Title: Allure
Author: YumeNeko
Genre: AU, seinen-ai
Rating: G
Summary: Yes, I know we're all quite sick and tired of the Cinderella spin-off but this one here's bound to be different. This is set in the world of Gothic Rock and Visual Kei and seen through the eyes of the guy playing the role of the Prince: Hakkai.
Hajimemashou?
+++
Adrenaline seemed to pump through me as the drums started pounding. I positioned my fingers on the neck of my pitch-black electric synth-guitar. I started playing the song's intro. The crowd went wild as I've always expected, but I know not all were cheering for me. I believe they're all cheering for our vocalist, my dear brother. Although we were twins, to the crowd, we were completely different. I was playing the guitar with a face pampered with foundation two shades paler than my real skin tone while my brother burst out his lungs out there with the works on his face: Black eyeliner, black lipstick... It's all part of the wicked world of the beautiful dead.
The music we were playing was very different from the usual simplicity of pop music. We played rock. But not just any rock, it was a dark, morbid kind. This was the kind that inspired most to go out and write poetry at silent graveyards filled with crumbling statues that seemed to cry. None of us in the band really wanted to stereotype ourselves but it seemed that most of our audience had already labeled us as a Visual Kei band. Gojyo, our drummer, laughed at the labeling, blaming my brother for it since he was the one who carried most of the visuals for us. But strangely enough, he also carried some of the visuals himself wearing leather and chains. I, too, carried some. Perhaps besides being known for my relation to our vocalist, I was also known for my black guitar, pale face and the black band I wore on my forehead to keep my hair from falling into my eyes. We also had a bassist and a keyboardist but their visuals never came in the range of my brother's or mine. Jien, our bassist, usually wore simple black leather. Goku, as our keyboardist, was usually awed over by the audience for his being adorable in his version of the "kodona" dressing style. Short leather pants and a gray pea coat worn over a white shirt with a black tie usually forced his fans to dress up as lolitas to catch his attention.
Going back to that performance we were giving, my brother arched his body forwards as he yelled into the microphone the wicked forte of one of our songs. I went for the kill, making the guitar screech as Goku's harpsichord melody continued to play. The mangled mix of my guitar and my brother's voice drove most of our male audience to start mosh-pitting in the crowd. That sight amused me, but it seemed that something else caught my eye at that time.
There were beautiful amethyst eyes watching me... I couldn't help but notice this man out of the audience. Unfortunately, I had to concentrate on my performance. I told myself to think of that man later. My brother's voice wouldn't live long unless Goku's and my melodies carried the rest of the band. The vocals slipped back to calm singing. My guitar's screeches slipped back into its original state of sharp pluckings. Looking back at Gojyo, I saw that look that told me that he noticed something strange about me. I dismissed my worries and continued to focus.
It was only after the show that confrontation came.
"Oi, Hakkai!" The redheaded drummer called out to me in the hallway as I was walking home with my brother back to our apartment. The make-up was off both our faces but we both still wore our stage clothes. Gojyo approached us both and gave a thumbs-up to my brother before separating me from him and talking, "I saw you being allured by a certain someone out in the audience. Who is it, pray tell?"
"Mou! Gojyo, my brother's business ain't yours!" My brother growled at the redhead, his gloved hands on his hips.
"Who are you to tell me that, hm?" The reply came sharp and deadly back at my brother who surprisingly was cool as always. Between the two of us, he was more aggressive and a bit more eccentric. It did make much sense, though. He was responsible for some of the lyrics of our songs and being our vocalist was more of a people-person than I was.
My brother replied with only a sultry smirk and a folding of his arms across his chest, "I rather my brother's romances be left alone without help from a so-called 'love guru' such as yourself. You bag so many girls a night that I don't think your 'come and go' idealism will take my brother on a good path. He is, of course, still a virgin." Laughter poured out of my brethren's mouth. It was true. I was twenty-two years old, single and still a virgin. My brother was also a virgin, but I knew that he did have a romantic relationship with the guitarist of another band. I kind of understood why he wanted Gojyo out of the picture when it came to my romances. He was still stable in his relationship with the guitarist while Gojyo had his fans come and go through his room. He wanted me to stick with a loyal lover.
Perhaps it was because he never wanted to see me cry over someone leaving. When both of our parents died, both of us cried much. At that time, he had his lover to cry on but I was left to mourn alone beside both of them. I knew he was watching me though his tears. He seemed to cry for two things at that time: The loss of our parents and my own loneliness.
Anyway, Gojyo smirked and patted my brother's shoulder before he turned around and left, tapping on the walls with his drumsticks as he walked.
"Tell me more about that person when we get home, ne?" My brother smiled as he offered to carry my guitar for me.
I never told him, though. Instead, I spent the night writing and arranging a new song for our next performance. It seemed to be an image of whom I thought the alluring owner of the purple eyes was. It was our usual music as always. But we used something quite different. I decided to have Goku play his keyboards on the organ settings and my guitar would be set-up to sound like a harpsichord. Besides that, I would have my brother judge in what way he would sing. The same condition would be for both Jien and Gojyo. Just as long as my guitar and Goku's keyboards would retain their melodies, the sound would be perfect. I knew it well. Everyone in the band had his own style that made our band what it was. But of course, sometimes, we still were restricted to the melody.
The morning that followed was wonderful since I woke up hearing my brother trying out the tune on our keyboards. I knew he was very pleased since he had his eyes closed as he played the tune all over again.
"Perfect..." He murmured as he finished the piece and beckoned me to come over, "Would you accompany me here?"
So I did. The piece sounded beautiful, as I had expected. Even without my brother's vocals, Jien's bass or Gojyo's skillful drumming, the song was still very beautiful. It had this strange alluring feel that brought me to a scene of cathedrals and renaissance works.
"Perfect purple..." My brother's voice started to unfurl as he found the perfect voice for the song. It was soft and as alluring as the harpsichord tune of my guitar was. "Eyes of a god... Burn my soul... Condemning me..." His voice seemed to start taking on a firm operatic tone at that point. It was perfect. All that I needed now was Jien's bass and Gojyo's drumming.
"New piece?" Jien questioned as he looked at the composition I wrote.
"Assured that anything that comes out of Hakkai is gold... Even if he thinks it's absolute shit." My brother laughed before humming the song all over again.
"Where's Goku?" Gojyo asked as he looked over Jien's shoulder to see the piece.
Jien pointed in the direction of the rehearsal room, "He's trying out the piece."
"Must be a real good piece if he's managed to cheer that it's a challenge." The redhead laughed.
"Oi! Minna!" Goku's voice rang out clear from the said room. "It's a challenge!"
"Told you anything from Hakkai's gold..." My brother's laughter rang once more.
"So... how would you like it to sound?" Gojyo took a glance at me before looking back on the piece. "Harpsichords and organs, eh? Sounds like sweet renaissance to me. I'll give it that magic Gojyo touch to make it our own band's..."
"Let me lend some of my own magic, Gojyo," Jien laughed, "I'm a court magician, too, y'know."
"Anything for the prince here..." My brother gave me a mock bow before proceeding to the rehearsal room. "I'll be warming up. Study the piece well, boys..."
"Hai, oh great Queen of the court..." Gojyo and Jien snickered as they, too, gave their mock bows.
Finally, we had perfected the rock-renaissance sound. Goku and my haunting melodies paired with Jien and Gojyo's semi-metal rhythms were perfect background to my brother's strange pattern of vocals. His interpretations of "Perfect Purple's" choruses were in a delicate, feather-like voice that blended with the organ and harpsichord while the verses were firmer, taking on the form of the bass and drums that enter then. It was the melody I had dreamed of... It was the perfect epitome of that alluring man's eyes that I had thought of.
But what if he wasn't like that?
What if he wasn't as alluring as I thought of him to be?
Would this song go to waste?
The crowds cheered now as we made the final adjustments to ourselves. My brother finished turning his plain face into a pale haunting face of a specter, Gojyo fixed the chains set about him, Jien added a bit more gel to hold his hair up, Goku reviewed the piece a few more times and I tuned my guitar to make sure I wouldn't screw up this performance.
We were ready...
"Thank you for waiting, minna-san!" My brother announced, as we got ready to play. "Tonight, we will be playing a new song written and composed by my brother here! The title is "Perfect Purple". Hope you all enjoy it!"
Goku took a deep breath and began to play. I entered on cue, the sound of the guitar perfectly mimicking the sound of a baroque harpsichord. My brother started to sing the song.
Perfect purple
Eyes of a god
Burn my soul
Condemning me...
The drums and bass entered here, turning the tempo up and driving the crowd into mosh-pitting and dancing.
Moonless nights
Cold and lifeless air
I see you lone wolf
Tonight
Cold
I feel your breath quite near
Eyes captivating
Paralyzing my every limb
The rhythm paused again turning the chorus into beautiful miserable melody for it's little while before returning to its fast-paced movement.
It was at that simple moment when I saw him again. This time, I saw all of him at that clear area of the bar. He was blonde and purple-eyed. His skin seemed to be naturally porcelain. Black lipstick graced his full lips giving me the image that those lips did belong to death itself. His body was well built judging from the tight PVC gracing his body. The only parts of his body I couldn't define quite well were his gloved hands and his lower arms covered by a light fabric stitched to his PVC shirt of assorted buckles.
I was looking at him and he was looking at me. It was attraction. But fortunately, half of my attention was still on performing the song. It was close to the end and I was supposed to lend my voice to a little whisper closing while my brother sustained the last notes of the chorus. Then the time came.
Perfect purple
Eyes that color sorrow
My specter
Haunting my nights
Making me sleepless with these thoughts...
The final note of the chorus were sustained and I whispered into the microphone that distorted my voice into a blurred one, "Searching for you... I won't give up... My nights are haunted... You allure me..."
The crowd went wild with love for the new song. I looked at the purple-eyed stranger; he seemed to smirk at me in his mysterious manner. He seemed to mouth the words "backstage" before he left the bar.
The performance that night was amazing. The crowd had asked us to encore "Perfect Purple" twice in the middle of the show. But although I loved the song very much, I was in a hurry to get to the backstage quickly. I needed to see him... The man with the perfect purple eyes of a god.
Luckily, my brother called for a fifteen-minute break before the second act of our show. I rushed to the backstage, wanting to take at least one glimpse of that beautiful man. I found him standing in front of my dressing room with a bouquet of white roses.
"For you..." He smirked. His voice was smooth and sultry, just as I had imagined it to be. "My cousin is a big fan of yours."
"Tell her I said thanks." I smiled. I could see his thoughts reflecting in his eyes. He knew I was disappointed.
"You know, those roses do look good with that pale face of yours." He smirked, folding his arms across his chest.
"Thanks." I smiled back. I felt my cheeks burning but luckily, the layers of make-up covering my face hid it.
"Although it's not very obvious, I like your music better than my cousin does."
"Really?"
"She only likes your good looks."
"Oh... I see. What do you like about our music?"
"It's just the way I like it. Tormented, disturbed and in a surreal way, beautiful. Just like "Perfect Purple". Its perfect..."
My eyes widened. He liked the song.
"I'm guessing that the song was mine, wasn't it?"
"How did you know?" I asked politely.
"We saw each other, didn't we? If we haven't, I'm sure you wouldn't have met me here backstage."
"True... I confess... Your eyes captivated me. They were haunting." I sighed as I turned around with my back to him. "Are you angry, ashamed, anything of that sort?"
"The opposite..." He took out a cigarette from a pack he kept and poised it upon his lips. "I feel quite proud." He looked at his watch and put his hand on my shoulder. "Oi, your fifteen minute break is nearly over. You should be getting ready. Don't worry," he smirked, "I'll be watching in the crowd. Play that song one last time for me, will you?"
"I will..." Unknown to him, my mind seemed to spin around at that moment. His hand was on my shoulder and I still held the bouquet he gave me. At that instant, I felt the unexpected. He pushed me so my back was against the wall and we looked deep into each other's eyes.
"Just for luck..." He smirked before capturing my mouth with his black-tainted lips. The kiss lasted for a little moment but to me, it felt like it was going to stay there for eternity, especially due to the fact that the black tint was smudged around my own mouth. I made a little mental note not to wipe it off. "I'll see you in the crowd." He whispered.
Just as he started to walk away, I heard Jien's voice calling me to the stage. I regained my presence of mind and made my way to the stage. I didn't care whether it was obvious or not, but all I was thinking about was that he would be there watching me with his perfect purple eyes.
But I never saw him during the remainder of the show. I believe I had felt both anger and sadness at that realization. The show was finally ended and I retired to my dressing room in bitterness with only thoughts of his nameless form in my mind.
"Who are you?" I whispered out loud in solitude. "You've left your mark on me... Who are you? I won't rest until I find those lips that fit this mark on me... You haven't even left a name..."
"You haven't even left a name..." I whispered as I collapsed on the floor, overtaken by desperation.
Strangely, I noticed something on my dresser. It was a white envelope with a white rose laying upon it. I opened it and recognized the first lines.
"You know, this white rose looks good with your pale face."
My mind told me to skip to whole message and see the name of who had sent it.
It was signed by only a simple "S". Well then, I vowed to find that "S". No matter how many shows I had to perform, just as long as I find him, the perfect purple eyes of a god.
Now I guess I really do feel like a prince.
A prince searching for his Cinderella...
~Owari (?)