An excerpt from the Global Blab, a celebrity news site:
New Mystery Girl with the Soul Reapers?!
By Toshimori Umesada
That's right, folks, you can say you heard it here first!
A new mystery girl has recently been spotted with the popular band, the Soul Reapers, everywhere they go. Starting as soon as three days ago, this new girl has been wherever the band's been, whether it be backstage or back home, a.k.a the "Soul Bus," as dubbed by fans.
A close friend of the band, choosing to stay anonymous, told Global Blab that, "She's a new backup singer, but usually the rest of the band sings backup for Momo, so I don't see why she's with them unless she's going out with one of the guys."
Indeed, this new girl seems very close with the entire band, considering how she had only appeared on the radar a few days ago.
A source says that she, "Is always hanging all over Ichigo and Renji, it's sickening." Another source claims that she's, "A poser trying to steal the band's money. She's going to take everything they have and disappear, you mark my words!" And yet, another source has told this reporter that, "She's just a friend," probably one of the most outrageous theories yet!
Well, whatever the sources say, I know one thing for certain: that girl is short!
Momo giggled as she read the end of the gossip article. Hisagi grinned as he went back to the search engine to look at the rest of the latest "Mystery Girl" news. The band was currently in their room, waiting backstage, waiting for their call to start the concert.
Hisagi had been less than thrilled the other morning when he found out his laptop had been used as a projectile missile the night before…
ZOMG, FLASHBACK TIME!
Hisagi woke up to find he had slept in later than anyone else… even Momo.
He lay in bed for a moment, trying to remember the night before. There was a crash, and a new girl, and… oh, right, the new girl. Hisagi tumbled out of bed and made his way to the kitchenette. There, he found his bandmates, Rukia, and Rangiku sitting at the table, chatting. He mumbled a good morning before starting to search for coffee. It was only then that something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he found his laptop on the floor of the bus, a few keys popped out of the keyboard. The empty mug he was holding fell into the carpet as his eyes widened and face grew pale.
The bus grew silent as the others finally realized what had happened. Momo in particular look horrorstruck.
"Wh-What… What happened to my laptop?!" Hisagi wailed as he picked it up gently, like it was his pet puppy instead of a bunch of wires held together in a box of metal.
"Well, you see, umm…" Momo began, staring nervously down at her hands.
"Oh, is that what hit me last night?" Rukia asked, curious, as she munched on a granola bar.
"You got hit by a laptop?" Ichigo wondered, staring at Rukia in shock.
"Yup. In the head." Rukia replied casually, as if getting hit in the head by a laptop was a regular occurrence for her.
Renji chuckled at Ichigo's stunned expression. "Rukia gives 'hardheaded' a whole new meaning." He explained as he took a swig from his soda can.
"That's great and all, but who threw it?!" Hisagi asked, practically hysterical at this point.
"Does it really matter? I'm cool with it." Rukia said.
"Well, I'm not! Someone took it and threw it! Do you realize what could have happened? The casing could have come off, the screen could have cracked, the-"
"I did it, okay? So just shut up about what could have happened and let me put the keys back in." Toshiro stated irritably, eyebrow twitching as he got up and took the laptop away from Hisagi.
"You did it, captain?" Rangiku asked, dumbstruck.
"Why?" Renji echoed.
"I threw it because someone was sneaking into the bus through the window and it was the first thing I could find. I only forgot about it because it slipped my mind, seeing as how the 'intruder' was an old friend of yours." Toshiro explained as he popped the keys back into the keyboard. He was done in minutes and handed the laptop back to its owner before silently stealing over to the lounge and plopping down on a couch, picking up one of Rangiku's magazines.
Everyone in the kitchenette sat for a moment in silence, letting all that information sink in. Finally, they broke into conversation, all but two. Hisagi had sat down and turned on his laptop to check and make sure it was alright. Momo had quietly gotten up and sat down next to Toshiro. For a moment, they sat together, Momo staring down at her lap and Toshiro staring at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Th-Thank you." Momo eventually whispered. She looked up at Toshiro with relief in her eyes, a small smile lighting up her face.
"No problem. Just don't do it again. Next time… next time, I'll handle the bad guy. You just stay safe, alright?" Toshiro replied gruffly, looking away as his face flushed. Not again! He chided himself furiously
"Okay, Shiro-chan, I'll try." Momo said, another one of those gut-wrenching smiles replacing the small, timid one from earlier.
Momo didn't realize it, but Toshiro was dead serious.
Rukia came up from behind the two and leaned on Momo's shoulder.
"What'cha looking at?" She asked playfully.
"The Mystery Girl articles, they're hilarious!" Hisagi chuckled as he clicked on the next link.
Rukia frowned as she read the page. "These are all lies. How rude!" she huffed, standing up straight and crossing her arms. "Is there anyone we can call about this?"
"1-800-I'm-Too-Sensitive." Renji called from the other side of the room.
"Seriously Rukia, you should have seen this coming when you decided to come along with us." Ichigo noted as he strummed his guitar.
"Shut up, dummies!" Rukia shouted. Turning back to the laptop, she snorted as she read one particular line in the article.
"Singer? Going out with Ichigo? Who writes this b.s.?" Rukia demanded.
"Gossip mongers." Hisagi answered as he scrolled down the page. Momo, finishing the article, left the other two to go stand with Toshiro, who was leaning against the wall by himself.
"You okay?" Momo asked concernedly.
"Fine." Toshiro responded, not opening his eyes. Momo knew him well enough to know something was up.
"You know, I used to have stage fright for the longest time. I could never sing with strangers watching me." Momo said, looking down at the ground with a soft smile as she remembered her old memories. "But Renji and Kira helped me overcome it. It comes up whenever I have to sing alone, but when my friends are up there with me, I can do it. I just tell myself, 'Que sera sera,' and it all seems better."
The two bandmates were silent for a moment before Toshiro opened his teal eyes and gave a small smile of his own.
"Thank you." he said. Momo smiled in return. It's good to see him smile every once in a while. He doesn't do it nearly enough. Momo decided.
Just then, the door burst open and a group of people bustled in. The one in the lead, a tall, willowy man with straw blonde hair in a straight cut, looked around the room. Standing next to him was another man, taller than everyone in the room, with a spiked brown afro and mirrored sunglasses on despite being inside. Just behind the two of them was a third man, with hair as white as Toshiro's and a build to rival any regular at any gym. And following them in were two girls, one an extremely short girl with spiky blonde pigtails and the other a cute young woman with dyed lime green hair.
The blonde man grinned as his eyes came to rest on Ichigo. "Ichigo. Hope you've been keeping up with your practice." He remarked a bit snidely.
Ichigo, in turn, frowned. "If you mean since the concert from a few days ago, then yeah, I have." He replied.
Momo watched the exchange curiously. She always found it entertaining how fights could so easily break out between the two.
"Hey, Momo." A familiar voice called softly, pulling Momo away from the stand-off. It was Toshiro, of course, and for some reason he looked pretty embarrassed.
"What is it Toshiro?" She asked turning to face him.
"Erm… who are those people?" he questioned, ashamed.
Momo laughed a little. "That's right, you haven't even met them yet, have you? That's the band we're touring with and opening for, the Death Gods. The blonde guy," she pointed him out as he continued to verbally spar with Ichigo. "Is Shinji, lead singer and guitarist. The man standing next to him," she pointed to the brunette. "is Love, bass guitarist. And that last man is Kensei, drummer." She finished, pointing to the white-haired man, who had his arms crossed. "Oh, and those two girls are Hiyori and Mashiro." Momo pointed them out respectfully. "They're not part of the band, they just travel with them, kind of like Rukia."
"So they're freeloaders." Toshiro remarked with a snort. This caught the attention of the short blonde girl, who raced up to him and slapped him with her sandal.
"Got something to say to me, Shorty?!" She shouted, her brow creasing into a frown.
"The hell was that for?!" Toshiro shouted back, his temper rising as he glared back at the girl in turn.
"Eh, Hiyori, picking fights already?" Shinji called from across the room.
"He called me a freeloader!" She shouted at Shinji as well.
"Well, you are…" Shinji replied, shrugging. His eyes landed on Toshiro, who was still pissed about being slapped by a sandal. "You would be the Toshiro I was hearing about, correct?"
"Yes. Call me Hitsugaya." The white-haired youth said flat out, frown firmly in place.
"Oooh!" Mashiro was across the room in two seconds, peering at Toshiro curiously. "Wow, how old are you? You're barely taller than Hiyori! But you really are cute!" She giggled as she ruffled his hair, much to Toshiro's chagrin. "Hey, hey, did you know Mashiro and Toshiro rhyme?! We're going to get along great!" She cheered as she waved her arms around in the air.
"MASHIRO! What are you doing?! Quit being stupid and leave everyone alone!" Kensei yelled at her, the vein in his forehead pulsing angrily.
"Waah! Kensei's being scary! Where's Hachi, HACHI!" Mashiro shouted as she ran back out the door, Kensei not too far behind.
"Don't go tattling to Hachi every time you get yelled at!!" They could hear him shout as he chased her down the hall.
Shinji sighed dramatically before turning back around to peer at Toshiro. "Y'know, you're not that bad a guitarist at all." He said with a smile. "Maybe we should have a Battle of the Bands sometime, see who's the better band?"
"You're on!" Ichigo shouted with a smirk.
"You're all going down!" Renji followed, punching the air.
All of a sudden, the door opened once more to reveal a large man with… a pink mustache… and a tall, blonde man, the expression on his face appearing quite bored. The bald man smiled at them all. He was opening his mouth to say something when a flash of strawberry blonde flew past him and into the middle of the room.
Enter Rangiku.
"Quick guys, you're on in five!" She shouted at them all, beating the pink mustached man to the chase. He shrugged and smiled again.
"You took the words right out of my mouth, Ms. Matsumoto." He chuckled. Turning to the room once again, he elaborated, "The concert start time was pushed up, so instead of going on in a few hours, you are, as Ms. Matsumoto put it, on in five."
"WHAT?!" The Soul Reapers collectively shouted, grabbing equipment and making a mad dash for the door. The last out of the room was Momo, being dragged along by Hisagi, laughing her socks off.
It was a crisp night. The crowd in the stadium was pulsing with excitement, laughing and shouting and triple-checking camera batteries. Momo nervously peered around the edge of the curtain. She took a deep breath.
"Que sera sera." She whispered.
"Want some company?" Toshiro asked, appearing from the shadows behind her. Momo jumped and spun around, clutching her heart.
"Sh-Shiro-chan! Don't scare me like that!" She yelled sullenly, although she really was happy to see him. She could always use a friend to stand by her before the band started playing. But… "What are you doing in this wing? Don't you come in off the right wing with the others?"
"I thought I would be better off coming out from here." Toshiro stated in a matter of fact tone of voice. "Besides, I need to know who those two guys back there were."
"The man with the mustache was Hachi, the Death God's manager, and the blonde man was Rose. Rose actually likes to play guitar as well, but he didn't want to be in the band." Momo explained as she peered around the side of the curtain again.
"Hmm, I wonder why…?" Toshiro wondered out loud, gazing off into the distance. He suddenly looked up, staring up at the sky. A warm smile overtook his features, making Momo stop breathing.
"The sky's really pretty tonight." He remarked offhandedly. Turning to Momo, the smile stayed on his lips. "Well, let's go." He held his hand out to her, waiting for her to take it.
Momo stared at the hand for a moment, a little dazed. Finally, she met Toshiro's eyes. Returning his smile for one of her own, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her out on stage, to be met by the roar of their fans.
"Hey everyone, are you ready for the Soul Reapers?!" Momo asked, as Toshiro made his way to her right, Renji sat behind his drum set in the back, and Hisagi and Ichigo took their places on Momo's left.
Her question was answered by hundreds of voices.
"That's what I thought!" Momo laughed. Turning to her fellow band mates, she held up two fingers. They grinned in response. They knew what song they were starting off with.
The guys started playing the opening chords to the song. Momo clapped her hands over her head, getting the crowd even more pumped as they recognized one of the Soul Reaper's most famous songs. Taking the mic in hand, Momo began to sing…
Monday morning
Here we go again
We get this over
No more sleeping in
Responsibilities
All that I see
A five day work week
Up ahead of me
I, I, I, I don't like Tuesdays
Uh, uh, unless it's on a holiday
If I can make it to Friday
Then things can start going my way, 'cause
Saturdays, Sundays
Are my favorite days
Who needs Mondays anyway?
Gotta plan your escape
You only get forty-eight
Live it up nonstop
Just can't get enough
Saturdays, Sundays
Mondays, no way
Tuesday, Wednesday
Can't wait for Friday
So no more vacation
You know I'm waiting
But until then
Got to be patient
Take a week off
Sounds good to me
But that's fiction
And not reality
I, I, I, I don't like Tuesdays
Uh, uh, unless it's on a holiday
If I can make it to Friday
Then things can start going my way, 'cause
Saturdays, Sundays
Are my favorite days
Who needs Mondays anyway?
Gotta plan your escape
You only get forty-eight
Live it up nonstop
Just can't get enough
Saturdays, Sundays
Mondays, no way
Tuesday, Wednesday
Can't wait for Friday
Call up your best friends
Crank up the Soul Reapers
It's time to start it up
Because you know you love
Saturdays, Sundays
Mondays, no way
Tuesday, Wednesday
Can't wait for Friday
Saturdays, Sundays
Are my favorite days
Who needs Mondays anyway?
Gotta plan your escape
You only get forty-eight
Live it up nonstop
Just can't get enough
Momo finished the song with a smile on her face as she waved to the crowd. The night had only just begun.
And she felt like she could touch the stars.
I would understand if you all want to kill me right about now. I'm so sorry for not updating in so long! ;w;
But, but, do I get a few points for making this one longer than usual? Five pages, c'mon, doesn't that earn me a few points? *crickets* Guess not… T~T I explained a bunch of things I kind of left hanging in the last chapter, and we finally know who the other band is! XD
Well, if I have any reviewers left, I'd like to thank them now! Thank you KnowledgenandImagination, screamerXOXO, Momo – Toshiro, neokillerqc, rolf-hitsugaya, xIxLikexMusicx (Thanks for the song suggestion! :3), MoonLightView, doubt and trust, HitsugayaXxXHinamori, Ophianara Blade, AznVKai, nexuswarrior, HalfJillHalfJack, JoaNyMar12, Lord Slayer, and Corentin. I'M SO SORRY!!
Well, if you're not completely angry at me, please review? And thank you so much for reading… I'm a failure of an authoress! *runs away crying*
Oh! And the reason I never posted the Halloween chapter was cause I got a horrible, horrible virus that deleted all of my documents. ALL OF THEM! So I had to start this chapter, and all my others, by scratch. Number 1 reason for why I was so late to update. But I'm sure none of you really care, so I'll just shut up now! Au revoir, et je suis desole!!! ;w;