Me: Man, I'm so freaking glad I finally got this chapter up!
Kanda: What the hell even took you so long?
Me: Uh, see, what happened was, my dad wanted me out of the house more...and I got anxious when I couldn't finish this chapter...
Edward: Bull. C'mon Hanashi, this is the latest you've updated! Don't you have deadlines you set for yourself?
Me: Of course I do! Who do you think I am?
Tyki: A girl who normally procrastinates?
Me: Shut up. I don't procrastinate when there's something I like doing. PUNISHMENT: Tyki has to do the disclaimer. You too Ed!
Ed and Tyki: Are you kidding me?
Me: Nope!~~
Edward: -Muttering: pain the ass author...- Hanashi isn't Hiromu Arakawa, so she owns no one from Fullmetal Alchemist.
Tyki: She's not Katsura Hoshino, and has no ownership over D. Gray-man.
Lenalee & Winry: She only owns this fan fiction!
Me: Uh, yeah...well, enjoy!~
Day 12: The Battle Commences (Part I.)
← ←One Week Ago...← ←
There were some things Yu Kanda could deal with fairly well. Things he could do without, and things that he wishes would get the idea and stay out of his life...which needless to say, insisted on invading now matter how many times he told them to leave him alone.
"Yu." The unmistakable voice of his self-proclaimed foster father, Froi Tiedoll had greeted the young Japanese teen.
"Don't call me that." Kanda deadpanned, glaring daggers at the man.
"But what else is a father supposed to call his son?"
"You're not my father."
"C'mon Kanda, you know how the old man is!" A younger man proclaims. Kanda's death glare is then directed to the other, who is only a little older than himself. "Besides, we traveled all the way here to cheer you on, didn't we, Marie? Chaoji?"
"We're not related by blood, but we are still your family, Kanda." The taller man—Marie—said.
"Che. I don't have time for any of you."
"Is it wrong to see you rehearsing?" Tiedoll asked his 'son'. Kanda took a deep breath of air, and huffed it out.
"Do what you want." It was true though. Accommodators of Innocence had rehearsals today, they'd be one of the first bands going when the official opening for the Final Battle of Bands of War, being the fourteenth group playing. They were after some group called 'Dark Matter', or something. "But why would you bother rooting for the group I'm in if you're in an opposing one, Daisya."
"Dude, c'mon, opposing teams we might be, but it wouldn't hurt to cheer you on, in case the other doesn't get the chance to."
"The Exorcists, wasn't it?" Tiedoll asked, "That was the name of the group you're in? Who else was in there?"
"Suman Dark for drums, our own Noise Marie on keyboard, myself on guitar, and we also have Miranda Lotto playing the bass."
"Miranda?" Tiedoll asked, "May I ask how you managed to get her in your group?"
"She's surprisingly pretty good with what she does. Which is a total shocker knowing how much of a klutz she normally is." Daisya explained. "Of course we all know I'm the leader of this said group."
"Che. Suman Dark? I thought that bastard was a part of that group called 'Fallen'."
"They didn't make it as far as we managed." Marie explained to the younger male. "We used to have a younger girl named Mei Ling, but soon after we made it this far, she had business to do back home. I told Daisya that Miranda knew how to play the bass, and that's how we got her."
"She's a total keeper!" Daisya said, his mind thinking of the nervous wreck that was Miranda Lotto.
"Che. I don't have time for this." Kanda said, as he started for where the rest of AOI were. Unfortunately for him, his 'family' followed him. He cursed under his breath.
\m/ B*A*N*D*S /\ O*F /\ W*A*R \m/
"Where's Yu?" Lavi asked, finishing the final tunings of his guitar. Leave it to so many factors to cause his own pride and joy to sound horrible in just a matter of moments.
"I sent him out to get new drumsticks." Lenalee answered, plucking at some of the strings on her bass. "He used his last pair to hit you with."
"And me." Allen added, remembering the concussion he was sure he received from the short tempered teen. "Well, if you look at it this way, at least—"
"God damn it! I told you to fuck off!"
"Whoa, Yu sounds really pissed off now..." Lavi said, hearing their drummer from beyond the door.
"But, Yu, isn't it only fair we—"
"I told you once, I told you a thousand times over, DON'T CALL ME BY THAT NAME!"
"Someone's pissed." Lavi said, he and the other two staring at the door. Kanda quickly opened the door, and slammed it into who ever was there's face.
"Tiedoll?" Allen guessed.
"Che. Daisya, Marie and Chaoji were there too." The Japanese said, distaste clear in his voice for his 'family'.
"Consider yourself lucky, Kanda. At least Tiedoll is trying to be a father figure."
"It's because he's trying that's pissing me off." Kanda said. "I can't stand people like that."
"Translation: I'm glad he's worried of my well-being, but he's got to stop worrying about me so much." Lavi said.
"Stupid rabbit."
"Tra—eh, actually he meant that one." Lavi said shrugging. Lenalee giggled.
"Kanda, we're practicing the song Allen and I wrote...it has a cute dance and everything!"
"L-Lenalee, do I have to do the dance?"
"OF COURSE!" The band members flinched at the sudden voice of Komui. When did he get here? "Allen, I don't like my sister be saddened! If she sheds even one tear because of something you won't do for her, it'll be considered hurting her, and I have a Komlin with your name on it!" The white-haired teen paled considerably at this.
"Y-you brought Komlin with you?"
"Of course." The glare in Komui's glasses hid the evil glint in his eyes. But Allen was certain the murderous intent was there nonetheless. He gulped.
"I-I-I-I-I'll do the dance!"
"Wonderful!~"
"Idiot." Kanda muttered. "When you say the song you and short stack came up with, do you mean that one you came up with in middle school?"
"That's the one." Lenalee proudly stated. "Don't worry, it'll be fun!" The young male teens could only agree, especially when there was a deranged sister complex in the room.
\m/ B*A*N*D*S /\ O*F /\ W*A*R \m/
"Tyki!~" Road ran into her uncle, glomping him from his waist. "We decided you're going to sing for our biggest debut!"
"Road, I don't sing." Tyki deadpanned.
"Now, now, if my darling daughter wishes you to sing, who are you to refuse?" Tyki's brow twitched when he heard the voice of his brother.
"Cyril, brother or not, you have no say over what I will or will not do. I'm not singing."
"But Tyki~~!" Road started playing the guilty puppy look. "You're good at singing!~"
"Lulu won't sing." Cyril sighed, recalling the bluntness of her refusal. Really, she was like a cat. Only doing things she knew would benefit her, and thinking out strategies for success, falling back when things aren't going as well as she would like. Maybe she was a cat in her past life...
"I won't."
"Now, now, Tyki-pet." At the mention of a nickname he'd rather be gone, he turned his head to face the man who addressed him.
"Earl Millennium." Tyki greeted him. It was queer that the CEO of such a grand company was referring himself as an earl...but the name stuck, and the rest was history.
"Good afternoon, Lord Millennium." Cyril formally greeted the man while Road greeted him with a more familiar way; "Hello, Lord Millenie!"
"Always with the nicknames, huh Road?" The Earl asked, fondly patting the young girl's head. "I'm rather proud to be sponsoring such an event. As I've always willingly done for the last four seasons of Bands of War."
"Don't you have two rival businesses doing the same this year?" Tyki asked, deciding on taking a smoke.
"Ah, yes." The Earl answered, remembering. "Central Forces Inc. and the Black Order Records. We're rather up there in the ranks of business, lest I'm mistaken."
"Aren't we all the biggest record companies in the nation?" Tyki inquired, just to keep the conversation going.
"Uncle Tyki, don't you pay attention?" Road asked, "All three are big time record deals. The bands that win get to choose either one of said companies to get a record deal on their music. Personally if we win, I'd hope we'd get a record deal from our favorite family member." She added that last part, looking up with innocent eyes to the Earl.
"Now, how could I say 'no' to the band I'm rooting for?"
Isn't this almost like cheating? Tyki thought, "By the way, Road, what plans did you have for Ouroboros?"
"So, you remember? Right now I have Lulu looking over the troublemakers." Tyki stared at his niece, and sighed.
"For our sakes, I hope you can get the problem resolved."
\m/ B*A*N*D*S /\ O*F /\ W*A*R \m/
Ed was never the one to back out from a challenge. He'd faced more than what his friends would understand, losing two limbs, for starters, and his mother on the same day. But if a god really did exist, he must've really hated the golden-haired teen's guts.
"Edward." A man in his mid to late forties greeted the younger. "It's been three years since I last saw you. You've grown."
"What the hell are you doing here, bastard?" He asked, glaring daggers at the man he and Al knew as their father. Well, Al did.
"I heard your band, Equivalent Exchange, will be in next week's competition. What brought this on to make you do this competition?"
"It's none of your business." Ed sneered, "Why are you here, Hohenhiem?"
"Is it wrong for a father to see how his son is doing, Edward?" The elder man with golden-blonde hair asked.
"Tch, you're no father, asshole. You're the one who ran away when mom died. You're the reason she's gone now!" While having a one-sided argument with his so-called-father, he didn't realize that someone was calling for him.
"Broth—er? Dad?" finally hearing the voice of his younger brother, Ed turned on his heel, and grabbed Al's wrist,
"We don't have time for him, Al." He said, before Al could ask what was wrong. "We need to get back to the others."
"Uh, okay..."
\m/ B*A*N*D*S /\ O*F /\ W*A*R \m/
"Ed, are you okay?" Winry asked when she saw the bandleader coming into rehearsal with a look of anger in his face. Alphonse was in tow.
"Just great, Winry." Ed said still trying to calm down. "Just fan-flipping-tastic."
"He...met our father." Al explained to his friend. "I don't know what happened while they were there, but I guess something dad said might've angered brother."
"You're father was the man who left you shortly after your mother died, right?" Ling asked, leaning against Al's drum set.
"Yeah, that's him." Al confirmed. "He didn't come to mom's funeral. But...I'm sure there's a reason, right?"
"What is damn reason is, I could care less!" Ed said. "Listen, let's just get yours and Winry's duet practiced, okay? We're doing this one next week."
"Alright, brother..." "If you say so..." "We'll get to work then." Three answers said at once.
\m/ B*A*N*D*S /\ O*F /\ W*A*R \m/
"Scieska, are you sure you're ready to sing? Last time you tried, you freaked out, and nearly passed out...and that was without a crowd." Maes told the brunette.
"I know I can do it!" Scieska said, determination in her eyes. "I have to. My mother's coming from Florida to see the band I've told her much about. I don't want to let her down."
"You're mother's coming, Scieska?" Riza asked, looking up from the lyrics she was almost done with. "I didn't know she was well enough to travel now."
"She's still very much ill," Scieska said with nostalgia, "but she doesn't want that to stop her from seeing us accomplish our dreams. Reaching the top of the music industry."
"It's a dream we all share." Roy spoke up, after listening to his companions speaking to each other. "Rise up to the top, and become not one of the best, but the best."
"That we did." Riza said, handing the lyrics to Scieska. "I'm sure that with hard work, and enough practice, we'll achieve the goals we all have."
"You said goals." Maes pointed out.
"Of course. The other bands have theirs too."
\m/ B*A*N*D*S /\ O*F /\ W*A*R \m/
→(Present Day)←
Crowds were roaring in cheers for multiple groups for which they fans of. The three judges were reviewing the first three bands that had gone, before moving on to the next three.
"I won't lie, but I have to say, The Exorcists did rather well with 'Love Drunk'." Neah said, recalling the high their bandleader gave the audience. "What do you two think?"
"Yes, it was high energy. The song made quite a few people get up. Beating the first two before them." Catherine recalled. "But we have to remember we have no decision who gets to move on."
"The nation decides." Sokalov said, not fully caring about what was going on. "Who's next?"
"Equivalent Exchange, followed by Ouroboros, and then..."
"Yeah, don't care. I'm for Equivalent Exchange. Let's get them up on that stage!"
"I swear to god, you're the only man I wish I never had the displeasure of meeting."
"Shut up, sissy."
"What!"
"Uh, Equivalent Exchange, please make your way to the stage, Equivalent Exchange, please make your way to the stage!" Catherine called through the mic. While the two male judges were bickering, Catherine sighed in disappointment. Why couldn't they get along? They were both older than her, but they act like little kids when it comes to each other! About a two minutes later, the group made it onto stage.
Edward Elric, sporting a black one sleeve shirt with the group's insignia on the right sleeve. His left arm was fully exposed, showing the bisects on said arm. His hair was tied back, rather than in the braid he was more fond of. He wore leather jeans, that were tucked into worker's boots. Beside him was Ling, who had his bass ready, and sported a jacket with a dragon-like design on the back. He had bandages around his chest, though no injuries were there. He wore simple blue jeans, and a pair of Nikes. His hair still in its signature ponytail.
Winry, fingers positioned at the keys to start the song, took a deep breath, knowing it was her turn to sing her heart out to the audience. Well, her and Alphonse. She wore a black tube top, that reached her midriff, and a denim ruffled mini-skirt. She also had on ankle-high boots, and she had decided on leaving her platinum blonde hair down.
Alphonse was a little nervous, but was ready for what they would go through. This was the big deal now. He sported a gray torn-sleeve shirt that reached his thigh. His black jeans had a silver chain to accent the black, and a pair of shoes similar to what Ed was wearing. He tapped the drumsticks together, signaling for the band to begin. The music started, and Winry began singing a few measures later;
*Just be friends, All we gotta do
Just be friends, It's time to say goodbye
Just be friends, All we gotta do
Just be friends, Just be friends, Just be friends
The crowd cheered the blonde girl, loving the energy that she was giving to them. Without missing a note on her keyboard. Feeling more confident, with the positive reaction, Winry was then able to sing the next part of the song;
ukandanda kinou no asa hayaku ni
wareta GURASU kakiatsumeru you na
kore ha ittai nan darou kitta yubi kara shitataru shizuku
bokura ha konna koto shitakatta no kana
wakatteta yo kokoro no oku soko de ha
motto mo tsurai sentaku ga BESUTO
sore wo kobamu jiko ai to kekkajika touchaku no kurikaeshi
boku ha itsu ni nareba ieru no kana
yuruyaka ni kuchiteyuku kono sekai de
agaku boku no yuiitsu no katsuro
iroaseta kimi no hohoemi kizande
sen wo nuita
From here, more energy was put into her words, and the music followed suit. The audience was officially clapping to the beat, just wanting more. Taking a quick glance to the judges' table, Ed noticed that Sokalov was tapping his finger to the beat. It was just like their audtions.
koe wo karashite sakenda
hankyou zankyou munashiku hibiku
hazusareta kusari no sono saki ha
nani hitotsu nokotte ya shinai kedo
futari wo kasaneteta guuzen
anten dansen hakanaku chiji ni
shosen konna mono sa tsubuyaita
kareta hoho ni tsutau dareka no namida
All we gotta do, Just be friends
It's time to say goodbye, Just be friends
All we gotta do, Just be friends
Just be friends
Just be friends...
kidzuitanda kinou no naida yoru ni
ochita kaben hiroiageta to shite
mata saki modoru koto ha nai sou te no hira no ue no chiisana shi
bokura no jikan ha tomatta mama
omoidasu yo hajimete atta kisetsu wo
kimi no yasashiku hohoemu kao wo
ima wo kakko ni oshiyatte futari kizutsuku kagiri kizutsuita
bokura no kokoro ha toge darake da
omokurushiku tsudzuku kono kankei de
kanashii hodo kawaranai kokoro
aishiteru no ni hanare gatai no ni
boku ga iwanakya
kokoro ni doshaburi no ame ga
bouzen shouzen shikai mo kemuru
kakugo shiteta hazu no sono itami
sore demo tsuranukareru kono karada
futari wo tsunaideta kizuna
hokorobi hodoke nichijou ni kieteku
sayonara aishita hito koko made da
mou furimukanai de arukidasunda
A pause from the vocals, giving Winry some time to breath a little. Although she and Al ended up writing this when they were younger, the song was for her, and her alone to sing. Back then her voice was too high to hit the notes right, but now she could do them as they were intended. She was proud as to how far everyone had come since back then...very proud. She knew the others felt the same. This thought in mind she sang again;
ichido dake ichido dake
negai ga kanau no naraba
nando demo umarekawatte
ano hi no kimi ni ai ni iku yo
koe wo karashite sakenda
hankyou zankyou munashiku hibiku
hazusareta kusari no sono saki ha
nani hitotsu nokotte ya shinai kedo
futari wo tsunaideta kizuna
hokorobi hodoke nichijou ni kieteku
sayonara aishita hito koko made da
mou furimukanai de arukidasunda
kore de oshimai (Just be friends) sa
It's time to say goodbye, Just be friends
All we gotta do, Just be friends
Just be friends, Just be friends...
Winry panted slightly, after the song as through. It had taken a bit out of her, but in the end, she felt it was worth it. She looked to her friends, Ed gave her a thumb's up, with his right hand, Al nodded with satisfaction, and Ling gave her the sign that said she did well. She mouthed a 'thank you' to them, feeling a sense of self-fulfillment. They looked to the judges to hear their opinions.
"I have to say, you did well, Miss Rockbell." Neah said from the stands. "By the way, I forgot to ask, but Edward and Alphonse, your mother was Trisha Elric, wasn't she?"
"She was." The brothers said at once.
"She was a fine young woman. I can see where you got your talent from."
"Thank you." Al said.
"You guys are probably one of the best this competition has to offer, kids." Socolov said, leaning back in his chair. "I can tell you guys are going far in this. Good luck with the rest of the competetion."
"We will!" Ling said, enthusiastically. The band took their things and headed off the stage. This would be a long competition, it didn't matter, they knew what the wanted, and they would try their best until the end!
Sorry for delaying the chapter, btw! I didn't mean to, but now my dad wants me out of the house more...so I'll warn you guys now, my updates MIGHT be late in the future...
* Just Be Friends_Sung by Vocaloid, LukaMegurine
Thank you Exile Wrath for suggesting the song, I hope you approve of the character I chose to sing it!~ (Espeically because you never said who you wanted to sing it...so yeah...)
R&R! There's more to come! This part of the story will be split into different parts with one or two bands singing in each...probably. Anyway, click that review button! It wants you to click it and tell me what songs you want what person to sing!~
