Disclaimer: Yui doesn't own Tokyo Babylon. Moonlight Anthem is by Yoko Kanno and sung by Akiko Arai. King of Pain is by Sting and the Police.
Calendar boy
By miyamoto yui
Part 7 - when no one was looking...
Hokuto, why are you singing this song to me?
I looked at her with loneliness in my eyes, but she continued to sing that haunting theme,
"...Anata no soba ni itai
Aa Tatoe moetsukite
Shindemo..."
This song...
Why this song?
I woke up at that moment and opened my eyes to find the alarm clock going off. As I groaned a bit in protest, I turned it off and looked at Seishirou turning over to look back at me.
"Good morning," he said as he smiled at me.
"Good morning back to you," I replied as I closed my eyes to stretch in my bed. I hug the pillow in front of me even more as I feel warm and comfortable in bed.
Unconvincingly, he commented, "We have to get up."
Silence.
Neither of us does anything.
I whined a little. "I'm too comfortable. Mmm..."
Seishirou then got up and pulled the covers from me.
"Hey!" I shouted not at being cold but at Seishirou pulling the covers close over both of us as he settled into the bed next to me. "You really have no shame!"
"Ah, I'm afraid not." He then snuggled close to me as he grabbed my waist and wrapped his arms around me.
I felt his warm body next to mine.
It's so different to be held onto by him in this way...
Then, his left hand settled over my heart as his lips found themselves on my neck while craning his neck to whisper in my ear, "It's warmer this way."
"Sou..." I tiredly answered back.
In a childish voice, he laughed, "Besides, it's lonely over there."
"Geh." Then, I closed my eyes a bit as I felt secure with him sleeping next to me.
I care for you so much...
Why does this feel so wrong?
Even more, why do I keep on trying to fight it?
At that moment, I put my hands over his arms and placed my cheek next to our entangled hands over my heart.
Seishirou began to pull his hand and reached beneath my pajama top. As I whispered, "Ano...Seishirou-san," his hand gently touched my skin.
It didn't feel strange though...
I wanted him to.
He didn't say anything, but as he pulled me to lay on the bed while his knees touched my hips. I looked up into his eyes. He smiled as he leaned forward to begin kissing me.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
I opened my eyes as Seishirou pulled away from me.
"It's time to go! And there's been a change of plans!" Hokuto shouted from outside as Seishirou rolled over to one side hitting his forehead with his palm.
I walked over to the door while Seishirou went to the closet.
Hokuto burst into the room as soon as I opened it. "Ohaiyo!!!" she greeted happily as she hugged me.
"Good morning, Onee-chan," I laughed as Seishirou greeted her back with a nod and a grin.
I then asked, "What's this about a change in plans?"
"You're wearing the kimono and having that date tomorrow." She then grinned from ear to ear while holding out a new shopping bag in front of me with her two hands.
Not good.
I blinked at her. "What did you put in here?"
"What you need for today." She didn't even blink an eye at me.
I blinked more at her as I glanced over at Seishirou who was coming over to us. "I like that look on your face, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou chuckled.
"I don't," I said as I looked back at Hokuto with an eyebrow up.
She then pushed me into the bathroom. "C'mon. We don't have time for you to gawk every time you have a new outfit."
"It's what you have me wear that scares me," I told her as the tiles of the bathroom echoed my protest to her.
"Tough," she pouted as she closed the door.
She and Seishirou began to talk to one another and then there was silence.
I took the new outfit out and sighed at myself in the mirror...
I stood in the intersection of a busy street with my hair flying in every which direction, but with enough mousse to keep it in place. I had shades and wore tight vinyl pants, boots, and a black tank top.
In my nervousness at the people looking at me while Seishirou smirking at me and Hokuto commenting on how cute I was and that she was a genius, I took off the shades and bit on one of the tips.
Even more people blushed at me.
I blushed back.
I turned my head to Seishirou and I felt the tiny cross hanging temporarily from my ear brush against my cheek.
"Why are people staring at me?" I innocently asked them as we walked across the street to get to the studio.
[Author: * drool * "Damn...such innocence..."]
I know I looked strange, but people didn't have to stare at me.
It was then that I felt more self-conscious than usual. I always had trouble showing people my gloves without feeling any type of shame for them. For with every changing season, there they would remain covering my hands: indifferent to everything because they were inanimate.
They were directly connected to my heart, though.
We got to the studio and I was shoved into one of the rooms for the make-up artist to put foundation on my face and enough make up to protect me from all the lights on the soundstage.
While Hokuto and Seishirou went 'surveying' the studio for clues of the last boy who had gone through this whole process, I was still in my chair with my eyes closed for the make-up artist to put some light hints of eyeliner to bring out 'the emerald of my eyes' as he said.
"Oh, I'm looking so forward to hearing you sing," he told me as he put something on my lap.
"What?" I blurted out as I opened my eyes while staring at him. I looked at the sheets of paper and scanned through them. "This song..."
I looked at him and then my eyes became slits for a second. "Hokuto did this, didn't she?"
"We told you that you needed a song, didn't we?" the make-up artist asked while putting the light pink lipstick (it was supposed to look natural) with touches of rouge on my lips.
"Yes...but I didn't expect it so soon," I commented as I stared at the lyrics.
I thought I could have gotten out of it...
Why didn't Hokuto tell me that this time?
I sighed as I got out of my seat.
There was a knock on the door and one of the attendants said, "You'll be going up in five minutes after the blond young man."
The make-up artist poked me on the nose. "Don't worry. You'll do fine."
I nodded slowly as he closed the door with a smile. I was standing there in fear of performing a song in front of all these strange.
I couldn't do this in front of Hokuto and Seishirou and these people at this studio expected me to do this?!
I looked at the lyrics again and shook my head.
Hokuto picked this song...
She knows I love it a lot...
As I walked out to find that the blond boy in the middle of recording his song. I silently leaned at the back of the wall, far away from everyone else.
I couldn't see him too well, but there he was wearing a white long-sleeved collar shirt with a white tank top tucked inside of it. His pants were white and baggy and his hair had one bang falling over one eye. At that moment, he held his hands out and shouted the lyrics as if he were in pain.
Curiously, his hands were towards someone in the audience. A dark-haired young man who was quite tall...
"Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby please,
Oh, can't you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake
I'll be watching you
Every move you make, every step you take
I'll be watching you
I'll be watching you..."
As he exited through the far corner of the room, I still couldn't see their faces, but there was that feeling of having them before.
Trying not to get too distracted by this thought, I walked up to the attendant that had called me earlier. As they were changing the set behind me to some stage with a white backdrop and a black, shiny floor, I shivered as Hokuto waved at me with a happy face.
Seishirou tilted his head at me and smiled at me while leaning one wall with his arms folded. A look of amusement again encroached his face.
I took the mic in front of me as the director gave me directions on what to do for the recording. I didn't believe if I could truly do this, but I loved this song so much...
Maybe it would give me luck.
I know this song in and out...
It was a part of me that I never really wanted to show anyone, like making my hands bleed red over the scars that looked like perfectly scarred stars upon them.
I was more scared of being too honest...
Of how I sang this song to myself when no one was looking at me...
"Sing it the way you feel most comfortable," the director said calmly. "It'll be easier this way."
I held the mic as the song started while tapping my foot. Nodding my head a bit with the beat. I then opened my eyes and looked at the camera with a serious look while singing,
"There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday."
I looked away and then I sang again with my eyes closed,
"There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop"
I then snapped my fingers with the light beat and continued,
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
I stopped snapping and pointed my hands towards the ceiling while shaking my head a bit.
"There's a little black spot on the sun today
That's my soul up there
It's the same old thing as yesterday
That's my soul up there
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
That's my soul up there
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop
That's my soul up there
Suddenly, I put both of my hands on the stand with my foot tapping again to the tempo. My eyes closed in pain as my voice became powerfully strong.
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
I looked around the stage from person to person as if I were truly lost. It didn't take too much acting though...
"There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
That's my soul up there
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
That's my soul up there
There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb
That's my soul up there
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
That's my soul up there"
Holding my hands out, I found myself looking straight at Seishirou while loudly singing to him,
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
I covered my left hand with my gloved right hand as I kept on looking at Seishirou.
"There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
King of pain"
I kept one hand on the stand and tapped my foot again. Then, I looked up and shook my head while closing my eyes as if couldn't breathe, trying to sing while almost touching my lips to the mic.
"There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack
That's my soul up there
There's a black winged gull with a broken back
That's my soul up there
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday"
This time, I looked at Seishirou with sorrowful eyes while holding my hands out to him. I wanted to catch myself and him in this moment to make him understand me.
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
Holding onto the mic stand, I thought, "Please understand me."
I then sang with all my might,
"King of pain
King of pain
King of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain"
Then, I whispered as I opened my eyes to look at Seishirou's face once more,
"I'll always be king of pain."
I put my head down and the song ended with it.
Tsuzuku...
--
Author's note: Man, I love this song. It was so perfect!
"Anata no soba ni itai, Aa Tatoe moetsukite, Shindemo..." à This means "I want to be near you, if for example, I burn out of life and die.
Calendar boy
By miyamoto yui
Part 7 - when no one was looking...
Hokuto, why are you singing this song to me?
I looked at her with loneliness in my eyes, but she continued to sing that haunting theme,
"...Anata no soba ni itai
Aa Tatoe moetsukite
Shindemo..."
This song...
Why this song?
I woke up at that moment and opened my eyes to find the alarm clock going off. As I groaned a bit in protest, I turned it off and looked at Seishirou turning over to look back at me.
"Good morning," he said as he smiled at me.
"Good morning back to you," I replied as I closed my eyes to stretch in my bed. I hug the pillow in front of me even more as I feel warm and comfortable in bed.
Unconvincingly, he commented, "We have to get up."
Silence.
Neither of us does anything.
I whined a little. "I'm too comfortable. Mmm..."
Seishirou then got up and pulled the covers from me.
"Hey!" I shouted not at being cold but at Seishirou pulling the covers close over both of us as he settled into the bed next to me. "You really have no shame!"
"Ah, I'm afraid not." He then snuggled close to me as he grabbed my waist and wrapped his arms around me.
I felt his warm body next to mine.
It's so different to be held onto by him in this way...
Then, his left hand settled over my heart as his lips found themselves on my neck while craning his neck to whisper in my ear, "It's warmer this way."
"Sou..." I tiredly answered back.
In a childish voice, he laughed, "Besides, it's lonely over there."
"Geh." Then, I closed my eyes a bit as I felt secure with him sleeping next to me.
I care for you so much...
Why does this feel so wrong?
Even more, why do I keep on trying to fight it?
At that moment, I put my hands over his arms and placed my cheek next to our entangled hands over my heart.
Seishirou began to pull his hand and reached beneath my pajama top. As I whispered, "Ano...Seishirou-san," his hand gently touched my skin.
It didn't feel strange though...
I wanted him to.
He didn't say anything, but as he pulled me to lay on the bed while his knees touched my hips. I looked up into his eyes. He smiled as he leaned forward to begin kissing me.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
I opened my eyes as Seishirou pulled away from me.
"It's time to go! And there's been a change of plans!" Hokuto shouted from outside as Seishirou rolled over to one side hitting his forehead with his palm.
I walked over to the door while Seishirou went to the closet.
Hokuto burst into the room as soon as I opened it. "Ohaiyo!!!" she greeted happily as she hugged me.
"Good morning, Onee-chan," I laughed as Seishirou greeted her back with a nod and a grin.
I then asked, "What's this about a change in plans?"
"You're wearing the kimono and having that date tomorrow." She then grinned from ear to ear while holding out a new shopping bag in front of me with her two hands.
Not good.
I blinked at her. "What did you put in here?"
"What you need for today." She didn't even blink an eye at me.
I blinked more at her as I glanced over at Seishirou who was coming over to us. "I like that look on your face, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou chuckled.
"I don't," I said as I looked back at Hokuto with an eyebrow up.
She then pushed me into the bathroom. "C'mon. We don't have time for you to gawk every time you have a new outfit."
"It's what you have me wear that scares me," I told her as the tiles of the bathroom echoed my protest to her.
"Tough," she pouted as she closed the door.
She and Seishirou began to talk to one another and then there was silence.
I took the new outfit out and sighed at myself in the mirror...
I stood in the intersection of a busy street with my hair flying in every which direction, but with enough mousse to keep it in place. I had shades and wore tight vinyl pants, boots, and a black tank top.
In my nervousness at the people looking at me while Seishirou smirking at me and Hokuto commenting on how cute I was and that she was a genius, I took off the shades and bit on one of the tips.
Even more people blushed at me.
I blushed back.
I turned my head to Seishirou and I felt the tiny cross hanging temporarily from my ear brush against my cheek.
"Why are people staring at me?" I innocently asked them as we walked across the street to get to the studio.
[Author: * drool * "Damn...such innocence..."]
I know I looked strange, but people didn't have to stare at me.
It was then that I felt more self-conscious than usual. I always had trouble showing people my gloves without feeling any type of shame for them. For with every changing season, there they would remain covering my hands: indifferent to everything because they were inanimate.
They were directly connected to my heart, though.
We got to the studio and I was shoved into one of the rooms for the make-up artist to put foundation on my face and enough make up to protect me from all the lights on the soundstage.
While Hokuto and Seishirou went 'surveying' the studio for clues of the last boy who had gone through this whole process, I was still in my chair with my eyes closed for the make-up artist to put some light hints of eyeliner to bring out 'the emerald of my eyes' as he said.
"Oh, I'm looking so forward to hearing you sing," he told me as he put something on my lap.
"What?" I blurted out as I opened my eyes while staring at him. I looked at the sheets of paper and scanned through them. "This song..."
I looked at him and then my eyes became slits for a second. "Hokuto did this, didn't she?"
"We told you that you needed a song, didn't we?" the make-up artist asked while putting the light pink lipstick (it was supposed to look natural) with touches of rouge on my lips.
"Yes...but I didn't expect it so soon," I commented as I stared at the lyrics.
I thought I could have gotten out of it...
Why didn't Hokuto tell me that this time?
I sighed as I got out of my seat.
There was a knock on the door and one of the attendants said, "You'll be going up in five minutes after the blond young man."
The make-up artist poked me on the nose. "Don't worry. You'll do fine."
I nodded slowly as he closed the door with a smile. I was standing there in fear of performing a song in front of all these strange.
I couldn't do this in front of Hokuto and Seishirou and these people at this studio expected me to do this?!
I looked at the lyrics again and shook my head.
Hokuto picked this song...
She knows I love it a lot...
As I walked out to find that the blond boy in the middle of recording his song. I silently leaned at the back of the wall, far away from everyone else.
I couldn't see him too well, but there he was wearing a white long-sleeved collar shirt with a white tank top tucked inside of it. His pants were white and baggy and his hair had one bang falling over one eye. At that moment, he held his hands out and shouted the lyrics as if he were in pain.
Curiously, his hands were towards someone in the audience. A dark-haired young man who was quite tall...
"Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby please,
Oh, can't you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake
I'll be watching you
Every move you make, every step you take
I'll be watching you
I'll be watching you..."
As he exited through the far corner of the room, I still couldn't see their faces, but there was that feeling of having them before.
Trying not to get too distracted by this thought, I walked up to the attendant that had called me earlier. As they were changing the set behind me to some stage with a white backdrop and a black, shiny floor, I shivered as Hokuto waved at me with a happy face.
Seishirou tilted his head at me and smiled at me while leaning one wall with his arms folded. A look of amusement again encroached his face.
I took the mic in front of me as the director gave me directions on what to do for the recording. I didn't believe if I could truly do this, but I loved this song so much...
Maybe it would give me luck.
I know this song in and out...
It was a part of me that I never really wanted to show anyone, like making my hands bleed red over the scars that looked like perfectly scarred stars upon them.
I was more scared of being too honest...
Of how I sang this song to myself when no one was looking at me...
"Sing it the way you feel most comfortable," the director said calmly. "It'll be easier this way."
I held the mic as the song started while tapping my foot. Nodding my head a bit with the beat. I then opened my eyes and looked at the camera with a serious look while singing,
"There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday."
I looked away and then I sang again with my eyes closed,
"There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop"
I then snapped my fingers with the light beat and continued,
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
I stopped snapping and pointed my hands towards the ceiling while shaking my head a bit.
"There's a little black spot on the sun today
That's my soul up there
It's the same old thing as yesterday
That's my soul up there
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
That's my soul up there
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop
That's my soul up there
Suddenly, I put both of my hands on the stand with my foot tapping again to the tempo. My eyes closed in pain as my voice became powerfully strong.
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
I looked around the stage from person to person as if I were truly lost. It didn't take too much acting though...
"There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
That's my soul up there
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
That's my soul up there
There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb
That's my soul up there
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
That's my soul up there"
Holding my hands out, I found myself looking straight at Seishirou while loudly singing to him,
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
I covered my left hand with my gloved right hand as I kept on looking at Seishirou.
"There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
King of pain"
I kept one hand on the stand and tapped my foot again. Then, I looked up and shook my head while closing my eyes as if couldn't breathe, trying to sing while almost touching my lips to the mic.
"There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack
That's my soul up there
There's a black winged gull with a broken back
That's my soul up there
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday"
This time, I looked at Seishirou with sorrowful eyes while holding my hands out to him. I wanted to catch myself and him in this moment to make him understand me.
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"
Holding onto the mic stand, I thought, "Please understand me."
I then sang with all my might,
"King of pain
King of pain
King of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain"
Then, I whispered as I opened my eyes to look at Seishirou's face once more,
"I'll always be king of pain."
I put my head down and the song ended with it.
Tsuzuku...
--
Author's note: Man, I love this song. It was so perfect!
"Anata no soba ni itai, Aa Tatoe moetsukite, Shindemo..." à This means "I want to be near you, if for example, I burn out of life and die.