Chapter 8.

On Friday, Kato heads straight from school to her house. She shouts into the kitchen to tell her mother she's home, runs upstairs into her room, and heads for her radio. It's a shitty piece of shit (because that needs to be stressed) that sits on top of her dresser near her jewelry case. She switches on Pyrite 101, the illegal radio station run by a group of idiots who work at the music shop she gets her percussion gear from. She strips to her underwear in the middle of her cluttered room as she listens to them talk about what's up in the underground music world.

"and remember tonight's the big show," one of the guys say. His radio name is Zedd.

"Eleven o'clock at the Circus," the sole girl says. Her radio persona is Krewella, or sometimes she's called Crazy Kre, and she's part of a growingly popular techno band with her radio costars. She's the one who taught Kato how to play the drums back when Kato was in grade school. "ZtH comes on at midnight after some shit DJ plays his shtick."

"Price of administration is one ticket," the third guy, Cobain, a classic rock junkie, says. "If you don't know how to get one, you won't get one. IDs checked at the door."

"Rumor is there's some big news tonight so it's worth the trip if you can score a ticket," Krewella says. "Remember kiddies, we mean the show, not acid. Tripping on acid leads to waking up in the men's room at McDonalds at four in the morning without underwear."

Kato laughs out loud.

"And in case you fuckers can't remember how fucking magnificent Zero to Hero is, here's a good one from their album," Cobain says.

"Try not to fuck up the audio this time, Kre," Zedd says.

"Suck my dick," Krewella snaps.

Kato turns up the volume as Dancing Shoes comes on. She hops into her bathroom, unsnapping her bra and stepping out of her underwear, and jumps into the shower. She scrubs off her makeup from school, makes a mohawk with her hair, and cups her breasts for no reason in particular other than she can. She shaves her pits and legs, applying generous amounts of sugar scrub to make her legs feel as smooth as a baby's ass, then gets out.

She loves getting dressed up for shows. She likes the toned down looks she does for acoustics, but she also likes the striking makeup and punk look she gets to do for louder shows. And the Circus is notorious for being loud. Kato still doesn't know how Yukimura got them the gig.

Well, she does know, but she doesn't get it. Girly has too many friends. Apparently someone who graduated from their school last year joined the circle that runs the crazy party known as the Circus. It's pretty famous amongst music junkies. Every month, the Circus hosts a party. Not everything that goes on there is legal and it's crazy beyond sane understanding. If a band or DJ wants to get noticed, they have to make the Circus. Since Yukimura knows the guy who graduated, he was able to get them the prime spot on Friday night so they can release their new album in style. This is where they make it or break it.

Go big or go home, Kato thinks as she straightens her hair. She goes back into her room, dancing to a song from an obscure band she hasn't heard before. She puts on a neon green sports bra and a pair of comfortable lace panties, then dives onto her bed for her phone. She sees a message from Urayama.

Kre mentioned u (~^-^)~

Kato grins. Shut the fuck up. For real?

she said she hopes u got some stuff to show tonight
werent u listening?

I was in the shower. Wasn't paying much attention

she called u her bby girl

If only I was gay.

she said same thing(⌒▽⌒)

Kato jumps out of bed with more energy than before and goes into the bathroom to do her makeup. It gets hot on stage and makeup can be more annoying than it is good, but she still wings her eyeliner until it's perfect. She forgoes her lips and eyelids.

She keeps dancing while she picks out her clothes, tossing things to the side without a second thought and holding others up for a moment of consideration before ditching it. This isn't some gig at Yukimura's or some college frat's party. This is the Circus. This is the biggest show they've done. There's tickets and everything.

Tossing another shirt out of her closet, she decides to call Aiko.

"Hey," Aiko answers. "What's up?"

"Picking out clothes."

Aiko laughs. "I'm helping Jackal right now too. He has nothing good."

"What about that tight black short sleeve that shows off his arms?" Kato suggests. She tries to think about what Jackal owns. The boys in the band don't own much more than tattered jeans and old shitty shirts of obscure bands, but there has to be something. "Doesn't he have a pair of dark red skinny jeans?" she asks.

Aiko talks with her mouth away from the speaker but Kato can still hear. "Hey, babe, do you still have those dark red pants?"

Kato tosses a few more shirts to the side and waits for Aiko to come back to the conversation.

"He found them. He's going into the bathroom now."

"You two have seen each other naked how many times?" Kato laughs.

"He's shy."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What should I wear? I really want to wear those tight black pants we found last month."

"With the chunky combat boots?"

"Yup."

"Good choice." Aiko hums in thought. "I got you a tank top for your birthday with a ribcage on it. That may look good. It dips down to your ribs under the arms, though."

"I'm wearing a neon sports bra and I don't care if people see it. And that tank is easy to move in..." Kato digs through her closet and finds what Aiko described. She holds it up to her chest. "Ah, this'll look good. Thanks."

"No problem. You know, Krewella mentioned you on the radio today."

"I know," Kato says, gushing. "I should stop by and see her. We haven't had a jam session in forever. You should come. We're over due for cliché, invasive girl talk. We can talk about your sex life and my lack thereof."

"I thought that you and Sanada had something going on," Aiko says.

"What? No way." Kato takes the thin black tank top off its hanger and tosses it onto her bed next to her pants. "Hat's fun to mess with but he's not—he's just not."

"Oh, hang on, he's done. That looks good, babe. What shoes, Kato?"

"Either some type of brown boot or some flat-ish tennis shoes. You know what I mean? That shit that's between tennis shoes and flats? I don't know what the fuck they're called. You're the fashionista, not me."

"He only has three pairs of shoes and one of them is for school," Aiko says.

"My shoes matter too?" Jackal says, sounding exasperated. "You know Marui's going to show up looking like shit."

"That doesn't mean you have to look bad."

Jackal grumbles in the background.

"Hey, I gotta get dressed," Kato says. "I'll see you at Marui's in a bit. I want to see what you're wearing."

"Don't forgot what we were talking about," Aiko says. "I'm not dropping it. That conversation is going to happen whether you want it to or not."

"Whatever."

Kato hangs up. She puts on two pairs of socks so she doesn't get blisters from her boots, then spends five minutes fighting with her pants. Once she gets them over her hips, she's comfortable as anything, but until she gets them up there, it's like wrestling with Cerberus and Hades.

She shouts in victory when she buttons them. She tugs on the tank top with the white ribcage and goes to her dresser to her jewelry box. Krewella, Zedd, and Cobain are talking again on air, discussing the big reveal that Yukimura promised when he booked the gig for them.

"I bet my baby girl is coming out," Krewella says. "We all know she's been craving my pussy for years."

"If anything, it's that keyboard player that's gay," Cobain says. "That kid looks like jailbait."

"He is jailbait," Zedd says. "Pretty sure he's fourteen or something."

"How old are these motherfucking kids?" Cobain laughs.

"Gonna wiki this shit," Krewella says. "What the fuck? They don't have a wiki? ZtH, if you guys are listening, you guys need to make yourself a website or something. Get your tech geek to do that shit for you. I need to stalk you more."

"Creep alert!" Zedd says.

They play a track of police sirens and Kato rolls her eyes.

She shoves aside the dressy bracelets and the spiked leather for simpler white and black bracelets. She stacks them on her left wrist, then ties a handmade hemp bracelet on her right wrist. Urayama made it for her after they had meet and she likes the way it looks when she's got her sticks in her hands.

"Speaking of underaged hotties," Krewella says, "there's only one kid on the street who can make a fake ID good enough to fool the guys at the Circus door. So make sure you can see the back of your hand. Fabric will be cut and gloves will be burned."

"Underaged attendees will be stamped on the hand," Zedd explains. "So no liquor for you. Drugs are free game, though, just don't be a dick and be safe."

"And remember the drug system: YAP and NEFE," Cobain says.

"Yes to pot and no to everything fucking else," Krewella says. "I wonder why people say we're a bad influence?

"No fucking clue," Cobain says. "Now here's a piece of gossip"

"Shut up a play a damn song," Zedd groans.

Kato looks at herself in a mirror, ignoring the rest of their talk. She runs her hands over the curve of her waist and hips. She cups her breasts for good measure, nodding at the support her bra is giving her. Plus she looks bad ass and loves it. She grins.

She grabs her leather jacket, shoving her necessities into the many pockets. She runs through a checklist in her head, Eyeliner, wallet, ID, keys... Shit. Where are my drumsticks?

She smiles when she sees them sitting on her bed. She grabs them and heads for the door.

.

They've always practiced at Marui's house in the basement, which his parents reluctantly soundproofed after they realized his son and his friends were serious about the whole band thing. There's white christmas lights and colorful paper lanterns strung up across the ceiling, and the walls are covered in pictures of the band and posters of their favorite musicians. It smells like old pizza and sweat, and there's a strange stain on the sofa that Urayama swears is getting larger. It's become like a second home to them. Kato doesn't know how many nights she's crashed there.

Kato sits on the ratty old fabric sofa with the weird stain on it, spinning her drumsticks and talking to Aiko. "None of them look like shit," Kato says, mildly surprised.

"I wish we had made a bet," Aiko says. "I could have bought ingredients to make my lemon bars again with my winnings."

"I learned a long time again to never bet against you."

Aiko smiles. Kato laughs and rests her head on her best friend's shoulder. Kato has been friends with Aiko since they were kids, long before they met the band, or Aiko and Jackal started dating. Girls gotta stick together, Kato always jokes and Aiko always laughs, high and bubbly, much more feminine than Kato's snorting laugh.

"You look good," Kato says. Aiko is dressed in choppy jean shorts with gradient tights underneath and a comfortable black top. "I mean it," Kato says when Aiko looks doubtful.

"Thanks. You look good too."

"Don't I always?"

Kato looks over her boys again. Marui is wearing a t-shirt with a funky design on it and comfy, but stylish, blue jeans with chunky bracelets on his wrists. Jackal is wearing what Kato had suggested, a black t-shirt and dark red skinny jeans. Oyama is wearing an open plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a plain white shirt underneath, and Urayama is wearing an obnoxiously bright hoodie.

They look like a real band. Then Oyama reaches into Urayama's coat pocket to get a bag of candy. Kato rolls her eyes. They're as close to a real band as they'll ever get at the very least.

"So are we still playing what we decided on last week?" Kato asks, not moving her head off of Aiko, who doesn't seem to mind that she's become a pillow. "With the six songs we agreed on, we're up to about twenty-one minutes, plus extra shit like introduction and crowd control. So that'd probably get us near thirty. And we want time to announce the new album."

"Let's plan on those six songs as the minimum," Marui says. "What would we do with extra time if we get it?"

"We could run through some covers," Jackal says.

"Can we do one of my drum covers?" Kato asks. Everyone looks at her. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"What are drum covers?" Aiko asks.

"They're the cover songs I play to warm up," Kato says. "Usually I strip a popular song to it's bare bones and play the melody on my drums. But they're rarely on my standard drum set up, that's why they're only to warm up."

"Sounds fun," Aiko says.

"Kato, that's genius!" Marui says. "Well, not as genius as me, but whatever. Which song?"

"Counting Stars by One Republic. Most of the original song is on drum anyways so it's pretty simple. Oyama can play acoustic right at the beginning. We've done it before. Urayama needs to be on keyboard."

"I know it," Urayama says. "That songs rocks."

"Does the song need set up?" Marui asks.

"I need to mess around with some dampers to adjust the sound output, but I can do it while you dick around with the crowd," Kato says. "And I'll need to set up a stationary tambourine before the show starts."

Jackal's phone beeps. "My dad's here with the van. We need to pack our shit up now."

The band groans in unison. Jackal's father lets them use the catering vans from the family restaurant to move their gear from place to place. But to get to the van, they need to get everything up the stairs.

Aiko puts her finger on her nose, bumps Kato's arm, and Kato does the same.

"Nose goes," Kato says. "You guys can handle it."

"Fuck you," Marui says.

"Sorry. My dick won't go up for twinks like you."

.

The Circus is never held at the same location. Once it was held in a field an hour away from any town; a stage and all of the equipment appeared out of nowhere and the next day, by the time the sun was up, there was no sign of there ever being a massive party. That's what the Circus is at it's core, a massive party with good music, good booze, and good people. None of them have been to a Circus party before, but what they heard is wild.

The band shows up at the abandoned warehouse they'll be playing at around nine. It's rundown with broken windows and a massive hole in the roof, and there's no proper road leading up to it. It's pitch black by then and there is no obvious sign of life. It's a ways out of town and Jackal's father gives his son and his bandmates skeptical looks.

"This place looks empty," he says. "Are you sure this is where you're playing?"

"Yeah, there's Yukimura's car," Jackal says. He points to the expensive, shiny black sports car parked to the side of the building.

"Is that a clown at the front door?" Urayama asks. Marui assumes that "front door" means that white door that looks like his hall closet. There is someone standing there with a giant red afro and face makeup. The clown is dressed in bright colors and oversized pants.

"Kids, I don't know about this," Jackal's father says.

"It's fine," Jackal says.

"If we die, you'll know where to look for us," Marui adds.

"Not helping, Marui," Jackal says.

Jackal's father sighs and the band pours out of the van through the side doors. Marui is just happy to not be shoved up next to Kato's boxed drums and to not have Oyama's guitar case half way up his ass. He rolls his shoulders, blows a bubble at the long series of cracks, and goes to the back to pull everything out. Marui takes out his phone, calls Yukimura, and holds it between his ear and shoulder so he can get a good grip on Urayama's keyboard.

"Are you here?" Yukimura asks.

"Yeah. Just got here. Unloading the van now."

"Great. We're inside with the staff. You need to come in through the front. Just make sure you show the tickets I gave you. Then they'll stamp your hands."

"They really don't joke around about alcohol, do they?" Marui asks. "Shit, Kato, that was my foot!"

"It's not my fault you have giant ass feet!" Kato shouts.

"Well, you know what they say about—"

"Don't even go there, pervert."

Marui grabs his phone, says, "We'll be in in a minute," and hangs up.

Once they have everything out of the van, they thank and say goodbye to Jackal's father. He drives off on a dirt road, leaving dust in his wake. The band grabs hold of everything and begins to head inside.

The clown at the front door is just as scary as any other clown Marui has ever seen. Urayama hides behind Oyama and no one blames him for acting like a child. The guy dressed as a clown is tall, albeit not as tall as Oyama, and buff. He must be the bouncer.

"Tickets and IDs," the clown says, stretching out his hand.

The band hands the black and white ticket stubs, then shows their IDs one by one. The clown takes his time looking over the IDs, then reaches into his pocket, yanks on their arms, and puts a large stamp of an elephant on the back of their hands. The clown tears the tickets in half and shoves them into his other pocket.

He opens the door to the warehouse for them.

"Enjoy the Circus."

Then Aiko shows her ticket. Unlike the band's, it's not black and white. It's red with black writing and looks like a normal carnival ticket.

"Sorry, but this won't get you in until show time," the clown says.

"But she's with us," Jackal says, holding her hand. Kato steps up onto Aiko's other side.

"Rules are rules. Black and white tickets get you in early. Regular tickets get in at eleven."

Marui looks inside and spots a group of people in the distance. He hopes it's Yukimura and the others because he shouts, "Hey, Yukimura and staff guys! Get your asses over here!"

Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi jog over. They're followed by a group of people with blank white Venetian masks with holes at the eyes. Their lips are part of the mask and don't move when they talk, which is just bout the creepiest thing Marui has seen, second only to the basement at school.

"What's the problem?" Yukimura asks.

"Aiko doesn't have a special ticket," Kato says.

Yukimura looks at the staff in white masks.

"No exceptions," one of the members says. Urayama visibly cringes. Marui still doesn't blame him. This is weird.

"I know her. She's cool," one of the staff members says. He reaches up and pulls off his mask. Marui recognizes his face; it's the guy who went to school with them and knew Yukimura. Marui doesn't remember his name and he knows for a fact that he does not know Aiko because she pulls a confused face.

"Alright," the other members say.

Aiko hands over her ticket and holds out her hand to be stamped.

"Follow us," a staff member says. Yukimura's friend smiles at them, then pulls his mask back down.

The staff walks them through the warehouse which looks completely different on the inside. Professional grade lighting has been set up, complete with spotlights and colored lenses. A quickly built wooden stage runs along the far wall and a long bar is pushed into a corner. There are chairs and sofas scattered throughout, pressed up against the walls. The lights make Oyama's white undershirt glow blue.

They're told to store their stuff in a room near the stage. Green tags are placed on their equipment to keep it separate from everyone else's.

"You go on at twelve," one of the staff members says. "At quarter of, you set up. If you're not ready, you don't play at all."

"We only have fifteen minutes to set up?" Urayama asks.

"You use our amps and mics. Just plug in your instruments," another one says.

"We'll be ready," Jackal reassures them.

The Circus is run a certain way without fail, which is what makes it so elite and exclusive. Starting at elven, a band or DJ will play every hour for half an hour. Twelve and one are considered prime times. If the crowd likes a group enough, they'll be allowed to play for another fifteen minutes. If not, a DJ from the Circus will take over. The last group starts at four and everyone is forced out at five thirty, no exceptions.

The staff leaves them to hang out until their play time, telling them to stay out of trouble and to leave the electrical equipment alone. They settle onto one of the sofas, Aiko on Jackal's lap and Kato on Urayama's. Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi go to the bar and come back with drinks in glass bottles.

"Wait, you're underage," Marui says. "How'd you get past the clown at the door? They checked IDs."

"Akaya's friend makes fake IDs," Yukimura says. "It's what I always use to get liquor for my parties. I'd buy you something to take the edge off, but we'd all get kicked out."

Yanagi puts a finger to his lips. "Do try to be quiet about it."

"I still can't believe you drink, Hat," Kato says, kicking Sanada's ankle. Sanada grumbles and sips at his drink. "Aw, are you blushing?"

"No," Sanada says.

"You totally are, Hat."

More of the acts begin to show up and join them, introducing themselves and talking about what they're playing. They're playing with big names and new names that have taken the underground music world by storm. It's intimidating and ego boosting at the same time. Marui doesn't know whether to hold his head high in pride or feel embarrassed that all the other acts are old enough to drink when he isn't.

Marui checks his phone as more people with black tickets begin to show up. He sends a text to Niou.

You still coming?

yeah

Cool

Marui grins. He wonders what Niou's reaction to the new album will be. He should sign a copy and give it to Niou personally at school on Monday. On the other hand, Niou would probably want to listen to the full album as soon as possible. He can always get Niou to bring it to school on Monday for him to sign.

"Earth to Marui," Jackal says, snapping his fingers in front of Marui's dazed face.

Marui jerks back to attention and everyone laughs. He blows a bubble, rolling his eyes.

People with black tickets poor in in massive numbers around ten thirty. One of the Circus DJs gets on stage and plays upbeat, catchy music with heavy bass and heart stopping drops. It's fundamentally different from the carefully put together playlists Yanagi does. This music is live and unexpected, and it controls the energy of the crowd without trying. It has Aiko jumping off Jackal's lap and dragging him into the crowd to dance. It has Kato dancing in Urayama's lap until Urayama pushes her into the open spot on the sofa. It has Marui in a permanent state of high energy and wide smiles.

The line wraps around the warehouse and when it's finally eleven, people come in in groups that put the early comers to shame. The first act is a DJ duo which takes the stage at eleven sharp. They're nothing special, like the people on Pyrite 101 expected, but they're still good.

Kirihara shows up two songs into the show with Hiyoshi and Zaizen, each of them holding drinks. Kirihara is tight shirt with strange colored pants; Marui can't tell exactly what color under the flashing lights that twist natural colors until they glow.

"You actually look cool," Kato says to Kirihara. "Nothing like the twelve year old wannabe punk you usually look like."

Kirihara flips her off.

"Wait, did you three noobs get past the bouncer?" Kato asks.

Kirihara grins. "Zaizen makes the best fakes."

Yukimura lifts his drink in Zaizen's direction. Kato grumbles.

"You don't even drink beer, Kato," Oyama says. "And you swore off shots after spring break last year."

"Doesn't mean I want a baby like Seaweed-Head to drink around me when I can't," she says. "I wonder if they have strawberry wine…"

Kirihara and his friends pull up a sofa, but don't join in on their conversations. Kirihara laughs loudly and talks to his friends about skateboards, or something that sounds like skateboards. It's hard to hear over the music. It's loud, deafeningly so, and Marui loves it.

The DJ duo doesn't get an extension and Urayama mentions that Krewella didn't think they would be that good. A DJ from the Circus staff takes over and the band goes to set up. Marui helps Urayama bring his keyboard onto the stage, and then looks out over the crowd. There has to be at least three hundred people here, maybe more, and more people keep coming in every minute. He spots a head of white hair standing near the stairs to the stage and heads over to see if he thinks it is. He hopes it's who he thinks it is.

He isn't disappointed.

"How the hell did you find me?" Marui asks. He doesn't bother hiding his smile when he stops in front of Niou.

"Your hair is easy to spot, even with these lights," Niou says. "And your band is scheduled to play at midnight so I figured you'd be setting up."

"My hair? You're one to talk. You look like an old man."

"Oh really?"

Niou grins and Marui laughs. Niou is the farthest thing from an old man. Old men don't have piercings on their face, or piercings over tight skin on slim hips, or rate an eleven on a scale made to ten because of their ass. Niou looks to the side at the crowd and Marui looks down at Niou's body. Niou's jean are tight and flatter him, drawing attention to his ass and hips, and his shirt shows off his long arms.

"Marui!" Jackal calls from the stage. "Get your ass up here. We play in one minute."

Marui smiles at Niou and says, "Just wait until the end. You're going to lose your shit."

"If I don't, you owe me."

"I'll treat you to burgers."

"I'll hold you to that."

Marui jogs up the steps to the stage and gets in place. He can't see Niou in the crowd of hundreds. It's probably better that way. Niou has a tendency to draw his attention.

The lights are blinding and burning, and he can feel the sweat on his brow already. There's so many people screaming for them, screaming for them to hurry the hell up and play. He's never seen so many people from the stage view before. He hopes his voice comes out.

Marui looks back over his shoulder at his bandmates, all in place for the first song, and grips the mic. The DJ cuts off the music and Marui speaks into the mic, addressing the crowd, "We've only got thirty minutes so I'm going to shut the hell up so you guys can hear some music. We're Zero to Hero and you better remember our name by the end of this."

The crowd roars it's approval.

Marui looks over his shoulder and they all look at each other, coming in on Marui's count, tapped out by his foot. Oyama and Jackal come in at the same time. It's a new song that didn't make the cut for the album like so many others that they play.

Urayama comes in on his keyboard, followed by Oyama on his guitar and Marui singing, then he rest of the band as the lyrics progress.

"I let it ride on a bad bet.
I doubled down on a sinking ship.
I need a second to catch my breath.
Do you want me,
Or do you want me dead?"

The beat picks up and Marui begins to smile.

"Oh, give it up for at least a second.
I'm getting sick of your bullshit attitude,
And how you walk around like you shine brighter,
It's killing me,
So what do you say?
Do you want me,
Or do you want me dead?"

No one in the crowd knows the lyrics, but they dance to the song and nod their head to the beat. Marui should feel pressured by the sheer size of the crowd, but it only drives him and his bandmates higher. Oyama and Marui switch off in the chorus so the lyrics come out without breaks. Oyama brings his voice up in pitch, matching Marui's natural octave, making the alternation almost impossible to identify.

"Trigger-happy at harbor side. You're taking shots at the strangers passing."

"There's no such thing as a perfect crime," Oyama sings.

Marui comes in without pause, "Don't play that, you're said it enough 'cause you want me, or you want me dead."

By the last chorus, Marui and Oyama are singing in round, Marui bouncing with energy along with the crowd. He laughs at the end of the song, addressing the crowd again to give time for Urayama to switch instruments, "Okay, I promise we'll be playing shit that you'll all know for the rest of night."

The time flies when they play. Marui laughs with the crowd between songs, keeping their mood up. They picked their most upbeat songs for this gig and it shows in the crowd, in the way they dance and jump with the music. Seeing nearly three hundred people jumping to his songs, nearly one hundred of them singing along is mind blowing. Marui doesn't even realize he's finished the sixth song and they're at the time limit until Kato bangs her snare and says, "Yo, Marui! Are you death?"

The crowd hears and laughs.

Marui looks off to the side and sees a man in a white mask give them a thumbs up. So they have fifteen more minutes. Kato runs to the side to grab another drum that would get in the way most of the time, except it's necessary for her drum covers. Marui grins and grabs the mic.

"So some of you may know that we're supposed to announce something big tonight," he says. "Well, none of us are secretly superheroes and we're not involved in a big government scandal. Sorry to disappoint."

"You're not funny," Jackal groans in to her mic.

"Shut up, I'm hilarious."

"Can I say it?" Urayama asks. "I want to say it."

"We agreed I would," Marui says.

"Too bad, I wanna do it. Sorry, Marui."

Urayama runs up to the front of the stage and grabs Marui's mic, pushing him to the side with a bump of his hip. Urayama is a natural crowd pleaser, probably more natural than Marui, who thinks of what he says before hand. Urayama just talks and sometimes it's word vomit, but other times it's brilliant.

"As of tonight, our new album, Bigger, Longer and Uncut is officially on sale!" Urayama says and the crowd is so loud it hurts their ears. "Our friend-manager-person has them in the trunk of his car, which is kinda sketchy but stuff happens and we're broke high schoolers. You can buy them as soon as we get off stage."

Marui presses close to Urayama and speaks into the mic, "Hey, guys, get your asses up here so people can see you and we aren't harassed."

Yukimura and Yanagi grab Sanada, each taking hold of one of his wrists, and come up onto the stage. Yanagi stands next to Yukimura on the front of the stage while Sanada lingers farther back. Kato makes faces at Sanada and Sanada crosses his arms, too dignified and not drunk enough to return her faces.

Yukimura takes the microphone from Marui and says, "We're located in the black sports car outside. I've already talked to the staff and you'll be able to leave and come back in as long as you have proof that you left to see us. So bring a camera phone."

Kato taps her sticks together. "Now get your nonmusical asses off our stage. Especially you, Hat."

"Are you eating now?" Jackal says, close enough to his mic for everyone to hear.

Oyama shrugs and puts more caramel candy in his mouth. "I was hungry."

Marui hits his hip against Urayama's and says, "Get back on your keyboard so Kato can fuck some shit up."

Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi vacate the stage and Urayama goes to stand in front of his keyboard. Marui double checks to make sure Kato has set up and Oyama has his acoustic; Jackal has moved to the side with nothing to do for the song. She gives him a thumbs up.

"Calm down so we can play," Marui says and the crowd shuts up. "Wow. I have power up here. I like it."

"Don't let it go to your head," Jackal says.

"It's already big enough," Kato agrees.

Marui rolls his eyes and gets back into place, rolling between the front and back of his feet until he's comfortable. "So we've got something new to try," Marui says, "and we hope this doesn't blow up in our face. No pressure, Kato, but don't mess up."

"Says Mr. My-Voice-Cracked-Two-Songs-Ago," Kato says.

"Well, we know I won't be messing up because I'm doing shit this song," Jackal says.

Kato taps them in. Oyama comes in on his acoustic and Marui comes in singing.

"Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep,
Dreaming about the things that we could be,
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard,
Said no more counting dollars,
We'll be counting stars,
Yeah, we'll be counting stars."

Kato comes in and plays the harmony on her drums, completely overwhelming Urayama's keyboard. She switches between her drums perfectly, hitting her snares and symbols and her tambourine with perfect timing to recreate the song. Marui turns back, swiveling the mic with him, and watches her toss and twirl her drumsticks between notes. She catches his eye and smiles.

Five years ago, he never thought he would see her still standing, still alive and playing and smiling like that.

"Take that money
Watch it burn.
Sing in the river
The lessons I learned.

"Everything that kills me makes me feel alive."

Marui stops singing and Kato hits the last note with perfect timing.

Kato's arms shoot up into the air and she shouts in victory. Urayama goes behind the drums to give her a giant hug while Jackal helps more stuff away from her drum set. Marui plays the crowd, smoothing over the transition from Kato's drum cover to their last two songs. He wants to stay up on that stage forever, they all do, but the staff in the white mask gestures for them to get off so the next group can set up. The crowd groans when they jump up to the front of the stage and bow like it's a play, and they can already see people leaving, hopefully to meet Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi outside.

They pack up their stuff, lingering in the storage room to regain their energy, then leave to go find people they know. People shout at them and Marui eats up the attention. There is no better feeling than the high after a show. It's like he could do anything.

They bump into Kirihara, Hiyoshi and Zaizen, who drag Urayama and Oyama to dance. Kirihara is more than tipsy and clings to Hiyoshi for balance, even if his lack of balance seems forced. Kirihara isn't an annoying drunk; he gets emotional sometimes and likes to do skateboard tricks that could break his neck, but he's not annoying or clingy. Marui's too strung out on his after show high to care or ponder Kirihara's intentions.

Kato jumps onto Jackal's back when his phone beeps. "Hey, Aiko? Where are you?" Jackal asks. There's a pause. "Oh, okay. See you in a bit."

"What's up?" Kato asks.

"Aiko is helping sell CDs. Yukimura said he's glad we brought as many as we did."

"We brought three hundred, right?" Marui says. That had been a hopeful estimation a few weeks ago. They printed off a thousand total for the first run.

"He says with what we're selling here and what we'll get from school, and Akaya's friend's schools, we'll need to make more," Jackal says.

"Fuck yeah!" Kato says. "That's awesome. I can finally get my baby some proper polish. And I know Urayama wants a bone pick or something badass like that."

"I'm gonna go out and help out outside." Jackal sets Kato on the ground and she pouts. Jackal runs off.

Kato pokes Marui's shoulder, saying, "Hey, hottie with a body at ten."

Marui turns and sees Niou. When he looks back at Kato to ask if she's okay, she's already gone. Kato is the best wingman. Niou approaches and stops in front of Marui.

"So?" Marui prompts. "How kick ass was it?"

"It was alright." Niou shrugs, then smiles knowingly at Marui.

"Yeah, I thought so," Marui says. "You owe me burgers."

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"What, you don't want to get burgers with me?"

Niou rolls his eyes. Marui wishes he had answered.

Another band has taken the stage, one that Marui talked to before people began to show up. Marui loves their work and looks away from Niou to watch them as they switch songs. The band has been around a little longer than Zero to Hero and Marui has followed them since their start up. Kato and he have a mutual crush on the female singer.

"I love this song," Marui says, rocking his body to the beat. "I wanna dance."

"Then go dance," Niou says.

"No way in hell I'm going in there without someone I know." Marui looks at the insane crowd of dancers. He's never seen so many people dancing in one place before.

"Do you want me to go with you or something?" It's probably sarcastic, or a witty line, definitely not a serious offer, but Marui doesn't care.

Marui grins like a kid on Christmas. He takes Niou by the wrist and drags him into the crowd until they find a spot to dance, pressed close together in the mob and moving with the song. Marui sings with wild abandon and Niou moves with a surprising amount of freedom, though his movements still seem constricted compared to Marui. He watches the way Niou's hips tilt, the way his arms flex with every movement, the way his shirt comes up when he raises his arms, the way he lets the music take over his body.

Few people appreciate music the way Marui does. Niou is one of the few.

Marui presses closer when the song changes. Niou slips seamlessly into a new set of movements that compliment the change in mood and beat. Marui puts a hand on Niou's hip and the other in the air, singing along with the chorus. Niou smiles, returning the gesture by fisting Marui's shirt between his fingers near his ribs. Niou's other hand joins Marui's in the air and the hundreds of others up along side theirs.

They move closer. Marui can feel his hair move with his head, can feel Niou tug up his shirt several inches before letting go and putting a hand on the back of Marui's neck. Niou's palm is on Marui's hot skin and his fingers are in the bottom of his hair, playing with it with gentle care that doesn't match his frenzied dance moves. Marui brings his arm down, gripping Niou's hips with both hands, grinding into him, leaning back to arch his spine and laughing when Niou supports him. Niou pulls him closer; his hand moves up into Marui's hair completely and the other presses into his back.

Closer still when the song changes again, slower, more sexual. It's not close enough. They're not close enough. Marui looks up and locks onto Niou's eyes, watching him smirk and return the gaze. The movements become more controlled and focused on their hips, moving slowly like waves. Marui slides his hands, slipping them into Niou's back pockets, pulling him closer still. Marui wants to compliment his dancing and his ass, wants to lean up and kiss him, wants to see if his piercings are sensitive on his hips. More than anything, he wants to hear that voice.

Suddenly and without warning, the music stops and the crowd roars. Has the band finished their set?

Niou seems as taken back as Marui, if not more, like he's suddenly aware of what they were doing and where they are. Niou takes a step back, his lingering heat driving Marui mad. Niou looks around. Marui hears him mutter, "Shit, there's a lot of people."

Marui reaches out to grab Niou's wrist, but stops. Niou doesn't look like he wants to be touched. He recognizes the internalized panic in his eyes. Kato got that look whenever someone mentioned suicide in junior high.

The band keeps playing, apparently getting to green light to play for an extra fifteen minutes.

"Do you want to go?" Marui asks over the music. "Most people will move if you say something, but it's kinda loud and some people are asses."

"Whatever." Niou has a mask on, like he doesn't care, and shrugs. Marui doesn't say anything about it.

Marui begins to make his way through the crowd, trying to avoid hitting people with his shoulders and elbows while still making room for Niou to get through behind him. It takes a few minutes to reach the edge of the mob, which has grown since they entered. Niou lets out a long breathe when they're not surrounded.

"Wanna smoke with me?" Niou asks.

"I would definitely take you up on that offer, but Jackal's dad is coming to get us in a few hours and I don't want to smell like pot," Marui says. "Next time."

Niou shoves his hands into his pockets.

"If you need anything," Marui goes on, "let me know. My phone's in my pocket."

Niou disappears towards the bathroom.

Marui double checks that his phone is in his pocket, then goes back to the dance floor. When the music is this good, he doesn't care if he looks like an idiot or not. He just wants to dance. Niou doesn't call and Marui doesn't see him for the rest of the night.

.

Jackal and Aiko sit on the hood of Yukimura's car, which usually agitates Yukimura, who is too busy handling cash and CDs to care. Yukimura handles sales, while Yanagi counts money and hands off CDs to Yukimura, and Yanagi gives the money to Sanada for safe keeping. Some people are drunk and Sanada has a practice wooden kendo sword in the backseat just in case.

They can hear every word of the tracks playing inside. Jackal dances to the rhythm, moving back and forth and tugging Aiko with him so they dance together like they're in a bad musical movie. Yukimura dances while the line shuffles forward slowly. Yanagi's phone rings and by some miracle he hears it over the mind numbing bass from inside.

"Akaya?" Yanagi answers. They all stop what they're doing to listen in. They've all come to think of Kirihara has a stupid younger brother over the years. "Are you alright? Why are you calling?"

There's a lengthy pause, then Yanagi sighs. "We talked about this. Are you drunk?" Another pause. "A little? I believe you meant to say a lot. We'll drive you and your friends home. Have fun. Don't take any pills."

Yanagi hangs up.

"What was that about?" Sanada asks.

"Akaya remembered that his friends wanted to buy a large amount of CDs to sell at their schools," Yanagi says. "Only we talked about this several weeks ago after we began printing. We placed aside two hundred for them, one hundred for each friend."

"I hope he hasn't taken anything tonight," Yukimura says. He takes money from the next person in line and trades it to Yanagi for a CD. "Akaya and ecstasy would not be a good combination."

"Just pray he didn't take acid or LSD," Sanada grumbles.

"Don't even joke about that," Jackal says. "We would find him half dead in a ditch."

Aiko puts her hands up into the air to stretch and Jackal wraps an arm around her, suddenly pulling her towards him. She lets out a surprised yelp when he kisses her neck.

"Stop being cute," Yukimura says with a teasing smile.

"Babe, stop," Aiko says. "Not in public."

Jackal keeps his arm around her, but stops kissing her neck. "Sorry. I'm all worked up from the show." He nuzzles her neck, breathing in her perfume and sweat, smiling and mumbling something in Portuguese.

"When we get home, babe," Aiko says softly, rubbing his thigh with her hand. He grabs her hand in his, threading their fingers together. He says something else in Portuguese and she smiles. "Love you too, babe."

If it was anyone else, Sanada would have been awkward. By this point, he is desensitized to the two. Everyone in their gang is.

"Speaking of the show, where's Kato?" Aiko asks in a change of topic. "I haven't seen her since earlier. I'm worried."

"She texted me and said she found Kre, whoever that is," Sanada says.

"Oh, she found Krewella? Then she's fine," Aiko says. Krewella may talk crazy on air, but Aiko's meet her in real life and Krewella, which isn't even her real name, is smart enough to take care of Kato at a party this size.

"Is that her ex?" Sanada asks.

"No." Aiko smiles. "Why do you ask?"

"Do not look at me with that smile."

"That smiles makes any man reveal his secrets," Yukimura laughs. "Leave Genichirou alone for tonight, Aiko. We talked about girls the whole way over here and he looked ready to die in the back seat."

"It's true," Yanagi says.

Sanada pulls down his baseball cap to cover his face.

Aiko's phone beeps in her pocket and she pulls it out to see a text from Kato. Speak of the devil.

First, Marui and SNK danced like they're having sex. Kinda hot. Not ashamed.
Second, SH wants to bone his best friend. He's so obvious. Also kinda hot.

Aiko loves Kato, but she does not understand why she has to abbreviate her ridiculous nicknames in text form. Seconds after the thought passes her mind, Kato sends another text, like she knows exactly what Aiko is thinking.

SNK is Stoner New Kid.
SH is Seaweed-Head.

Niou, Aiko thinks. And Kirihara.

"What's going on?" Jackal asks.

"Nothing," Aiko says. "Girl talk."

.

When Kirihara spots him, Zaizen is covered in glow sticks and grinding up a girl. Her breasts are squished against his chest, and her hands are in his back pockets. Her hips are like liquid and her lips are neon. The bright color is branded on Zaizen's check, smeared in one place and the exact shape of plump lips at another. Kirihara feels turned on just watching. Then again, he's a teenager and he can get turned on by almost anything.

Zaizen isn't the type to enjoy a place like this. If it weren't for the music and the cushion of alcohol, Zaizen would have bailed after getting there, which had been quite a feat. The three of them had crammed onto Zaizen's tiny motorcycle, hoping off when the road turned to dirt and walking, leaving the bike heavily chained to a tree a few miles away.

Hiyoshi slides up next to Kirihara, drawing his attention away from how close his friend is to that girl. Hiyoshi hands him another bottle of beer, and Kirihara laughs.

"Dude, if I drink anymore I'm gonna puke," Kirihara says. Hiyoshi pushes it into his hand anyways. Kirihara gives in and drinks. "Where're the others?"

"They went to get some water and sit. Oyama had candy."

Kirihara nods.

He still doesn't know why Hiyoshi is here. Hiyoshi likes Zero to Hero, but this is less his crowd than it is Zaizen's, who provided half the minors present with their fake IDs.

Kirihara looks at Hiyoshi, noting the way his head nods to the music. "Wanna dance?" Kirihara asks.

Hiyoshi rolls his eyes. "No thanks. I don't dance with idiots."

"Your loss," Kirihara says, taking another swing before shoving the bottle back into Hiyoshi's hand. He's a little drunk so it takes a few times to find Hiyoshi's hand. "My ass and dance moves are magic."

Hiyoshi snorts.

Kirihara heads towards the nearest group of girls. They're older than him, probably university students, and they great him with a loud, high-pitched holler. They're half naked, wearing bright colors and bras, and two of them sandwich him. They grin at him, then at each other over his shoulder. They smell like sweat, but they're hot and pressed closer than the girl on Zaizen, and the alcohol is hot like lava in his veins.

He puts his hands on the hips belonging to the girl in front of him, pulling her closer. She closes her eyes as she dances, a little too drunk to be coordinated or attractive. The music buzzes through him as he rocks back and forth. The girl behind him says something and he laughs, not sure what she said, but he knows it's funny because she's smiling when he turns around to look at her. She comes up to his shoulder blades, and her breasts prevent her from getting closer than she is. Those things can't be real, can they?

"You're cute," the girl in front of him says between songs, when the DJ is blowing off time.

"He's hot," the other girl corrects. "Like, really, totally fuckable."

The girl in the front laughs. Her voice is muffled by the start of a heart stopping, heavy bass song with drops that make Kirihara's chest tight. He feels their hands lacing together at his sides before he sees them. They laugh, drunk and happy and high.

"I'm Hina."

"And I'mmm Chiyoko."

"Akaya."

"Even your name is hot."

If he looks down, he can see down her shirt.

Kirihara looks over at Hiyoshi, who is watching. Hiyoshi raises his bottle to Kirihara, like he's saying go get 'em, then he looks away. Kirihara doesn't know when he started looking at Hiyoshi, or when he cared. It's the alcohol, he tells himself. It's the alcohol, the same alcohol that makes his head swim and the girls prettier than they probably are, the same alcohol that has him dancing like an idiot with strangers when he shouldn't be.

The girl in front of him slides a hand into his hair, drawing his attention away from Hiyoshi and back to her, and pulls him down to kiss her. Her lips taste like strawberry liquor and bitter like a chewed up pill. She's drunk, she's high, she's got a tongue piercing. Kirihara kisses back.

Kirihara focuses on the breasts on his back, on the hands that are no loner by his sides. A hand slides onto his hip from behind, pressing into his growing erection, and the girl smiles. She grinds forward, pushing the hand harder against his groin. Kirihara's eyes slide shut and he rolls with it.

"We came in a car," one of them says. He can't tell who is talking at this point.

"Wanna join us?" another asks. "'cause we're gonna go fuck even if you don't wanna."

Kirihara is hard. But he can hear Kato's voice in the back of his head telling him that ignore his dick and get away.

Kirihara doesn't trust his mouth to not end up on theirs, so he breaks away and goes towards Hiyoshi. They shout at him, but he ignores his dick and the voice in his head. He stops in front of Hiyoshi, taking his beer, and downing it in one go.

"You're not going to hook up with them?" Hiyoshi asks. He's far more sober than Kirihara. He looks at Kirihara's crotch, not even trying to be subtle. Kiriahra still doesn't notice. "I didn't think you'd pass up a threesome with college girls."

"They're drunk, or high, or both," Kirihara says, frowning. "That's rape."

Hiyoshi is stunned into silence for several moments. "I didn't think you would ever say something as smart as that," he finally says. It sounds like praise, but Kirihara is drunk and probably misheard.

"Huh?" Kirihara responds.

"Idiot. Let's find Zaizen and make sure he's not tripping balls."

Kirihara leans on Hiyoshi as they walk, using him for support even if he could deal without it. Hiyoshi is warmer than he looks, and his arms are tight against he long sleeve he's wearing. Kirihara makes up excuses for leaning on him, but that's all they are, excuses.

"'sides, they were old," Kirihara says.

"I guess?" Hiyoshi replies, obviously not sure what to say.

"And they were sexy."

"You said so yourself, it would have been rape."

"You're sexier." Kirihara looks at Hiyoshi, who goes stiff. He adds, "No homo."

Hiyoshi rolls his eyes.

Total homo, Kirihara thinks.

.

At the end of the night, Oyama carries Urayama out of the warehouse on his back. Urayama grumbles and complains about his stomach, saying his tummy hurts from too much sugar and that he regrets nothing. Oyama chuckles when Urayama begins to babble sugar coma nonsense. He helps Urayama into the front seat of Jackal's father's van so that he doesn't get completely car sick on the lengthy drive back.

"I'll go and find the others, Kuwahara-san," Oyama says. "Then we can get our instruments."

Marui and Kato come out together, arguing about something or another. Jackal and Aiko are the last to show up, coming from the direction of Yukimura's car. It takes thirty minutes to get their equipment to the van because they have to go out through the back since people are still dancing by five. Once the van is loaded and the doors are closed, Jackal's father turns around to look at them.

"How did the—oh, never mind," he says.

Urayama is asleep in the front seat, Marui is lying down with his head on Oyama's lap, Oyama has his head against the window, Kato is lying down against her drum kit, and Jackal and Aiko are talking softly to one another.

Jackal's father sighs, turns on the van, and drives away from the Circus.


A/N: Songs are "Do You Want Me (Dead?)" by All Time Low, and "Counting Stars" by One Republic. The drum cover I had in mind was by COOP3RDRUMM3R on youtube.