Star Struck
Chapter 1: Concert
By Kaen
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Doko ni mo tomaranai mitasanai Emotion SHIKATO kimete oikose yo…
The words sprung forth from his mouth with a confidence born of countless hours rehearsing. He remembered the first day that the lyrics ever came to mind, where he had scribbled them down furiously on the back of a receipt with a dying pen. When he was satisfied with the words, the relatively small paper was punctured at several places and carried dirt smears that came from rubbing against the filthy surface of the phone booth. It was a rather sorry sight to see, but it was then that Shuichi finally felt some sort of awe towards the lyrics that he himself had composed. That was nearly two years ago, and since that first time that he had hummed that melody, the song had become the center of his existence, repeated over and over again in his life. It was his second name in the eyes of the fans: "The guy who sings "Rage Beat", the vocalist of Bad Luck". He responded to it almost as well as "baka".
A broader smile tugged at his lips as he burst into the chorus once more, sending as much of his energy to every single one of the fans in the audience as possible. His efforts were rewarded when he glanced up and saw the thousands of smiling faces in the crowd, some with their arms raised and swaying to the music, others singing along, some just grinning and enjoying themselves. The sheer amount of positive energy in the large concert hall was nearly overwhelming, rallying from every crammed aisle and corner. The song led into Hiro's guitar solo, so Shuichi stepped away from the microphone and swayed along to the fast beat. The speakers were blaring Fujisaki's synthesized rhythm, which made Shuichi a bit dizzy when he stepped to near to them. He scooted away as gracefully as possible, still smiling in order to better cover his folly. Regaining his bearings, Shuichi realized that he only had a few more seconds to get back in the spotlight and stepped again into center stage.
The lights were flashing all different colors, creating a fascinating yet slightly disorienting pattern. Pink, green, yellow, green, blue, purple, flash… Shuichi noticed the sequence speeding up as they approached the end of the song. 'It's good,' he thought, 'The stage lighting was starting to make him really, really warm and those lights were so dizzying.
"Shine seikai no nuke-michi o neratte tadoritsuku basho e I Want New World!"
'Good, just a few most seconds and then the songs over. No, don't look at the lights. Oh god, it's so hot. I fell kind of sick…'
As if answered by the god he wasn't sure he believed in, the song broke off into its last riff where it was drowned out by the cheering of the crowd. It started as a small disturbance in the ocean of people, soon gathering more voices and crashing upon the stage like a tidal wave. Shuichi raised in arm in thanks, waving to the crowd. He smiled, although it was a bit strained. He felt himself lose his bearings for a brief second, quickly taking a step forward to counter the effect. He grabbed the microphone stand with his free arm, using it as a support as the crowd's voice began to fade into a dulling roar in his mind. He blinked to clear his vision when he lost sight of the individuals in the crowd, them instead becoming a multitude of colored blurs.
Shuichi felt a strong hand clamp of his shoulder. "You did well tonight, Shuichi-kun!" Hiro complimented him, also waving to the crowd.
Shuichi blinked rapidly again.
"Yeah, thanks…" he trailed off, intending to say more, but promptly forgetting what as the throbbing in his head manifested itself.
"Shuichi, you okay? You look a little pale." Hiro commented concernedly as he lowered his guitar to the stand nearby.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just… tired."
He continued smiling at the crowd, even when it felt like his mind had lost connection with his body. Sensing his friend's situation, Hiro kindly decided to take up the good night, thank you, etc. message that Shuichi usually said. Shuichi in turn simply said "thank you" and proceeded to exit off the stage behind Hiro. Suddenly, another wave of applause and cheering came from the crowd.
"Encore! Encore!" they cried in somewhat awkward English.
The pink-haired vocalist of Bad Luck turned around to face the audience, an action that resulted in yet another cheer. There weren't too many songs left to perform. "Rage Beat" was always their climax song since it was still their most famous, but they had also performed "Seven Days", "In the Moonlight", "Spicy Marmalade", "Glaring Dream", and even "No style", which was on an album yet to be released by NG.
"Easy Action?'" Fujisaki suggested, screaming over the crowd in order to be heard.
Hiro nodded in approval, lifting his guitar strap around his neck and once again taking his place on the stage. Shuichi remembered vaguely nodding and dragging himself up to the mic again.
'Focus, I know this song! It may be new, but I know we can do it!' Shuichi smiled to himself as he imagined Sakano freaking out over the band's choice, directly next to K, who was most likely smiling smugly. Shuichi closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the first couple seconds of the songs before he came in. Funny, he never realized how fast his band's music was. This was the first time he had trouble keeping up with and remembering the lyrics, but he chalked it up to the effects of the long concert. Despite this reassurance, the boy couldn't suppress the sigh of relief that occurred when Suguru's piano solo took over for the moment. It gave him just enough time to catch his breath before coming back in and ending the song on a strong note.
If he hadn't felt detached from reality before, he was certainly feeling so now. His body felt like it was simply floating along and his feet were not making any contact with the ground. He said his final good-byes now that the crowd finally seemed content with their performance, wincing slightly as their volume increased and intensified his headache. They continued cheering as the three band members began to file of the stage, Hiro first, Shuichi second, and Suguru third, since he had received quite an applause for his solo in last song. He took a final curt bow before the audience, which Shuichi turned to see and… was the last thing he remembered.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So… that was kind of plotless, ne? Oh well, it'll get good soon. I always hate writing the beginnings of storied because I can never get to the part I started writing it for in the first place. I promise it will get more interesting! No more concert crap, I swear! Eh, I just realized that I listened to the entire song of "Love Stuff", which I do not like. Oh well, pity me and please review! I promise to get the next chapter out soon if I get any positive commentary at all! Thanks for reading!
-Kaen *^^*
