Konnichiwa, Minna-san! I bet you thought I died. I thought I died too… as soon as School ends there suddenly become the issue of money. Then I find I have to get a 'job' to get this 'money'. What is this 'job' I speak of… Feh. Don't ask me, I'm still trying to figure it out. But one thing's for sure… it sucks. So in conclusion… I recommend scraping money off your parents for the rest of your lives. Thank you very much!

::Bows and exits::

Stars in Their Eyes: Chapter Two Bad Touch

            Yaten sighed deeply as he climbed the steps with a slow and trudging gait. The news that had come to him from Takanori, really did shake his nerves. What if the band won because they were girls? After all there was one thing that girls had that gave them a leg-up on the situation.

            Boobs.

            Yaten sure as hell didn't have boobs he could flash around if he wanted to win. Although he did have a large penis, but he wasn't gonna go flashing that around. That was for personal use only.

            "Might as well break the news to Seiya and Taiki…" He sighed as he walked down his apartment hall.

            "Seiya! Taiki! I've got bad news." He called as he entered the living room.

            Seiya sat on the couch, apparently still scowling at Yaten for his crude comments.

            "Let it go, Seiya. Or you're gonna end up with baggage. Taiki!" Yaten called again.

            "Hai?"

            Taiki appeared at the doorway, all six feet of him. Taiki was abnormally tall and made Yaten feel as if he were a flesh-colored Smurf.  Not only that, but Taiki was almost as handsome as Yaten, with long chestnut hair and deep cobalt eyes.

            Not just his looks were good graces to him, but his brains as well. Taiki was exceptionally smart, and Seiya often said he was too smart to be in some small-time band. Taiki just laughed in response to this. Music was his passion, and music was going to be is passion, no matter what.

            Well, if all of this sounds too good, it's because it is. Hands off ladies, he is a taken man. He is a boyfriend to a very pretty girl of his own age, own intelligence, and own passion for music.

            "I've got some bad news."

            "Oh?" Taiki looked concerned as he walked into the living room and sat next to Seiya on the sofa.

            "I just came from the music store, Takanori thinks we have competition." Yaten sighed, then shrugged. "I don't think they're all that great, but Takanori says they are and have a pretty good stage performance."

            "What band is it?" Taiki asked calmly, deciding to get all the facts before coming to a conclusion.

            "Some stupid girl-band named Tsukiyasha."

            There was a heavy, stunned silence as Yaten finished his words. He stared at Seiya and Taiki as if they were insane. What exactly were they so worried about, it was only a stupid girl-band.

            "Did Ami say anything about it?" Seiya asked Taiki, after the silence had faded.

            "Iie. I'm guessing Usagi didn't say anything either?" Taiki questioned.

            "No. Damnit…"

            "Hold it!" Yaten looked sternly at each of them, then his eyes rounded on Taiki. "Are you telling me that Ami is in this band?"

            Taiki just nodded slowly in response.

            "Awe, shit. I don't want some lover's spat to get involved." Yaten flopped into a chair and stared at the two of them with deep, and sudden exhaustion. "So what are we gonna do?"

             "I have no idea… what do you suggest, Seiya?" Taiki questioned the raven-haired man, whom sat scowling angrily.

            "I don't know… I'm so angry that Usagi didn't say anything."

            Yaten laughed hard at Seiya and his antics. "You're interested in Usagi? That's the funniest thing I've heard all day. Seiya, I hate to break it to you but she's not a girl who you can hook-up with."

            "Oh? And why is that, Yaten?" Seiya glared.

             "Because, she acts like me. She can pin a guy with her long eyelashes and sexy words in two seconds flat, what makes you think she wants you?" Yaten questioned, raising a practical eyebrow at him.

            "Shut up."

            "I may someday, but not today."

            "Both of you," Taiki said practically, "Need to calm down. We need to discus this with the girls and see exactly what's going on."

            Yaten turned to Taiki. "Haven't you ever gone to one of Ami's practices?"

            "Iie. It never came up. We always talk about music, but going to see each others bands has never really been on our agenda."

            "Ah." Yaten seethed, crossing his arms tightly over his chest and glaring firmly at the khaki colored floor. This was stupid! They were just a bunch of girls! What could they have against the illustrious 'Three Lights'?

             "Maybe we'd better go to one?" Seiya suggested.

            Yaten turned to raise one sarcastic eyebrow. "Ya think? Gee, Mr. Obvious, that never occurred to me before. Maybe we should vote you as leader of the motley crew."

            Seiya opened his mouth to speak, but Taiki quickly jumped in before any more insults were tossed back and forth between the two, bickering men.

            "I'll call Ami later tonight and see what she thinks."

            Yaten raised an eyebrow, then sighed and sunk deeper into the chair, letting a small pout form across his face.

            "You'll get wrinkles if you keep that up, Yaten." Seiya commented.

            "At least I'll look handsome with wrinkles, Seiya." Yaten shot back snidely.

            Taiki rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving to go call Ami, don't blow up the apartment or kill each other. That is all I ask." He stood up and exited the living room, hoping to Kami-sama that it would still be there when he got back.

            Seiya glared at Yaten, and Yaten just glared back. He was in no mood to get into childish games with his companion. No matter how much like children they both may act.

            "I've got business to attend to, Seiya." Yaten stood up from the chair and looked down firmly at him. "And you need to get a life. Ja!"

             Before Seiya could say anything else, Yaten had removed himself from the living room and went into his own room.

            Yaten had always loved his room, it was clean, fashionable, and efficient. Decorated in blues, grays, whites, and silver; everything was modern, crisp, and clean. Perfect for the young man's sense of style.

            The only thing, however, that wasn't as clean as he wished was his desk, which was littered with manuscript paper, notes, magazine clippings, and notes for new items that the band might need. Although Taiki usually handled most of the purchasing of the group, because he had the best of the brains, Yaten was a little more knowledgeable on certain items, instruments, and other things that band might need.

            Yaten sighed as he looked at the stack of papers on his clean bed. Taiki must have put them there… it was the song her had been working on before hurricane Seiya had attacked.

            'I don't know what it is… the song just doesn't seem right and I've tried everything…' Yaten hummed a few notes before sighing and placing the stack of papers on his desk. He turned to look out the window, where people below them cluttered at the busy corner.

            'So now what? Takanori thinks we can't win against this band… I don't think they're anything special… Ami… Usagi… Seiya…' Yaten sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

            "What are we going to do…?"

            "Hey, Yaten?" Taiki's voice sounded muffled through the door.

            "Hai?" Yaten looked over at the door, but didn't move from his spot by the window.

            "Can I come in?"

            "Sure."

            The door opened silently and Taiki walked in to sit on Yaten's bed.

            "What is it?" Yaten asked as he noticed Taiki's off-color appearance.

            "I called Ami."

            "And?" Yaten sat down in a chair.

            "She got scary. They don't want anyone to see their band until the preliminary judging on Friday, at Bombshell's." Taiki sighed deeply.

            "Are you worried?" Yaten asked.

            Taiki nodded slowly. "A little… Ami has such a pretty voice… but when Usagi sings… she can knock your socks off and throw them in a blender. I've heard her hum, and it can make Cher run for her money…"

            Yaten rolled his eyes before crossing his arms over his chest and scowling. "I don't think she's all that good."

             "You've heard them before?" Taiki questioned.

            "Mm… Takanori let me listen to their demo song."

            "And?"

            "And what? Taiki, they're a bunch of bubble-headed girls… okay well Ami isn't bubble-headed, but the rest are. There's no use is fretting over something we know we're going to win."

            "Yaten, I love your confidence, but sometimes I think it gets to the point of being pompous."

            "I only tell it like it is, Taiki." Yaten forced a debonair smile.

            "Or so you say." Taiki laughed. "Well… there isn't much we can do now, now is there?"

            "Nope. I guess we'll find out what goes on, on Friday."

            "The beat."

            Yaten looked at Taiki with deep confusion. "Nani?"

            "The beat goes on… the beat goes on…"

            Yaten laughed at Taiki's monotone singing. "You've got some serious issues…"

            "Thank you."

            Usagi scowled angrily as she sunk into a couch. "Stupid boy! Stupid stupid boy!"

            A tiny, blue-haired girl laughed from beside Usagi. "Calm down, Usagi-chan. It was only once, I doubt he'll show up again." 

             "Mm…" She pouted, unable to accept that she had been beaten in the game of flirting.

            "Taiki called." The girl said suddenly and quietly.

            "Oh? What does he want?" Usagi had always liked Taiki, he was the perfect gentleman and always knew how to make Usagi feel good about her self.

            "Ah…" Ami looked down, then up again.

            "Uh-oh… I know this face, Ami-chan. What's wrong?" Usagi asked. Hoping to Kami-sama that she wasn't going to quit the band because Taiki had asked too. But Ami wasn't the kind of person to do that, nor was Taiki someone to ask such a radical question.

            "Ah… you know Taiki…"

            Usagi's heart sank "Hai?"

              "Well… He's… he's… he's in the same contest as we are… and… well, Takanori thinks that they're competition." Ami looked sheepishly at Usagi. "I'm sorry…"

            Usagi breathed a sigh of relief, if only for a moment. "Wait a minute! Taiki is in the 'Three Lights'? Since when!?"

            Ami blushed. "Since always… he just called to ask if he could come over to a practice… I got a bit… er… snippy with him."

            Usagi giggled for a moment. Ami never got angry, she got 'snippy', which was not something most people lived to see, but when it happened, it was scary.  "So… what did you tell him?"

            "That he'd have to wait until Friday to see us… well, basically that's what I told him." Ami sat next to Usagi on the couch.

            "Are you worried?" Usagi asked her blue-haired companion.

            "A little… I love Taiki… and I don't want us to be upset by this contest… but it's important to both of us, so it's not as if we can drop out because we want to…." She sighed deeply. "I'm not sure what to do."

             "Everything will be fine, Ami-chan. You'll see. True love doesn't break over something as trivial as this." Usagi smiled brightly at her.

            "You think so?"

            "I know so." Usagi smiled again.

             "Okaeri!" A voice sounded from the front door.

             "Mako-chan!" Usagi perked up. "How was the market?"

            "Busy." A tall, mahogany haired girl with deep green eyes and a cheerful smile, appeared in the living room. "As always. I got what we needed though. Ami-chan, why do you look so down?"

            "Taiki is in the 'Three Lights'," Ami said softly.

            "Ara! Since when?" Makoto said, surprised at this information.

            "Since always…"

            "It'll be fine, Ami-chan." Makoto said, placing her hand on the girls shoulder. "Taiki loves you and something like this won't break you two up. I promise." Makoto smiled brightly at her. "Now I'll make you a blueberry pie. So smile!"

            Ami couldn't help but let a small smile spread across her lips. "Thank you, Mako-chan."

            Usagi gave Ami a big hug. "Don't worry."

            "I'll try not to."

            "I HATE STUPID PEOPLE!!!"

             Makoto sweat-dropped. "Ara… Rei-chan is home."

            A fiery, raven-haired, violet-eyed woman walked into the living room and threw a red purse on the coffee table. She glared at the girls angrily.

            "Stupid people annoy me."

            Usagi blinked. "Are you trying to say something?"

            "Are you stupid?"

            "It depends, are you calling me stupid?"

            "No."

            "Then I guess not."

             Makoto spoke up before Rei whirled on Usagi. "Rei-chan, what's wrong?"

            "I hate stupid people!" Pause. "When's dinner, anyway!"

            "Calm down, Rei-chan." Makoto said carefully, so she didn't provoke the erupting volcano. "Stupid people are stupid, and dinner will be ready in an hour."

            "Mm. I'll be in my room." She stormed off. "Stupid people… stupid people…"

             "What's got her panties in a bunch? I walk into the apartment and my ears are blown away." A girl with long blonde hair and deep blue eyes said as she set her shopping bags on the floor.

            "Stupid people is what we're guessing. Did you get the outfits, Minako-chan?" Usagi questioned.

            "Mm-hm. Everyone has to buy their own shoes though." She reached into the bag and pulled out their outfits.

            "Oh my gosh, Minako-chan! That is so cute!!" Usagi exclaimed as she picked up her own outfit.

            "Awe crap. You've got to be kidding me. After all that work I did and you think they're cute." She said, laughing.

            "Well be the sexiest ones on the stage on Friday!" Usagi said, setting it down and grinning broadly at all of her friends.

            'And I'll show that bastard Yaten who's the real musician…' She thought evilly

{Insert dark and evil fade}