A/N: The lyrics of this song are a combination of the English version and the translation of the original version of Doing Unbalanced Kissing.
Making of the Band
by Yami Yue
"Hey Urameshi, check this out," Kuwabara cried excitedly as he rushed into the living room of the apartment he shared with Yusuke. The tall carrot top hurridly pushed a brightly colored piece of paper into Yusuke's hands. Curiously, Kurama peered over Yusuke's shoulder. "I bet we could win this thing," Kuwabara cried. "A battle of the bands contest?" Kurama asked in surprise. "I don't know if we're ready for that Kuwabara. We've only been at this for a few months," The fox took the flyer from Yusuke and handed it to me. I glanced over it. The grand prize was $20,000. "For once I actually agree with the fool," I said, stunning them all into silence. "We play well together and we're no strangers to hard work. With a little extra practice I don't see any reason why we wouldn't have a chance of winning," Kurama looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hiei's right," he agreed. "With a little extra practice we could do well," "Alright then," Yusuke agreed. "First, we'd better think up a name,"
We spent the next few hours doing just that. Several suggestions were made but none sounded right. The room had fallen silent, each of us thinking heavily upon our next suggestion. Surprisingly, Kurama was the first to break the silence. "Sub Rosa," he said. Yusuke gave him a clueless look. "It's an old Latin term meaning all persons present are sworn to secrecy," Kurama explained. "…in secrecy or confidence," "Makes sense," I said. "Much of what we do for Koemna is in secret," "Works for me," Yusuke suggested. We all looked to Kuwabara. "Ok, but I still think my idea was cooler," he responded. Yusuke rolled his eyes. "You would," he commented.
"What song are we going to sing for the tryout?" Kurama asked. "We should save our songs for the contest," I said. The others nodded in agreement. "What about Sobaskasu?" Kuwabara suggested. "A girl sings that song," Yusuke commented. "Somehow I don't think it'd sound right with us," "That song on the radio," I thought. "I'm sure we could pull it off," If only I could remember the name of the song. Unconsciously, I had began humming the tune under my breath.
"What song is that Hiei?" Kurama asked, his soft voice breaking into my thoughts. I blinked and looked over at him, showing no other sign that he had startled me. "Doing Unbalanced Kissing," Yusuke answered. "What about that one?" Kurama asked. Yusuke thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, why not?" he responded. "We could really show off our skills with the instruments," I nodded in agreement. "I know that one," Kuwabara declared. "It's got a great beat, though the lyrics don't make much sense to me," I gave an amused smirk "Does anything?" I asked. Before Kuwabara could respond Kurama wisely stepped in. "We should get started on learning the lyrics then," he said. "…and decide who gets which part. The contest is only a few weeks away," "Then what are we waiting for?" Yusuke cried. "Let's get started,"
The night of the tryout came quickly. We had rehearsed long hours each night for this moment. My heart raced in anticipation as we set up for our performance. "Just like before a battle," I thought. In truth it really was to be a battle of the bands. Out of all of the bands that had come to try out only twenty bands would make it into the contest. Four bands would play each weeknight and only one from each day would make it to the semi final round where the five remaining bands would perform and out of those five only two would go to the final round.
"Getting nervous Hiei?" Kurama whispered to me. "No," I answered. "I am," he confessed. I raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I'm just afraid I'll forget the words," he clarified. "I know it must seem silly to you, after all you've seen me against all sorts of opponents without so much as batting an eye, " "You'll do just fine Kurama," I assured him. "If anyone messes up it'll be the oaf." Kurama smiled, trying not to laugh. I smiled back at him. The announcer began introducing us and we got into our places. The crowd was large and they all applauded as we appeared onstage. There was no sign of the judges, they were hidden in the mass of humans that had gathered. I put my hands into position and awaited the signal to begin. Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap went Kuwabara's drumstick against the top cymbal. That was the signal. Kuwabara began the beat on the drums and Kurama followed in on his bass as Yusuke came in on the keyboard which had been programmed to sound like horns. As the first verse was to begin I came in on lead guitar.
Yusuke began first:
In a broken mirror
You will see your reflection
Tears roll down your face
Tears roll down your face
A finger tracing the narrow moon
Then it was my turn
Who is that you're calling out to
The back of love that has gone
Time and time again
Time and time again
You will find me knocking down your door
Kurama immediately continued the song.
Like a thread being cut
Your back is pushed by the acceleration of the night
Then I hold onto you
Hold onto you
Hold onto you
With all my might
We sang the chorus as a group.
As you share an unbalanced kiss with me
I hope you can feel us getting closer to love
Both the tears and the sorrowful lies
Sleep in my heart
After a brief instrumental, Kuwabara began the second verse.
A merry go round taking you towards yesterday
Wanting to stop
Wanting to stop
I am searching for the key
I looked at Kurama as my turn came again. Just as I'd hoped his eyes met mine. I wanted him to know I meant the words I was singing.
Holding up the sky that seems to crumble
I bear it alone
Only by your side
By your side
By your side
I want to be
Kurama and I then joined together to finish the verse
Written with unbalanced kisses
A scenario of us two
Even call it love even if it is not strong
Everything about you hurts
We then joined once more for the chorus
As you share an unbalanced kiss with me
I hope you can feel us getting closer to love
Both the tears and the sorrowful lies
Sleep in my heart
I broke away from the group at the last moment to finish the last lines of the song
Till the day your heart calls out to me
Till the day I can meet you in my arms
The crowd applauded and cheered wildly as we finished the song. We took a bow, then headed backstage to await our fate. "I don't know if it was just my imagination, but you sounded different tonight," Kurama said softly so that only I would hear. "There was just something about your voice …" He trailed off and I smiled at him. His cheeks had turned an interesting shade of red. "Now that's something you don't see everyday," I thought with amusement. "Why are you blushing Fox?" I asked. Amazingly, his cheeks became even redder. Yusuke called to him, saving him from having to make a response. I chuckled mentally. I thought I'd never see Kurama squirm, he's always so calm and collected. It was pretty amusing.
At the appointed time, the announcer came onto the stage. " All right ladies and gentlemen it's time to announce the contestants for the Battle of the Bands contest," he began. "All the bands performing tonight were judged in the following areas; vocals, music, stage presence and audience reaction. Those who move on to compete tonight have scored highest in these areas. Those bands are…" I looked over at Kurama as the first band was announced, it looked as though he was holding his breath. I was no longer focused on what was going on around me, but solely upon my fiery haired friend. "…Sub Rosa…" The announcer cried, catching my attention once again. "We made it in," Kurama cried excitedly as he wrapped his arms around me. I loved the feel of his embrace, the sensation of his body pressed against mine was divine. "If only I were his," I thought longingly "…I'd be held like this all the time," He broke the hug, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Sorry Hiei," he apologized, a blush spreading across his cheeks for the second time that night. "I guess I got a little excited," I quickly returned the hug, for once not caring if Yusuke and Kuwabara were watching. A soft smile graced Kurama's lips as I pulled away. I couldn't help but smile back.