about the song we had danced to in the club and played it for her on my laptop. She remembered the club, but not the song, saying it had just been some generic club beat. I finally decided it must had been some sort of projection of mind from being in a coma.
We practiced every day. It wasn't so much to get the songs, but for something to do, just as Chibiusa had said. The band, these kids, were fast becoming my friends. It was hard to decide who was actually older; I had been born first, but they were over a thousand years old, just like their mothers. But they still acted, mainly, as carefree teens. And me being the total nerd I was, acted like a big kid myself. I had to smile. It was like I was back with the senshi of the past.
Thinking this, a pang of sadness hit me. I missed Rei.
I hadn't seen her since the fiasco of going to see her. I had eventually told Chibiusa what had happened when she asked how it had went. She apologized and said the same thing everyone else had said: That Rei had missed me terribly and the shock of seeing me turned her world upside down. I guess I should have known better. Rei never did like to be surprised.
I sat around with the girls and Ken'ichi. I watched as he and Chibiusa interacted with one another. They were so cute. And so fucking clueless. I chuckled and Hotaru looked up at me with a questioning look. But before I could defend myself, a voice behind us made us all turn toward the door.
"I hope I'm not interrupting."
Usagi stood in the door, smiling at all of us. I smiled broadly at the silver haired Queen. I hadn't seen her since the day I had arrived and there was something about seeing her calmed me. I think she had the affect on anyone. It was just her presence.
"Hi, Okaasan," Chibiusa said brightly.
Usagi nodded at her daughter as she walked into the room.
"Hey, Usagi-chan" I said, smiling. "What's up?"
"I just came by to tell you that your armor has arrived. It's sitting in your room."
My smile grew. "Really?"
Usagi nodded. "Hai. You also have a few uniforms to wear underneath it. It has the family crest on it so when you accompany Chibiusa to a formal event, you'll look the part."
"Groovy," I said.
Usagi smiled at us all. "So, can I have a private concert?"
"Sure," I said. I looked at the others and they, too, agreed.
Usagi sat in my seat, beside Ken'ichi, as we all stood to take our places at our instruments. As I looped my guitars strap across my shoulders, movement by the room's door caught my eye. I looked up and saw Rei quietly stalk inside the room, gently closing the door behind her. Our eyes locked for the briefest moments, until a warm hand on my shoulder made me turn around. Chibiusa stood beside me, a worried expression on her face.
"You okay," she asked quietly. I nodded and turned back to Rei, who was taking a seat beside Usagi. She had a katana in her hand and as she sat, she gently laid it in the floor at her feet. It crossed my mind that it was my old katana she had with her. It made me wonder why she was bringing it to me now.
"What will you be singing for us," Usagi asked, watching us fiddle around.
"Actually," Chibiusa said, "I'll let C-chan decide." Chibiusa turned to me, smiling. "What'll it be?"
I looked at Rei, then back to the pink haired teen. "Memory," I said. Of course, that was just the shortened name of the song title. But the others knew what song it was.
Chibiusa moved away from the mic and brought a stool over to it. She smiled at me as I switched out the electric guitar for the acoustic one. As I pulled the strap over my shoulder, Chibiusa brought over a stool to the middle mic and I perched myself atop of it. Chibiusa then picked up a tambourine resting on one of the amps. We didn't often use it, but for this song, we did.
Hotaru unplugged her bass guitar and went to sit with the others. She wasn't needed for this song and decided to sit with the 'audience'.
Adjusting the mic, I took a deep breath to steady myself. This song had reminded me of Rei from the moment I heard it. Feeling a small surge of stage fright, I pulled my cap down over my eyes slightly. I usually kept my head down while playing and I knew that the angle of the cap would prevent people from seeing nothing more then maybe my mouth moving. And that was the point.
I took another deep breath and began to sing softly;
"This won't break your heart.."
As 'heart' left my lips, I began to strum the tune of the song on the guitar. As I began to play, everything else around me seemed to vanish. I was in my own world and alone once again.
"..But I just think it could
Cause I haven't tried as hard as I should
To separate you from everything I do
But I would never want to come between us two.."
Chibiusa began to lightly shake the tambourine. As I began the chorus, Nori chimed in with her electric guitar.
"..I'll keep your memory vague
So you won't feel bad about me
I'll say the things that you said
Sometimes so it reminds me
"I'll keep your memory vague
So you won't feel bad about me
I'll say the things that you said
Sometimes so it reminds me.."
Finally, Sachi began to play, bringing force to the song. It somehow seemed even sadder as she played. But then again, I could also have been projecting.
"Now I'm thinking back
To what I said before
I hope your heart won't have to hurt anymore..."
I could feel my throat thicken with emotion. I was pouring myself into the song, hoping Rei understood just how much she meant to me.
"..Cause it's really not that sad from here
Because the moments I can feel you near
They keep you close to me my dear
And if they ever become too clear
"I'll keep your memory vague
So you won't feel bad about me
I'll say the things that you said
Sometimes so it reminds me
"I'll keep your memory vague
So you won't feel bad about me
I'll say the things that you said
Sometimes so it reminds me.."
The song surged here. Not much, but it felt like it was building up again, like a storm...
"Now you've gone away
Don't worry, it's ok
That you've gone away
"That you're gone away
Further than yesterday
But you'll never leave these scenes
My mind replays..."
..And my voice exploded like thunder before falling back into the right note. But all the emotion I had bottled up for weeks was pouring from me even more.
"..I'll keep your memory vague
So you won't feel bad about me
I'll say the things that you said
Sometimes so it reminds me
"I'll keep your memory vague
So you won't feel bad about me
I'll say the things that you said
Sometimes so it reminds me.."
The song carried on for a few seconds more, calming down back to the gentle pace it had started with.
I brought my hand up, feeling the tears threatening to spill over and wiped them away before they actually did. The song wasn't particularly sad, but I did have the problem of putting myself too much into my music. And, sometimes, I did cry when I sang. I'd be damned if this was one of those times.
I slid from the stood and unhooked myself from the strap and walked over to the guitar's cradle and gently sat it down. I slid my cap back out of my face and turned to look at the audience and saw only Rei. Sometime while I had been singing, Usagi, Ken'ichi and Hotaru had left. And now that the song was over, the rest of the band began to file out of the room as well. I had a sinking feeling I had been set up.
Rei and I stood in the now empty room. She was standing, the katana in her left hand at her side. We looked at one another for several moments before I decided I was too tired to have another fit between us.
I moved towards the door, but Rei reached out and gently caught me by the arm. I stopped and turned to look at her.
"Aren't you going to talk to me," she asked quietly.
"I tried," I said. "You slapped me, remember?"
Rei said nothing and I sighed. I moved back into the room towards the chairs. I flipped one around and straddled it and leaned my chest into the back of it. I pulled a chair over and patted the seat. "Let's talk, kiddo."
Rei sat in the offered chair, laying the katana across her lap. She was quiet for several minutes which I found silly since she had been the one to come and see me. But it became clear she wasn't going to instigate the conversation, so I decided to pick up the slack.
"Is this mine," I asked, sliding my fingers across the katana's scabbard. I saw Rei blush and couldn't help but smirk.
Rei nodded.
I sighed. "This will work out a lot better if you actually, you know, spoke." When she didn't say anything still, I sighed again, standing from the chair. "I don't have time for this, Rei. I really don't."
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just...I acted like a fool. I'm so sorry, Caden."
Even with her head down and pointed at the floor, I could tell by how her body tensed just how hard it was for her to say that. I sat back down, looking at her.
"Yeah, you did," I agreed. She looked up at me and I smiled gently at her. "I forgive you though 'cause I understand how you must have felt. I felt sorta the same way when Setsuna showed up in my apartment."
Finally, even though it was small, Rei smiled.
"I've missed you," she said quietly, a faint blush crossing her cheeks.
I crossed my arms across the back of the chair. I laid my head atop of them, smiling at her. "Missed you, too." Rei's smile grew and my heart melted. Clearing my throat, I asked, "So, what made you finally come to your senses?"
"Haruka-san," she said simply. "She came to see me the day after you did."
I blinked and chuckled. "I ran into her and Michiru that same day." I shook my head, still chuckling softly to myself. "I can't believe she did that."
"I'm glad she did," Rei said.
My mouth hitched up into a half grin. "Yeah, me, too."
I stood from my chair, stretching. I felt Rei move up beside me and when I finished stretching, she offered me the katana. I pulled the blade from it's sheath, examining it. "I can't believe you've had this for as long as you have and it still looks so sharp." I pushed the blade back into the scabbard and held it at my left side. "Arigatou."
"So," Rei said tentatively, "Are we okay?"
I smirked, bringing my right arm around her waist. I lowered my face next to her ear and whispered, "I'll think about it," before I turned to catch her lips with my own.
A/N: Crap, I've turned this into a songfic XD Honestly, I didn't mean to. The song is called 'I'll keep your memory vague' by Finger 11. Good song. Download it if you haven't heard it yet.
Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. More to come!