Yay! We're finally at the finale! And I got it out on time with a day to spare! (^_^)v
98°'s "This Gift": youtube…com/watch?v=m-OglenAygk
"Do we have to practice today?" Kazuki asked as he stared up at the ceiling.
They all gave him strange looks that ranged from the mildly surprised and curious to looking at him like he had grown two extra heads. It was two weeks to the dreaded concert. Of course they had to practice!
"What are you saying, Hihara?" Azuma asked with a slight frown.
He turned his head to the side so he could see them from his vantage point of the floor. Despite that, his eyes were unfocused and glazed, as if he wasn't actually looking at them. "I'm worn out from practicing. We've been at this for like three months straight every day: hour-and-a-half rehearsals on weekdays and three- to four-hour ones on weekends." His eyes focused on Nami. "Don't you think we deserve a break?"
"What would you even do with yourselves?" Nami asked skeptically to everyone's surprise. They had expected her to shut him down.
Realizing she wasn't going to flat out say, "No," he perked up and lifted himself to an upright position. "Grab something to eat, hang out, goof off, be normal teenagers who aren't in a coerced boy band; y'know, stuff people usually do on a free Saturday."
"Why wasn't practicing our instruments in that list?" Len asked. I mean, duh, what else would they do with their free time?
"Oh live it up a little, Tsukimori-kun!" Kazuki muttered. "You're never going to become a decent musician if practicing is the only thing you ever do in life."
Now everyone including Keiichi stared at him like he had grown two extra heads. Had he actually just said that? Ryoutaro saying something like that to Len, sure, but Kazuki?
Belatedly realizing what had flown out of his mouth, Kazuki flushed and bowed his head toward his blue-haired kouhai. "Sorry…I shouldn't have said that. You're a better musician than I am. I could stand to learn more dedication from you," he admitted ruefully.
"Ah…I…wouldn't say that…" Len answered awkwardly. Never in all his life did he think he'd be having a conversation like this with Hihara-senpai of all people. "Your music lifts people's spirits and gives them strength. That's very admirable."
Kazuki stared at him in surprise. "Tsukimori-kun…."
"You could always stand to practice more of course."
Nami slapped her forehead. "Way to ruin the moment, Tsukimori-kun!" She was surprised when Kazuki just laughed and grinned at Len.
"Somehow that seems more like something you'd say," he chuckled.
Len just smiled slightly and shrugged. It was too weird for Hihara-senpai to not be cheerful and laughing. He was glad things had gone back to normal. Over time all the boys had bonded through their shared plight.
"Hey," Kazuki snapped in inspiration, "why don't we go do karaoke for a couple hours? It would cut our practice time in half, and we could still run through our songs once apiece so it would be like we were practicing." He rubbed his stomach. "We could eat there too! There's this place I know that serves really good takoyaki and yakisoba!"
"How's their udon?" Ryoutaro asked, warming up to the idea. "I haven't had good udon in a while."
"I…want…sushi…" Keiichi murmured half to himself.
"They've got both! All the food's pretty good."
"Hmm…it could be fun," Azuma said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
"I suppose even if I wanted to, I couldn't get out of this," Len stated, although he almost seemed like he was half-joking.
"We already hear your God-awful voice every day, so why break with tradition?" Ryoutaro drawled lazily.
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Len dryly returned.
For a while, they just stared each other down until they both smirked as the other boys laughed.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Nami shouted over their conversation. "I didn't say I was cancelling practice!"
Without missing a beat, Kazuki turned on the full-blown puppy dog pout, the one that had felled even the mighty Yunoki guard. No woman had yet to be able to stand up to it, and Nami was no exception. It was actually kind of a pity he had never thought to employ it when he wanted to get out of singing solos.
"Oh fine! Get out of here!" she rolled her eyes as she dismissed them. "But you better actually sing all the songs."
"Woot!" Kazuki cheered . "Up high!" He and Ryoutaro slapped palms. "Last one packed up has to eat the weirdest thing I find on the menu!" he called as he scooped up his gym bag and ran out the door.
While the others didn't rush out at quite the speed he had, Ryoutaro and Len did move a little more quickly than they might have otherwise. Considering Kazuki's iron stomach, neither of them particularly wanted to know first-hand what he'd consider weird.
~ (^o^) ~
"Yunoki-sama~!" The adoration of the audience filled the auditorium as Azuma stood illuminated on the stage.
"Good evening, everyone. Thank you for attending our Christmas Eve concert. Are you all enjoying yourselves?"
Cheers, claps, and whistles of affirmation thundered from the crowd.
"Since this is our last song of the evening, we're going to have a quick word from our organizer and sponsor, Miss Nami Amou!" He motioned stage right as the spotlight centered on her.
There were lots of polite claps as he handed off the microphone to the second-year.
"Good evening, everyone! Thank you again for coming to our Christmas Eve concert. The Journalism Club would like to thank you so much for all your support! We'd also like to take this moment to extend our thanks to our band," she paused so people could clap, "our stage crew," more clapping, "and of course, the five men of the hour," she swept her hand back as the stage lights flooded on showing the five boys sitting on tall stools.
The applause and cheers brought down the house.
She grinned. Music to her ears. "Thank you again for everything! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year." She smiled and bowed. "Now without further ado, our last song of the evening, and a personal favorite of mine, 98°'s hit single, 'This Gift'."
The clapping quickly quieted as the music came on and the lights dimmed, casting a bluish glow over the stage. The boys sat arranged by height in parts with Kazuki on the far right and Ryoutaro on the far left.
Ryoutaro wondered where she could be sitting. Since he hadn't noticed Hihara-senpai looking anywhere in particular, he picked a direction and hoped it was right. "The snow is falling, the city is white." Gasps of delight and admiration were heard as fake snow began to lightly fall over the scene. He pictured those pale, starlit eyes. "Your eyes are shining like diamonds tonight." He smiled tenderly as he thought of her strength. "And we're all alone / There's no one home / You're finally in my arms again."
Ryoutaro joined the others in soft oohs as Keiichi picked it up. As his voice caressed the words, he closed his eyes and hoped that she would hear the music of his heart. "The night is silent / And Christmas is here," he smiled out into the dark, "I couldn't ask for more than having you near / Cuz I love you girl."
"Love you girl," the others echoed.
"And I always will," he promised.
"Always will"
He touched his heart and felt the warmth run through him as he thought of his senpai who had brought him closer to finding the perfect sound. "And now I know the moment is right / The moment is right"
They all grooved and snapped on their individual stools as they sang out together.
Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight
I'm down on my knees, there's no better time
It's something to last for as long as you live
Tonight I'm gonna give you
"Oh, girl!" Ryoutaro belted.
"All my heart can give…" they finished before grooving and snapping some more.
The cheers this time were on the quieter side as the majority of the audience had become puddles of mush.
Azuma took up the reins as the others swayed from side-to-side. He thought of that time he had taken her to that fancy restaurant. "I thought I'd give you something shiny and new / I tried to find something worthy of you," the girl who hadn't shied away from him despite his teasing and bullying, who always got up after being knocked down and faced the world with a smile. "But I realized when I looked inside." Despite it all, when she looked at him, her eyes held no doubt, no distrust. "There's some things that money can't buy / Oh, no…"
Len allowed a small smile to come to his lips. She was here, sitting somewhere. As the others began to sing oohs underneath, he thought back to that time he had first really noticed her outside the music room. "I feel the magic, whenever you're near." Those guileless eyes and heartfelt words…he had never been complimented like that before. "I feel it even more this time of the year." She had opened his horizons. "Cuz I love you girl"
"Love you girl"
"I always will," he swore.
"Always will"
"And now I know the moment is right / The moment is right…"
They all smiled and sang for the girl who had captured their hearts in various ways. "Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight."
"This gift tonight" Azuma crooned.
"I'm down on my knees, there's no better time / It's something to last for as long as you live / Tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give"
Kazuki looked up to where he knew she'd be sitting. Never were his words more true. "You know I'll always be true to you / And you know I'm the one you can turn to." Even if Kaho-chan didn't know the words he was singing were for her, he prayed that perhaps maybe somewhere deep inside of her his music would touch her a little bit. "Oh yeah / Any time, any place, or anywhere." And maybe someday…someday, when he finally managed to tell her his feelings, she'd recognize that he had been trying to show her this all along. "You know that I'll always be there! / Oh baby"
They slipped off their stools and began to roam the stage.
Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight
I'm down on my knees, there's no better time
It's something to last for as long as you live
Tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give
They stopped and grooved in place, bobbing their heads and gesturing in the way Nami had drilled into them.
Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight
I'm down on my knees, there's no better time
It's something to last for as long as you live
Tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give
With long, strides, they made their way back to their seats, and as the last notes faded away, they touched their lips and blew a kiss out into the dark.
And we have come to the end of the concert. Yay! If you think these boys deserve an encore, then drop the word encore somewhere in your review. (^_~) Since the most number of reviews I've gotten for any given chapter is 6, if we can top that (a.k.a. the boys get 7 or more requests for an encore [only 1 more to go!]), then Nami will send them out onstage to do an encore number.