"I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow" - Jack London
Chapter 4: Are moved by music
- Bluemean83@aol.com
- August 26, 2001
- Revised June 5, 2002
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- Disclaimers: The Three Lights was created by Seiya, Yaten and Taiki Kou, but Naoko Takeuchi penned them and their hit songs, Nagareboshi He' and Todokanu no Omoi'. If you happen to be reading this fic, and you claim to have invented Techno music, I apologize for not giving you credit, gentle reader.
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- "How does this sound, Princess, your hair is(scribbling) like an evening sunset I await your smile (scribbling) every night, followed with, We are searching for you' as the chorus"
- "I like this Taiki, but I think there is something missing."
- "Well Seiya, you said that— that could be him!" At that moment, the telephone rang and Taiki bolted from his chair with an inner-frenzy, outer-calm attitude; they had been anxiously awaiting all week for THE CALL.
- Seiya brooded over his half-written lyrics and dug his chin into his palm, tapping his pencil against the paper in frustration. Words, he realized, the words that he had copied out of Taiki's books and the newspapers, could not express his depressed fatigue, his inner despair, his chest-tightening fears. Some nights he would shake, and then some nights he could only feel the slow streams of tears running down his face as he stared at the back of Yaten's head. Even Yaten, surprisingly, forced himself to arrive early at the modeling studio every morning, since he was the sole economical backing behind their new and untapped enterprise---songwriting. It seemed quite natural for Taiki; late at night, while passing the doorway to the kitchen, Seiya would silently watch him writing feverishly, hugging the sofa arm chair while curled in bed, and trying to hold on to the dwindling candlelight. This was the inner frenzy coming out, something that Taiki guarded very carefully. Seiya had never read his friend's work, but remembering seeing him write, he thought that it must be very passionate.
- The lights. They had forgotten to pay the electric bill. At least there was still hot water for the showers, but how long would that last? And Yaten how long would he last?
- Taiki sat down across from Seiya, silently pondering. He unfolded his arms.
- "Good news?" Seiya smiled weakly.
- "We have a gig at The Mandolin next Friday----
- "That's good!"
- "But we don't have a song."
- Seiya slumped back in his chair and sighed. "So what did you say?"
- "I said we would do it."
- "Damn it Taiki, what're we gonna do? We don't have anything! No music, no guitars, no groupies! You're supposed to be the smart one; you could have talked to me about it!" Seiya's shoulders began to ache from leaning over the table and he felt his temples throb as though they were two pieces of rope tearing.
- Taiki lowered his eyes to his lap, and with a whisper, "I'm sorry Seiya."
- They heard Yaten trying to stifle his coughing in the dark bedroom. Seiya bit his lip and squeezed his eyes. He started to head for the door, "I can't, Taiki. I can't write anymore. I'm not a songwriter! And we can't live like this anymore; how long will it be until the heat gets cold, or the water doesn't run? Why don't you think about that while I'm gone!"
- As he silently shut the door, Taiki stared blankly through the kitchen window. His eyes trailed Seiya down the alley as far as he could, until he turned the corner and was out of his sight. The moon cast the streets in an eerie glow in the snow, accenting the electric skyscraper lights that never dimmed, and the howls of cars only grew louder at night, making the entire city look like a giant pinball game. Taiki scanned the considered lyrics sheet again, but the words that were written only ten minutes ago it seemed, hadn't captured the impulse of feeling they had when they first brainstormed. Something was missing, as Seiya had pointed out, something was missing.
- He's just impulsive.' Taiki murmured to himself. He wasn't sure if it was anger, or if he was tired he glanced at the clock, 1:43 a.m. Raking his fingers through his hair, Taiki stuffed some pillows at the bottom of the door, making sure that the draft from outside didn't enter Yaten's room.
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- The nighttime could do strange things to a fourteen-year old boy. It heightens his sense of time, "Wow! Nothing closes, and there're so many people out!", his depth perception, "That tower, it must be 80 stories!" and his street smarts, "I better not touch that" but tonight, Seiya forgot about the city and headed to the corner pharmacy.
- Walking in, he was shocked to see Yaten glaring at him. He had on a dark blue tank top with a large yellow star in the center.
- "Oh Yaten, I didn't mean to eat the last of the Captain Crunch, I was hungry and we were out of eggs" Seiya walked a little closer to the wall, "It's a poster! Yaten, you had me worried!" Seiya waved his arm and laughed. Yaten's smooth face, his eyes lightly dusted with pale eye shadow, the blond ponytail that looped over his right shoulder like a rope, Seiya wanted to laugh at his serious face and his pink pouty lips. In his hands, he held a black cherry colored guitar, and he was strumming with his left hand. "Hey, that's not right! Everyone knows that Yaten's right handed."
- A guitar.
- Seiya was awestruck.
- A few moments went by as Seiya drooled over the beautiful musical instrument. So, Yaten was advertising for Gibson?
- "So who's winning?" A rough chuckle came from across the counter.
- "Hmmm?" Seiya starred dreamy-eyed at the clerk, "What?"
- "Well, I'd think that by looking at that poster you were having a staring contest with the kid." He pointed with a chubby finger towards the poster.
- "I win, because he blinked." Seiya pointed at the eyes and gave a little smile.
- "Cute, kid. I see girls from the neighborhood I've never seen come in here before, all for that picture. They buy all the posters and magazines that he's in."
- "He must be a pretty popular guy."
- The clerk began to wipe the counter with his rag. "Yeah, if you like having to stand in front of cameras all day."
- "Some people like it. It must take a lot of courage to have so many people see into your private world." Seiya responded frankly, but his voice couldn't so easily hide his other feelings.
- "Yeah, but they all look tired and angry. Not my kind of deal, kid."
- Seiya thought a moment then began to peruse the aisles. When he got what he needed, he felt around his coat for his wallet. There was only sixty-three dollars left, it could keep the three of them going for another week or so.
- "Regional Cough and Flu ™. That'll be five dollars. I've got tomorrow's New York Times, fresh from the press." The clerk said, pointing to a large stack of tightly wrapped newspapers.
- "But it's,' Seiya looked at the large clock behind the counter, 1:57 a.m. That's amazing!"
- "And people wonder why New York never sleeps. They're busy printing newspapers!" The man laughed again and handed Seiya back his change. Seiya thanked him politely, but there was a strange silence from the man.
- "It's late, kid. I hope your parents know what you plan to do with those pills, if you know what I mean. I see too many kids like you thinking they can come in here and buy em up, and what they do with them laterit's too bad. It's good you come in here and a get a newspaper every so often, but I'm looking out for you kid. You don't go doing that kind of stuff with the Cough and Flu."
- "Oh sir, it's just for my roomma—my brother. He's really sick but he's too stubborn. He's always been, even when we were little kids."
- "That's good, real good. I see that you're not a bad kid. Ya mean well, I know. Good night kid."
- Seiya silently walked back home and skimmed the headlines of the paper:
- "New book reviews, Taiki would be into that, Politically correct bedtime storiesThat's perfect for him! Stephen King.does he like Danielle Steele? Movies.International news, what?! Mad scientists attack Japan from within?" Seiya checked the paper's date, "Feburary 8th. That's tomorrow, which is today!" Insomnia,
- Seiya had been thinking about this day for weeks, little Yaten's birthday.
- "Not so little anymore." Seiya smiled has he fumbled for his apartment key. He heard the soft metallic vibrations of a trash can hitting the snow covered streets. The snow was gray and pulpy, for it kept melting and refreezing in its vicious cycle. Just above him, he felt the stars twinkle at him. He stopped as he leaned into the door. A shooting star blazed silently across the nighttime sky. Perhaps he was the only one in the entire city who saw its fleeting beauty. It was the first he had ever seen on Earth. His heart raced and it warmed his body, like a mysterious perfume had intoxicated his senses.
- "Your strong scent, I'm always searching for it, princess. Was that you I saw?
- Can you hear me princess? Can you hear my voice calling out to you every night? I—"
- Seiya clutched his chest as he coughed. "I love you princess, I always have. What happened, what seems so long ago, we—I--- I couldn't come to protect you. I failed you; I regret it so much. But you're free, you're here somewhere on this planet, and maybe you saw what I saw? Answer me princess, Kakyuu, my lovely princessI wish that I could be with you" Seiya looked again at the paper, and hurried inside.
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- Seiya found Taiki with his head down at the kitchen table, weighted down in his folded arms. Suddenly it struck him how dedicated Taiki was in finding her, and Yaten too. They were working so hard! They would fight sleep, and work over sickness, if that meant they could get closer to finding her. But it was wearing them down slowly. That was when Seiya thought of music. They had thought of so many ways to become famous, but it was Seiya's idea of becoming singers that fascinated Taiki the most. And why not be singers, and still do all the other things? People would recognize Yaten immediately from being a model. And besides, wasn't music universal?
- Seiya remembered the afternoon after he quit his job and Taiki was ready to venture into the creative pulse of music.
- "Every culture has music and every culture expresses it differently. We should make a few songs that the entire world can understand. Words that could easily be understood and translated into every language." Taiki proposed the plan.
- He continued, "They should have simple words and phrases, things that people could identify with."
- "Like a feeling. Everyone has a special connection with the stars and heavens." Seiya suggested.
- "Don't romanticize the universe, Seiya. The reality of the situation is here, not up there in the sky. Be serious." He glanced towards his computer, walked over towards it and turned it on. A few moments later, he called Seiya over.
- "I've been working on a program that digitizes music into the computer. Listen to this," he turned the volume up slightly to the sharp crescendos and deep bass, the beats, the notes, even fragments of Taiki's voices had been transformed. The computer had added a whole round of sound and it was absolutely amazing.
- Seiya beamed at his friend and slapped his back. "Taiki, this is incredible! So, what do you call it?"
- "Hmm, technology musicTechno." He lowered his maroon eyes in modesty and grinned.
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- Seiya looked at Taiki again; his cold face was framed by one long loose piece of his auburn hair. Taiki liked his peace, his quiet times when he could be alone and read. Seiya knew that he wouldn't enjoy being a celebrity, he wouldn't enjoy losing his privacy. Yet, he had pushed everyone since they first found a place to live, and before they could shop for groceries, he was out finding work. It wasn't easy for him to take charge, but many times Seiya felt he could trust Taiki more than he could trust himself. He had urged Seiya to concentrate on writing when he didn't want to, and had kept him away from going out for nights at a time. When Taiki was frustrated, he wrote at night, when he felt like he was losing focus, he wrote even more. Seiya heard him stir from sleep and tried to creep away from the table.
- "Seiya" he groaned sleepily. Seiya held his breath in the shadows. Taiki sat up and blinked his eyes.
- "Did you get a newspaper, Seiya?"
- "Ohyeah, I did." Seiya slowly handed it to him. Taiki began to silently flip through the pages, as though he were looking for something in particular.
- "I want to see if I got an answer."
- "An answer?"
- "The ad I sent.... here it is:
- Looking for My Princess
- Sensitive, educated SM, 19, 6'2" brown/violet, slim build, N/S, loves reading, writing poetry, seeks SF 18-20's 5'4" who could share poetry and possible relationship and is a seasoned traveler. Red hair preferred.'
- "Taiki! I'm surprised at you! You have to be at least eighteen and you're only"
- "It says I'm nineteen, Seiya." Taiki gave a little smile.
- That was the end of that.
- "And someone responded
- Search for your love
- SF enjoys poetry, laughter, astronomy and incense. Red/light brown. The Princess you are looking for, I've been searching for you sensitive SM since we've been apart for these months. We will find each other again."
- "There's no address, not even a phone number." Taiki flipped the newspaper together and sleepily made his way towards the couch.
- Seiya glanced at the ad again. "Search for your love, search for your lovesearch for your love! Princess I love you!"
- Like a burning meteoroid, or a wolf chasing after a deer, Seiya's heart flashed with adrenaline and his mind delicately and exuberantly raced to catch the flame of inspiration. It burned him.
- Search for your love
- Search for your love
- You have always been shining so brightly
- Your smiling face is just like a tiny star
- I have been treasuring it
- On that day I could not come and protect you
- I just held my tears of regret inside
- I am still feeling the pain (I won't forget you, sweetheart)
- (Seiya smiled warily at the thought Kakyuu as his sweetheart)
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- Your strong scent, I'm always (searching for it)
- Can you hear my voice calling out (I love you so)
- Where are you now (Moonlight Princess)
- My lovely princess
- Answer me, (answer for me)
- Right away, (answer for me)
- Answer me, (answer for me)
- So gently, (answer for me)
- Answer me, (answer for me)
- Right away, (answer for me)
- Answer me, (answer for me)
- So gently, (answer for me)
- The music gently faded out and Taiki unplugged the radio. Outside his airplane window, he could see the cold and towering, yet beautiful, Statue of Liberty quickly shrinking into a little copper doll. They were leaving New York behind now, not as Seiya, Yaten and Taiki Kou but as the newly formed band, The Three Lights. They were ready to hit the world with their powerful musical force, and soon every man, woman and child would know their names. Taiki glanced at his friends sleeping beside him and smiled.
