Title: Secret Identity II

Author: Black Rainbow

Chapter: 9/?

Status: on-going, quite unedited

Genre: AU, yaoi

Archive: pinkbutterflies, if for some reason you want it, e-mail me. ^^

Disclaimer: me only own the original characters and story… Takehiko Inoue owns SD characters, Jahnna N. Malcolm band name, and songs.

Warnings: crossdressing. characters will probably be very OOC, as I don't really know a lot about them.

-__- Sorry about that.



Chapter Nine



DAY

"How long were going to lie to me?" Jin asked quietly.

Fujima reopened his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I was going to tell you… today," he answered softly. The two boys stared at each other in silence. Both didn't know what to do.

Jin was the first to look away. "Maybe you should go," he whispered.

Fujima wanted to shakes his head no, but then he thought better of it. Maybe he should give Jin sometime to think about things, or to cool down, or something. He sighed. Jin stepped aside when Fujima passed him as he walked out the door. "But I'm coming back," he told Jin.

He grabbed his orange backpack that was still on the couch outside, and left.





As he stepped out of the Ryonan train station, Fujima caught sight of a familiar redheaded, tall figure. "Hanamichi!" he called out. Hanamichi looked up from the ground he was staring at in surprise, and offered him a small smile. Fujima walked towards the younger boy.

"Where were you from?"

"Shohoku."

"You went home?"

"No."

Fujima saw the look in Hanamichi's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what to do!" the redhead burst out. He sat down at the side of the road and started telling Fujima everything that happened. Fujima sat next to him. When Hanamichi finished, Fujima was quiet.

"What should I do?" Hanamichi asked him desperately. "I know you're older and more experienced in love and all…"

Fujima snorted. "This morning I was going to tell my boyfriend I love him and he told me to leave. Does this qualify me to advise you?"

Sakuragi thought about it, and compared it to his own situation. "Oh, yeah, definitely." [1]

Fujima just shook his head at that. He thought about everything that happened since he met Jin, and he thought about Hanamichi's problem with Sendoh and Rukawa. /Man… all of us are really fucked up, aren't we?/ He smiled wryly at the thought.

"Uh… Kenji?" Hanamichi's hands was waving frantically in front of his face. "Are you okay? Can you see me?"

Fujima pushed Hanamichi's hands away. "I'm not that gone yet, baka," he muttered.

Normally Hanamichi would've headbutted anyone who called him that, but as it was not a normal day, he just hugged his knees and asked softly, "Wanna talk about it?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"I've got time," Hanamichi said lightly.

So Fujima told Hanamichi about Jin – everything since he found Serendipity until what happened that morning. Hanamichi listened with wide eyes. "All of this have been going on… and none of us know?"

"Rukawa knows a bit," Fujima said, instantly regretting it. At the mention of Rukawa's name, Hanamichi's eyes darkened with anger.

"I'm going to kill that fox," he muttered. "I swear, I'm going to –"

"Hanamichi," Fujima interrupted quickly. "Do you really think it was totally his fault?"

"But he –"

"I mean, did you tell Sendoh anything after the party? You left Sendoh first – you were living with Mitsui and Kogure, weren't you?"

"That was because of the billboard thing," Hanamichi muttered. "I was mad at him because of the new single, which is why I went off to the party without him… and the billboard thing…" he blushed slightly, thinking of the billboard. "I wasn't talking to him because of that."

"Yeah, but maybe…" Fujima said slowly, "Maybe… it's not all about Rukawa, you know."

"No," Hanamichi insisted. "That was just a stupid argument. We always have that. But –"

He was interrupted by a voice calling out loudly and cheerfully. "Fujima! Hanamichi!"

Both turned to see Kiminobu running up to them, a smile on his face. As one of his hands was clutching Mitsui's, the other boy had to run with him. From his expression, Fujima could easily deduce that unlike Kiminobu, Mitsui wasn't all that happy to see them. "Hi," he said to them. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I think Hisashi-kun needed to get out more; he's turning into a grump, isn't he?" Kiminobu answered in a joking manner, his eyes twinkling. Fujima and Hanamichi couldn't help but smile back – it was assuring to know that at least one of them was happy. Even Mitsui's expression softened when he looked at Kiminobu.

"Actually, we're picking up some equipment I ordered," Mitsui said. "Trust Min-kun to turn it into a date." Glancing at Hanamichi, he asked, "What did you do to Sendoh, by the way? The guy was scary at the studio. He said to remind you guys to make sure we're ready for the tour, and that he's not going to go after all or something…" Mitsui drifted off as Kiminobu tugged on his hand repeatedly. He looked at Hanamichi. The redhead's eyes had gone wide and his face sort of … blank, when he heard Sendoh's name. "Hana?" Mitsui asked softly. "You okay?"

"It's okay," Fujima told Mitsui and Kiminobu. "You guys go pick up equipment, or whatever it is you're doing… I can handle it." He looked at Mitsui in the eye, and Mitsui gave a quick nod before walking away, pulling Kiminobu with him.

Fujima turned to Hanamichi. "Hana…" Hanamichi shook his head, which silenced Fujima. He didn't know what else to say. Everything had gone wrong lately. He just stared at his shoes, until he could make out patterns from all the dried mud and dirt.

"Remember…" Hanamichi suddenly said, jolting Fujima from his shoe-staring activity, "Do you remember that night, when I was still in the third year in high school, and you and me and Youhei and kitsune and Mitsui and Oniichan went out to Osaka for the first time, because Souled Out [2] was playing at this festival?"

Fujima smiled at the memory. "I remember… we were so good… that night was a success, and we were all so elated…" That was the first time they thought that they could make it to the top, if they wanted to.

"And afterwards… all of us crammed into this tiny car Youhei just got… and went off to get piss drunk…" Hanamichi laughed. "Mitsui was so drunk he couldn't even stand," he murmured. "Oniichan had to take care of him; he was puking everywhere…"

"That was the night they got together, wasn't it?"

"Hn. And… I remember, you and Rukawa were both really stoned, too… and you were dancing with that guy…" Hanamichi laughed as Fujima turned red at the memory.

"Shut up," the older boy muttered, but he didn't have to.

Hanamichi was suddenly solemn, and he looked wistful as he said, "we were so happy then." He turned to Fujima and asked, "Why couldn't everything just stay that way?"

Fujima was quiet. Hanamichi's voice came out small, like a child's. "Because we wanted more than just a gig at a festival or two. We wanted magazine covers, tours, the whole nine yards. So now everything is complicated, because we made it that way." When he spoke again, his smile was tinged with sadness. "We're going to be famous, remember?"





NIGHT

"Take off the dress, take off the face

I'll hold you close, before I leave…"

The crowd cheered enthusiastically as the beat slowed down, and Hana's voice met with Rukawa's for the bridge, low and slightly mournful.

"Oh you've got the darkest eyes

Oh you've got the darkest eyes

… don't say another word…

'bout the other girl…

don't say another word.." [3]

When the song ended, Rukawa felt a rush of pleasure as crowd's screams went louder. He missed playing live. He watched as Hana smiled cheekily at the crowd and murmured into the microphone, "This is the last night we're playing here for awhile… because we're going on tour soon…" Hana continued to psyche the crowd up about the tour, before announcing the next song. "This next song we're playing was written this afternoon. So, please bear with us, okay? The lyrics aren't even all that complete yet. It's about a girl who got dumped."

"Hana just got dumped," Mitsui quipped loudly. Rukawa looked at him sharply; his heart almost stopped when he heard that, and filled with hope, before he looked at Hana. Hana was obviously upset. He was having a hard time keeping his smile as he continued his introduction. Rukawa felt like going over and holding him. /But he doesn't want you…/ he remembered.

The crowd just became louder, oblivious, as Hana gave a rather strained grin and continued, "It's called 'A Fool Like Me.'" [4]

The song was a hit with the audience. It was sad, slightly angry, and mostly self-deprecating. And despite what Hana said, the lyrics were actually very articulate.

In the crowd, Rukawa could make out a boy dancing. It wasn't the fact that he was dancing that stood out. It was how he looked. His eyes would occasionally meet Rukawa's as he danced to the music. /The darkest eyes…/ Rukawa thought, as he sang. The boy's body was thin and wiry, his moves graceful and confident. He was tall, taller than anyone else in the crowd that night.





Outside, Sendoh Akira was leaning against the wall at the entrance of Lost Souls?. He closed his eyes as he heard Hana's voice over the crowd's screams. /A fool like me/, he thought. /What happened to your 'ore wa tensai', Hana?/

He straightened and shook his head slightly. /I was right about one thing… Androgynous Zone has a great future./



- tsuzuku -

[1] reference to: Empire Records, the best movie ever!

[2] for those who don't remember… Souled Out was the band's name before they changed it to Androgynous Zone…. ^^

[3] One More Hour, sleater-kinney

[4] this song actually exists; unfortunately, I don't remember the lyrics. I heard it at a girl bands get-together thing recently… the band that played this song is called 'intoxicated'

black rainbow: I have 10 mosquito bites on my left shoulder! :p Anyway, yes, another short chapter…. Which is hopefully not pointless (I dunno, to me, I think I'm just rambling here…) but… at least it's not a long wait, ne?

C&Cs are very welcome, as usual! ^______^

Black Rainbow

http://angelfire.com/zine2/effoff/slamdunk.html

listening to: 'who made who', ac/dc

reading: I just woke up. I'm not reading anything yet.

Feeling: sleepy.