A/N: I told you I'm not quitting on this story. I'm seeing it through to the end.

Interlude

"Can't you put it any higher?" asked Ninamori. She was really starting to tick me off. Usually she was ok to hang around, but that day I would have rather been with anyone but her. I don't know if it was caused by the strain of watching me put up posters all around the city, or the burden of constantly finding excuses not to help out, but she seemed anal about everything.

"Why does it have to be higher anyways?" I asked. "It looks good enough from here."

"We've been over this, Gaku," she sighed. "Naota wants the signs placed where everyone can see them. We have to put them high and low everywhere that people go. So if you want the concert to sell out, you'll stop questioning me and just put it where I tell you."

I never was one for blindly following orders. There's something about being told what to do that always made me not want to do it. I don't mind following others when it makes sense, but I at least like to understand why I'm being told to do something. That's just the way I am.

So I asked her, "Why do we even need another poster there? We've already got 100 posters in this same alley. You'd have to be blind not to see one of them."

"It's better to over-advertise than under-advertise. We've got to use all these flyers."

"All of them!" I groaned. You'd have said the same thing if you'd seen the large stack of flyers that I had been carrying through half the city. It felt like it'd take a million years to post them all up.

"Yes all of them. It's not that many. We're almost half-done now, so suck it up and get back to work."

That was truly the last straw for me.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have to carry all of these flyers all over town and I didn't see you place a single piece of tape or staple a single piece of paper. You didn't even lift a finger!"

Ninamori sighed again, which only served to intensify my anger. "In case you've forgotten, I was the one who scouted out the whole city and found the perfect place to set each and every one of those flyers. It took me a week. We should be finished with this before sundown."

"Well that doesn't mean you can't help now!" I nearly yelled. I was having a hard time keeping my outrage in check. It really wasn't fair what she was doing. But in my past experiences I always thought Ninamori to be fair. Still she wasn't doing anything to help me understand.

"We don't have time to argue," she said after letting out a long breath. "Why don't you just move that poster higher so we can get out of here."

"No. Why don't you explain to me why I have to do all the manual labor around here? You guys make me set up before concerts, clean up after practices, and now this. Just because I'm new to the band, you guys treat me like crap and I'm sick and tired of it."

"Look Gaku, please just move the sign. We're wasting daylight."

I wasn't having any of that.

"I'm not moving anything else for the rest of the day." I piled the stack of flyers into her arms. "If you want something done, get Naota or your lazy boyfriend to do it."

I crossed my arms in defiance and waited for her reaction. Her hard face melted and it seemed as if I had won. Finally I had won. But then she changed and her expression darkened. I'm still not sure, but for a moment, I thought she was going to cry.

"I don't have a boyfriend anymore," was all she said as she turned around and walked out of the alley.

Of course, I hadn't really meant for her to feel bad. I just wanted a little respect. It wasn't my fault at all. I wanted to rush off and apologize to her badly. I hated myself so much in that moment. I'm always saying things I don't mean to. But before I went to beg for forgiveness, I turned towards the wall and moved the poster higher.

Why'd I do that, you ask?

Because I understood.

-----------

"Can Naota come out to play?" I said, knocking heavily on his already opened bedroom door.

I knew it was a bad joke, but I couldn't resist. With anyone else I might have thought twice before saying such a thing, but not with Naota. With him I wasn't afraid. That's what I loved about the guy.

"Sorry, kid," he said doing an imitation of a 'parental type figure'. "He can't come out until he's finished all his work."

"Shucks," I said putting my hands in my pockets and lightly kicking at the ground. Naota just smirked at that.

"It's too bad because I was hoping me and him could go out and grab a bite to eat."

"I'd take you up on that offer, Sanji, but I've got way too much to do."

I frowned slightly.

"Are you really that busy?"

"You don't even know the half of it," he said with a sigh. "I've been organizing stuff for the concert all week."

I looked over his shoulder and viewed the mess that was his desk. There were papers scattered everywhere and none of them seemed to be in any order. There were a few copies of some checks with substantial sums and at least one paper that was signed by Mayor Ninamori himself. But the one that struck out from all the rest was a half-sheet of notebook paper with small words written on it in messy handwriting.

"Shooting at the moon while I'm falling from the sky?" I asked.

I was surprised at how fast he was able to cover up the paper. It was as if his hands were moving before his brain even had a chance to send the message. The shock on my face was evident.

"Just a little something I've been writing," he said nervously.

"Is it a song?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Pretty strange lyrics."

"It's a strange song."

I figured that made sense. But it was still weird that Naota was writing a song. He usually left all the writing up to Ninamori, Masashi, and I. He was more of the… not writing type, if that makes any sense. As I thought about it then, I sort of wondered why exactly Naota was the leader of our band. I don't mean to be mean, but besides playing guitar (which he was only marginally good at) there wasn't much he truly contributed to our band. I was glad to see that he was finally taking some initiative, but it seemed a little…

"Late."

"Huh?"

"Well isn't a little late for us to be learning a new song?"

"There's nothing for you to learn…"

I gave him a look that said I'd sooner believe that he was Jimmy Hendricks.

"Well there is a little bit for Ninamori to learn… and a drum solo for Gaku… but you're set."

"So you didn't write a part for me, or what?"

"I didn't write anything besides the words. I did fix up the lead guitar part though. It was a little bland for my tastes."

"Wait… so you stole a song from somewhere?" I asked in disbelief. "Did Ms. Katherine's company give it to us or something? How do they expect us to learn it?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to figure out," said Naota with that irritating smug smile of his. "It's your song."

"What?"

"Remember the one song you wrote? The lyrics kind of sucked, but it had great base and drum solos. Remember?"

"I wrote that?"

"You know… in chapter 6."

"What?"

"The song we were playing when Masashi passed out."

"Oh, that song," I said. I had forgotten all about it in all honesty. But I always thought the lyrics were good… oh well.

"Yeah, that song. It shouldn't be too tough. I just have to finish the lyrics."

"That's cool, I guess we can play it if we want to." But then I just realized something.

"But Gaku doesn't know the solo… I don't even know how to play the base solo!"

"You should be able to learn it right? I mean you wrote it didn't you?"

"Yeah… but I wrote it with Masashi in mind. He's way better at this than me."

"You aren't giving yourself enough credit Sanji," he said with that awful superior tone of his.

"Whatever," I said to stop myself from yelling at him or something. "But how is Gaku going to learn the part."

"Can't you teach him?"

"Of course I can't teach him," I said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. In my mind it was. "We have less than a week before the concert!"

"That's not too bad. You taught me how to play the guitar in about a month. All you have to do is teach him a little solo."

"Gaku is not you and this is not a little solo. This is the best drum solo I've ever written. It took me a month to come up with some of those rhythms and you want me to teach them to him in a few days?"

It was Naota's turn to frown at me.

"Could you?"

When I heard the pleading in his voice the fight went out of me. This song meant something to him… at least the lyrics did. This would be our first big concert and he wanted to play it.

"I'll try," I said shaking my head. I owed him that much at least.

I just wish I didn't have to eat alone.

-----------

"It's much too fast!" I yelled for what must have been the 10th time. I didn't understand it. It was the most important part of the solo, the part where the bass takes on a slow and low melody, and Gaku just wasn't getting it.

"But you said it's supposed to be fast!"

I couldn't remember the last time I wanted to hit someone so much.

"I said the part before this one's supposed to be fast. I said the part after this one's supposed to be fast. But this part, this part is supposed to be slow!"

Gaku's thick skull was impervious to my yelling. I started thinking that I'd have to crack it in order to get a message through.

"Why is that part slow anyways? It's weird to have two fast parts between a slow one." I took a long deep breath before answering. I would not hit him. Hadn't my parents raised me better than that?

"It has a slow part there because I wrote a slow part there."

"Why'd you write a slow part there?"

Don't hit him, please don't hit him.

"I wrote a slow part there because I wanted a slow part there and I think it sounds good there."

"Well, since you wrote this crap, can't you put the slow part somewhere where I can play the slow spot instead of in the worst possible place you could think to put it?"

What are you doing? Put your hand down Sanji. Un-ball your fist. It won't help anything if he's unconscious. Calm down… breathe… there you go… breathe… now talk…

"I'm not changing the solo Gaku. You'll just have to learn it. Now lets start… from the top."

Gaku grumbled, but for once he kept his mouth shut. He twirled the sticks in his hands with a skill that I'd never mastered. I could beat the drum with everything I had, but I'd never really had the type of flair that Gaku did. He began to play the first part and I played along on Naota's blue bass guitar.

I had to admit, he was ok. He kept up with my speed and rhythm so well that for a while I forgot that I was teaching him the part. It felt like we both already knew it. It was a sweet blend of melody and back-beat that just gave me this feeling… if you've ever been fortunate enough to learn how to play your favorite song on a an instrument, then you know what it's like. I was lost to the movements of my hands and rhythm of the beat. My fingers had a mind of their own and they tore away at the strings with a frenzied pace. And then I knew it was coming. My favorite part. The part where it all comes together to express the whole meaning of the song in one light melody of melancholy baring it's soul for all to hear. This is where the crowd goes silent with reflection and world stands still. This is the part where the only dancing to be seen is a slow swaying back and forth as the soft sounds of my guitar takes our minds away to a better place. This part is the pinnacle of all music. This part is the stirring of the soul.

This part is where Gaku screws up royally.

"Come on!" I yelled in frustration. I just knew he'd have it that time, but even after our chat he still came in a whole beat early, throwing the entire rhythm off.

"Hey it's not my fault, I'm trying as hard as I can! I just can't get your retarded rhythm to work!"

"The rhythm's not the problem. I can play it just fine. The problem is you!"

He twirled the drumsticks angrily in his hands as he stood up from his chair. I didn't think you could twirl anything angrily.

"I'm sick and tired of everyone in this band acting like I'm some sort of pest or something!"

He still had the sticks in his hand and he was twirling them like some sort of weapon in front of my face. I knew that if he didn't back down soon something bad was going to happen…

"Then I suggest you stop acting like a pest and take something seriously for once in your God forsaken life!"

My hands balled up again, but this time I couldn't will myself to open them.

"What do you even know about me? You move here for less than a year, play the 'nice guy' act on everyone, and now you think you know me? That crap might work on Naota but it don't work on me."

Move those sticks… if you don't move those annoying twirling sticks…

"Do you hear yourself when you talk? I don't have to play a nice guy act, ok. That's just who I am."

"Some nice guy," he said quietly and I thought we were done, but those darned sticks never stopped twirling. "I saw what you did to Ninamori."

And that was it. I wasn't angry anymore. I was ashamed. Ashamed and for some reason scared.

"I didn't do anything to her."

Gaku sensed weakness and he jumped on it like lion pouncing on its prey.

"Bull Crap you didn't do anything to her. You didn't see her face when I mentioned your name."

"What do you know about it?" I couldn't look at his eyes even though he was right in my face. I could feel the heat of his breath, wafted over to me by the incessant twirling of his drumsticks in front of me.

"I know that in all the years I've known Ninamori, I've never once seen her cry. Not until she met you."

That hurt. A lot. I lost my cool a little. I stopped making good conversational points and started saying lots of nothing.

"Shut up! It's her own fault if she got hurt. I didn't want to go out with her anyways. She… she tricked me into it! And why am I even talking to you. You can act like you know everything about her, but don't pretend like you know me!"

I'd never shouted at anyone like that before. I'd never shouted with all my might like that. I'd never been so defensive in my entire life. I didn't even understand what I was saying until a moment after I said it. I was cruising on auto-pilot, but there were definitely some bugs in the system.

But Gaku was so calm… it was so unlike him. And those drumsticks… they just kept turning at that same steady pace. It was maddening. And his words hit home so hard that they shook the foundation.

"You're right. I may not know you that well. But I know my friends."

I stood there and stared. He stared back. I regained my bearings.

"Some friends you know, huh? You're such good friends with Naota that he picked me to play the drums over you? And I wonder why Ninamori didn't want to date you? I've seen the way you act around the girls at our concerts, so it can't be from lack of trying. Hmm, maybe it's because you're a four-eyed, perverted, geek, who couldn't get a girl to hook up with him if his life depended on –STOP TWIRLING THOSE DRUMSTICKS!"

Gaku smirked at me continued to twirl them rhythmically in my face. He increased the rhythm for effect and the slowed it down then increased it again.

I nearly swung at him. It was such a close thing. I was normally a patient person, but I was truly at my limits with Gaku. But then I realized something. He was rhythmically twirling his drumsticks in my face. Rhythmically.

"Hey Gaku…"

"What Gajin?"

Breathe… calm down… breathe… it'll be ok… you have to fix this… look him in the eye… good… now talk…

"I'm sorry I just said those things to you."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"We have to work together… and I think I just found out how to fix your problem."

"What problem?"

I had caught him off guard enough for my instructions to work. If I played this right I'd never have to have another practice section with him again.

"I think I can teach you the solo."

"Why are we talking about that?"

"Look, just work with me for a second."

"Why should I?"

"Because you'll never have to do this again."

Gaku looked at me skeptically.

"Whatever, just hurry up so we can get this over with."

Finally things were getting back on track. Gaku took a seat at the drums.

"Count for me?"

"Huh?"

"Just count. 1 number per second."

And to my surprise he did it. He started counting. I looked at my watch and was not in the least surprised to see that by when he reached 30 seconds my watch was only 23 seconds. The kid had no mental rhythm. No wonder he couldn't play my solo. But that was about to change.

"Now twirl your drumsticks," I said.

"What is that going to do?"

"Just do it," I sighed. He wasn't going to make this too easy.

I looked at my watch and was amazed. Every the sticks twirled around his fingers a single second passed. It was like he had a clock built into his wrist that kept the motion going.

"Gaku… I think we can work with this." I didn't smile when I said that. He wouldn't have smiled back either. We weren't friends… but I did have a solution to his problem.

I told him to twirl his drumsticks six times before he played the intro to the slow part and to twirl them once between each beat once the slow part started. We played the solo over again and this time he had it perfect… well as close to perfect as I ever would have hoped. We packed up quickly and in silence. But I had something to say before he started walking home and I went to my car.

"Hey Gaku…"

"What man?" he said almost wearily. I didn't think it was possible to wear someone like Gaku out.

"I didn't mean to hurt her."

The statement hung in the air like a snowflake caught in an updraft.

"I know," he said quietly. "But you did."

Gaku walked away and he didn't look back. I didn't see him again until the concert. That's what we both wanted.

It didn't matter though.

Because he was right.

----------

I was never one to mix business with my personal life, but I learned that with Ninamori this is inevitable. We were in my room with the door closed, going over the song that I had written. It was finally done and I couldn't be happier. The lyrics weren't amazing, but the music was pretty darn good and I mostly had Sanji to thank for that.. I know it doesn't make any sense, but for some reason I felt that my song was perfect.

"I don't like it," said Ninamori. She didn't agree with me.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked insecurely. I never really understood why I placed so much value on her opinion. I suppose it was because she always seemed to understand me better than most people.

"Nothing's wrong with it," she said as she shook here head slowly. "It's just that I can't sing a song like this."

"Well why not? You sounded great just now." I wasn't lying. She sounded amazing.

Ninamori tilted her head to her side and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. It was a gesture I recognized as her thinking. In all the time I'd ever seen her, she'd never looked more pretty than when she was thinking. I cherished that small moment. It was how I always wanted to think of her. I guess I was just getting sentimental.

Sanji was an idiot.

I was an idiot too.

"This just isn't… my type of song."

"What do you mean?" I was intrigued.

"It's too… personal."

I was lost.

"What song isn't personal?" I asked. Writing music is an intense personal thing. It comes from within. If I'd learned anything from playing in this band, that was it.

"I know, but…"

"But what?"

"But it's yours."

Realization dawned. This wasn't about the music. This was about us.

"This isn't about the music," I said accusingly. "This is about us."

"Exactly," she said completely throwing me off guard.

"What?"

"You and I don't mix. Not anymore."

"But you sound great singing the song," I protested.

"It doesn't change the fact that there's something off about this."

"What are you talking about?"

She sighed.

"This song is great. What you've written is solid, and the music is fantastic. But if I sing it, I won't do it true justice."

"But you've already done it justice."

"Look Naota. If you truly care about this song, you'll get someone else to sing it. I just can't do it right."

"But no one else does sing."

"Maybe it's about time someone learned," she said giving me this hinting look. I ignored it and pressed on.

"Could you just do this… for me?"

Another of those contemplating looks passed her face. It wasn't long before she relented.

"Fine Naota. I'll sing the song."

"Thanks Ninamori," I said, "I really appreciate it."

And I really did appreciate it. I knew that she believed everything she said and I was happy she'd go against her intuition (or whatever) for my sake. As I walked her out of the house she had one last question for me.

"So where does this new song fit into the line up?"

"It's our closing number," I said.

I wasn't too surprised to hear her sigh again.

------------

"The operation was a success," said the doctor. "Your grandfather will live."

I barely knew the man, but at that moment I could have hugged him. I'd been waiting in the waiting room for far too long. It would be an understatement to say that I was a bit emotional, but I restrained myself from embracing the man. I still had my self-restraint. I also had a question on my mind.

"Why are you telling me?"

I understood my place in the world. I was a child. I would remain a child until I became much too old for my parents to think of me as such. And as I child I should be automatically placed at the bottom of the informational food chain. That's just the way the world worked. When the doctor's face turned into a mask of hurt, I wondered if he understood that.

The man idly scratched at his chin with the hand not holding his clipboard. I realized that this man definitely did not understand how the world worked.

"Well I figured you'd like to know…"

An awkward answer to an awkward question I suppose. I guess that's my fault. He was right though. I did want to know it's just that…

"I expected you to tell my parents first."

At this the man smiled. It was the sort of conspiratorial smile that made you want to smile back at them mischievously. I almost did smile at the man, but I remembered that I had my self-restraint to think about. Instead I just let the man talk.

"Under normal circumstances I would have… but a man likes to be the bearer of good news, if you know what I mean."

I nodded. "I think I understand what you're getting at," I said.

I didn't understand what he was getting at. I didn't think it really mattered.

"Well I've got other patients to attend to, so I'll talk to you later young man."

His use of the phrase young man told me that he had no idea what my name was. If he'd have known I was Masashi he would have called me that.

"Thank you doctor," I said with what I thought was a grateful tone. I wonder if he knew that I had no clue what his name was. I guess that didn't matter either.

The good doctor left to go attend to his other patients. I was glad to be alone in the waiting room. It gave the opportunity to finally be happy. I allowed myself the freedom of smiling. When I thought about how worried I had been, I even laughed a little. I breathed easy, for the first time since the operation had began… maybe for the first time since my grandfather had slipped into a coma.

Forget what anyone else ever said to you on this subject: relief is the greatest of all emotions.

-----------

Somewhere in Mabase a phone rang. There was nothing spectacular about the ring of this phone, nor the circumstances of the call that was to take place. It's just important to note that this phone, located in that small suburb in Japan, rang. It's also important to note that a boy answered it.

"Hello," said the boy, as people often tend to do when they answer the phone.

"Hi, Naota," said the boy who was on the other end of the line.

"Is that you, Sanji?" said Naota. He was never good at voice recognition.

"Yeah, it's me."

There was an awkward pause. Neither boy was proficient at phone conversation. Both felt it was a skill better reserved for girls.

"Anyways," said Sanji as if he was changing the subject. "I was just calling to see if you wanted to go out and do something. Maybe grab a bite to eat."

"Sorry man," said Naota with regret evident in his voice. "You know I would, but I still got work to do."

"Come on Naota," pleaded Sanji. "It won't take that long. You have to eat sometime anyways."

The other boy's regret was replaced by irritation.

"Look Sanji, not tonight. I've got way too much stuff to do."

"Ok," said Sanji disappointedly.

"I promise we'll do something before the concert."

"Whatever."

"I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Both boys hung up, but soon another phone was ringing in Mabase.

"Hello," said a boy whose voice Sanji recognized.

"Hey Masashi," said Sanji. He wasn't quite sure why he was calling.

"Who's this," Masashi asked.

"It's Sanji."

"Sanji Miyamoto?"

"Yeah," said Sanji.

"The same Sanji Miyamoto who plays for The Missing Moons?"

"Yeah, it's me Masashi."

"What do you want?" asked Masashi in a tired sounding voice.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. We haven't talked in a while."

There was a long pause in which Masashi thoroughly considered the offer.

"Who the heck do you think you are?"

One boy hung up. After hearing the dial tone, the other boy followed suit.

Sanji shuffled through a large book as he tried to find the number he was looking for. He reminded himself that he wasn't desperate; he was just exploring all available options.

"Hello," said a girl whose voice Sanji recognized well.

"Hi, Takara," said Sanji. He couldn't believe he was calling her.

"Oh, I'll get her for you." Sanji was extremely embarrassed as he heard the girl (who apparently was not Takara) calling for the girl who he had once thought to be the girl of his dreams.

"Hello," said Takara as she answered the phone.

"Hi," said Sanji. "It's Sanji."

"Oh Sanji," she said almost excitedly. It was like she was hearing from an old friend after a long time of absence. The two of them had not spoken since the abortion of their first date. That had been about a month ago.

"Yeah…" said Sanji. His confidence was rising. She wasn't mad to hear from him. "I was just calling to umm… apologize."

"There's no need," said Takara before he could continue. "Ninamori told me all about it."

"You talked to Ninamori?" asked Sanji in surprise.

"Yeah, she called a few days ago. She told me all about how you guys weren't dating back then."

"Well I still feel that I should apologize… I should have handled the situation differently."

"Don't worry about it. It was just a misunderstanding. I just wish I hadn't slapped you."

Though neither of them knew it, both the boy and the girl were blushing. Sanji was absently holding his hand to his cheek. As odd as it was, that slap was the only physical contact he had shared with the girl.

"So… how did you get my number anyways?"

"Oh… uh… I sort of looked it up in the phone book. I hope you don't mind…"

"No it's alright."

The boy breathed a sigh of relief. A silence settled between them. The boy broke it.

"So I was wondering… maybe you'd like to go out and do something tonight." He hoped he didn't sound as stupid as he thought he sounded.

"Oh… well I would Sanji… really I would." That's all it took to kill his hopes. She continued anyways. "It's just that I kind of met this guy… you might know him… he was in our math class… you know, Kozo… well anyways, we're going out now… sorry."

"It's okay." It wasn't ok. This was hard for both of them.

"Sorry."

And then there was that unsettling silence again. This time the girl broke it.

"I heard about your concert on Friday."

"Oh really?" he said as if it were surprising. He could barely walk a foot without seeing a poster advertising it.

"Yeah. Kozo and I are going to try to get tickets."

"Oh… that's cool."

"Yeah… so maybe we'll see you there."

"I hope not."

Sanji couldn't believe he said that out loud. It was the biggest tongue slip of his life thus far. He literally hit himself. But don't worry, he didn't do it hard.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean it that way."

"It's okay," she said sounding hurt. Of course it wasn't okay. This was hard for both of them. "I'll see you around, then."

"Yeah… it was nice talking to you," Sanji lied.

"I hope I'll hear from you again." Takara was not lying.

"Bye."

"Bye."

Both phones were hung up. Sanji began to dial another number.

It was a number that he knew by heart.

A phone somewhere in Mabase began to ring, but it stopped before anyone could answer it.

Sanji had come to his senses. He realized how truly awkward it would have been if he had called Ninamori and asked her to hang out. She had every reason to turn him down after what he'd done to her.

But that wasn't why he hung up.

He was afraid she'd say yes.

----------

Truthful Commentary:

Once again, I set out to make a (potentially) sweet chapter only to realize it's way too frickin' long to post the whole thing in one go. I was going to include the long awaited concert in this one, but if I had done that, this may have exceeded 8,000 words… and almost nobody wants that. So this one is just another set up chapter for the concert. If I don't have the concert in the next chapter you have my permission to shoot me.

Here's some random knowledge for you. Did you know that Interlude is derived from the Latin term "inter" and the Greek suffix "luden"? Did you know that the literal translation of Interlude means a chapter in the middle of a story that the author is too lazy to name? Did you know that I know nothing about the origin of words and I'm completely full of crap?

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was alright. Look for the next one…

Yes there will be a next one. Come hell or high waters.

See ya then.

-Fresh C