Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango.
Chapter 13: Hell Week
Two weeks flew by swiftly after that. Tsukushi dropped by Akira's house during the days she didn't have to work, although she didn't really join them to sing yet. Mostly she listened as they performed songs from their repertoire so she'd have an idea of the kind of music they did. Akira also lent her his Discman and cd's of songs they usually sang so she could familiarize herself with these.
During those two weeks, she discovered that all four of them had very good singing voices, although there was no question that Tsukasa was the best of the lot. He had the uncanny ability to adjust the timbre and pitch of his voice to suit the kind of song he was singing. Like Tsukushi, his range was impressive, so he rarely had to resort to singing falsetto for the high notes. It was no wonder he was the lead singer, while the other three provided back-up vocals. He was also adept at playing both the keyboards and the guitar. Tsukushi saw this when sometimes, he would demonstrate to Akira and Rui how he wanted a certain segment of a song played.
Tsukasa was cool and indifferent to her during the times she showed up, although he never overstepped the bounds of civility whenever they had to speak to each other. Tsukushi wasn't overly concerned though, since his aloofness towards her was more than made up for by the warm way she was welcomed by her three other bandmates. Whereas Tsukasa would retreat to his own corner, writing songs during breaks, Akira and Soujiro would engage her in silly little games. Rui, when he wasn't sleeping, would teach her how to play the guitar.
Things are going to be okay after all, Tsukushi thought to herself.
===================
Or maybe not, she was thinking two weeks later.
The first day she officially worked for F4 had started uneventfully enough. Soujiro fetched her from her apartment and brought her to the record store at the mall. There, he introduced her to her co-employees, who were all very helpful in orienting her to her new job. It wasn't much different from her old one but this time, instead of clothes, she would be selling cd's.
Mindful of what Tsukasa said about being prompt, she left the store at 2:30 so she would get to Akira's house on time. She made it there with several minutes to spare. All of the F4 were already there.
"So, how'd you like your first day of work at the store?" Rui asked when she arrived.
"It was okay. Everyone was pretty helpful," she replied with a smile.
"Okay people, enough chit-chat," Tsukasa called out as he took his place behind his mike stand. "Let's start."
Tsukushi walked to her position behind the other mike stand, while the other three went and got their instruments ready. They started with an easy song. Or at least Tsukushi thought at first that it was an easy song. Not long after she'd started singing her part, Tsukasa signaled everyone to stop.
"You were half a beat off in coming in," he declared flatly.
"Oh. . . sorry," she grinned sheepishly.
"Okay, let's do it again, from the top." And he started singing again.
Midway through the song, when she thought they were doing okay, he stopped her from going further. "Your pitch is all wrong. It's too high. Go an octave lower."
"Um, okay," she replied, although she found nothing wrong with her pitch at all.
And so it went on the whole afternoon. If it wasn't her timing or her pitch, then she got the words wrong, especially when they were singing the songs Tsukasa had composed. By early evening, she was ready to rip her hair out of her scalp. It was then that Rui suggested a break. "Come," he said as he pulled her by the hand. "Let's go and buy some Chinese take-out for dinner."
Tsukushi was only too glad to go. She was beginning to feel suffocated inside the small basement. She welcomed the cool evening breeze that blew in her face as soon as they stepped out of the house and walked to where Rui had parked his car.
"I hope you don't think Tsukasa's being too hard on you," he said once they were on the road.
"Isn't he?" she answered, her voice a little higher than usual. "The man is a certified slavedriver!"
"Tsukasa's always been a perfectionist. He was like that at the start with Shizuka too. You just have to get used to him, that's all."
She eyed him uncertainly. "I don't know, Rui. I think he's being like that because he doesn't like me. "
"Trust me. Tsukasa's a professional. Even if what you said about him not liking you was true, he wouldn't take it out on you that way. C'mon, don't you think he had a point every time he'd correct you?"
Tsukushi thought about what Rui said and then nodded slowly. "Well, not ALL of the time, but yeah, I guess he has a point most of the time."
"So how 'bout you give the guy a chance, okay?"
"Fine," she said grudgingly.
When they got back to Akira's house with the food, they were informed that Tsukasa had already left, after having decided to cut short that night's rehearsals.
Tsukushi was able to enjoy her dinner in relative peace with her remaining bandmates. Akira and Soujiro had the same words of advice as Rui. So Tsukushi decided to heed them. She would keep her cool and give Tsukasa a chance.
This of course was easier said than done, especially since the next day proved to be a lot worse. They were practicing one of the band's original songs, and since this was unfamiliar to Tsukushi, she kept on forgetting the words. It didn't help that she left her lyric sheet at home.
After they stopped for the nth time because she got the lyrics all wrong, Tsukasa blew his top. "When the hell are you gonna get it right?!!!" he yelled.
By this time Tsukushi had had enough as well. "Well, it's not as if this song is in the Billboard Top 40 and I hear it on the radio everyday!" she bit out scathingly.
In an attempt to stop the argument from escalating further, Rui spoke up. "Tsukasa, since Tsukushi hasn't memorized this song yet, why don't we just move on to the next song?"
"We'd be on the next song by now if only SOMEONE had done their homework," Tsukasa spat out as he looked pointedly at Tsukushi, leaving no doubt as to whom he was referring to. "Let's take it again, from the top. 5, 6, 7, 8 . . ."
Rui, Soujiro and Akira knew better than to argue with Tsukasa when he was in such a mood, so they merely looked at each other resignedly and started playing at his cue.
Everything was going well until they reached the final stanza, wherein Tsukushi fumbled on the words yet again.
"Damn it!!! If you hadn't just wasted the last couple of hours demonstrating how incompetent you are, I'd think you were doing this on purpose!"
Something within Tsukushi snapped at what he said. Who the hell did this guy think he was, accusing her in the same breath of being both incompetent AND stupid enough to mess up the song on purpose?! She felt the blood rush up to her head and suddenly saw the microphone she was holding fly out of her hand and hit him square on the nose.
The look on Tsukasa's face was priceless. His eyes had widened to their maximum circumference and he was speechless as he gaped at her, one hand covering his bloodied nose.
"Tsukushi! Tsukushi!" Akira was shaking her by the shoulders vigorously.
"Huh? Wha. . . what?!"
"You were daydreaming again," Soujiro said as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.
Daydreaming?
She blinked her eyes several times and saw all four men looking at her strangely. There was no blood on Tsukasa's face. It was all her imagination.
Tsukasa was getting more worried by the minute. The girl seriously looked like she needed psychiatric help. One minute he was yelling insults at her and the next she was off to la-la land, a smile of extreme satisfaction on her face. He wondered how she could smile so contentedly after the insults he had flung at her. "Crazy bitch," he muttered under his breath.
"Tsukasa," Rui's voice broke into his thoughts, "I think we could all use a break. We've been practicing the whole afternoon. Let's take a half hour to rest and recharge." Soujiro and Akira nodded, seconding Rui's suggestion.
"Okay. 30 minutes," Tsukasa agreed. It was then that Akira's cell phone rang. He answered it and ran upstairs to get a better signal. Tsukushi followed him so she could use the bathroom in the upper floor.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror after splashing cold water on her face. How she wished this day were over so she could just plop onto her bed at home and get some much needed rest. This day was turning out to be longer than she thought. She wondered how she'd be able to last a year of being with Tsukasa when she wasn't even sure if she could last the week. Arrogant, pompous ass! she thought.
When she stepped out of the toilet, she saw that Akira was still busy talking on his cell phone, so she went past him and returned to the basement. To keep herself busy during the remainder of the break, she sat down at the table and wrote down the lyrics of the song they were practicing, once in a while consulting either Rui or Soujiro when she wasn't sure. Tsukasa was seated at the couch with Rui's guitar, strumming the chords to what she assumed was a new song he was working on.
They all looked up when Akira burst back into the room, the expression on his face a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.
"I've got some news. That was Kazuya on the phone. He told me his boss was getting impatient as to when we're gonna play at Frenzy for that trial run we promised. There are a couple of other bands itching to try out but Kazuya's holding out on the slot for us, 'cause we were the very first to volunteer. That, plus he's a really good friend of Tsukushi's, and now that she's with us, he really wants our band to have first dibs on a chance at a regular weekly stint."
"And?" Tsukasa prompted him for more information, when he paused to catch his breath.
"And, Kazuya said we either play this Saturday or else he can no longer promise us a shot. Of course I said yes. So. . . we'll be playing at Frenzy on Saturday. Tsukushi, be ready for your debut performance."
"What?!?" Tsukushi exclaimed in a shrill voice. "But. . . but. . . I'm not ready yet!"
"All the more reason for us to practice," Tsukasa declared grimly. "Break's over. Let's get back to work."
Tsukushi could only sigh dejectedly as she took her place back at the mike stand. A hard knot was forming at the pit of her stomach as she thought of this new development. Panic, that's what it was. Even as she took care to get the words right this time, the panic was slowly creeping up from her stomach to her chest until it found its way to her throat. They had to stop several times because she kept singing at a pitch higher than normal.
Tsukasa could see the dread written all over her face, and so he tried to be patient at first. But when he saw that the panic was getting the better of her, he couldn't help himself from blowing up again. "Will you fuckin' forget about the gig on Saturday first and focus on getting this one song right?!! Damn it, at the rate we're going, we won't even get one song done today!"
Tsukushi was hyperventilating but that didn't stop her from lashing back at Tsukasa. "Maybe we could get more done if you don't insist on practicing this particular song all day long! I don't even know why we're wasting our time singing something no one had ever heard yet before! There are so many other songs, BETTER songs we could rehearse, but nooooooo, we need to practice the one song I couldn't get right! Who cares about the sucky song you wrote anyway?!?!"
Her tirade obviously hit a raw nerve with Tsukasa, and at once she regretted her words when she saw the hurt look on his face. For a few tense seconds it was quiet throughout the room. Too quiet, they both realized a second too late as they tore their eyes from each other and found that their other three bandmates had sneaked out of the basement. The audible click of the lock on the door was unmistakable and they both ran towards it.
"Akira! Soujiro! Rui! Damn it, open this door now!" Tsukasa yelled as he rattled the knob repeatedly. Tsukushi, meanwhile, was pounding on the wooden door with both her fists, as she let out a string of expletives that would make a truck driver blush.
Akira's muffled voice came from the other side. "The two of you have got to get your act together, and soon! We have a gig this Saturday, and we'll never be ready for it if you keep on going at each other's throats. Use this time together to work out your differences. We're off to buy dinner. We'll be back later with food for you. Try not to kill each other while we're away. Ta-tah!"
Tsukushi and Tsukasa looked at each other helplessly, their earlier fight now forgotten. They had just been locked in.
**********************
A/N: Whew, another chapter done (and right in time for V-Day)! A tad longer than usual, but I hope you liked it and it didn't bore you (feel free to tell me if it did though). Hehehe, I might have gotten carried away and wrote up Tsukasa to be a musical genius in this fic. So shoot me, I just adore the guy, lol.
XxSwtDreamerxX1: Thanks! I really liked that last chap too. Here, I managed to squeeze another chapter out for you in the midst of my 'busy weeks,' hehe!
Sailor Angie: I hope you liked the TxT action in this chapter. As for your question on the length of this story, I honestly have no idea yet. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it within 20 chapters so I don't lose interest, but no guarantees there. In my first outline for this story, the audition part was supposed to be chapter 6. . . I was only able to write it up in chapter 11. But anyway, you said you wanted longer stories, right? Well, here you go, this fic is already longer than my first one. And this chap is one of the longest I've churned out, I think.
Invisible Rain: Yup, there were some loose ends I wanted to tie up in that last chap. I'm glad you liked it!
shirlynn: Don't worry, I don't want Rui to be sad either. I think he's too nice a guy not to have his own happiness. Thanks for still reading, even if it's a TxT fic and you're a Rui fan.
cristine mae: Oh, thank you for the compliment! Hope you liked this TxT chapter. The next one will be about them too.
Nermal: Hi, it's good to hear from you again. I'm glad you found this story again and took time to catch up.
See you all next chapter! As always, please leave a review if you have time. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Chapter 13: Hell Week
Two weeks flew by swiftly after that. Tsukushi dropped by Akira's house during the days she didn't have to work, although she didn't really join them to sing yet. Mostly she listened as they performed songs from their repertoire so she'd have an idea of the kind of music they did. Akira also lent her his Discman and cd's of songs they usually sang so she could familiarize herself with these.
During those two weeks, she discovered that all four of them had very good singing voices, although there was no question that Tsukasa was the best of the lot. He had the uncanny ability to adjust the timbre and pitch of his voice to suit the kind of song he was singing. Like Tsukushi, his range was impressive, so he rarely had to resort to singing falsetto for the high notes. It was no wonder he was the lead singer, while the other three provided back-up vocals. He was also adept at playing both the keyboards and the guitar. Tsukushi saw this when sometimes, he would demonstrate to Akira and Rui how he wanted a certain segment of a song played.
Tsukasa was cool and indifferent to her during the times she showed up, although he never overstepped the bounds of civility whenever they had to speak to each other. Tsukushi wasn't overly concerned though, since his aloofness towards her was more than made up for by the warm way she was welcomed by her three other bandmates. Whereas Tsukasa would retreat to his own corner, writing songs during breaks, Akira and Soujiro would engage her in silly little games. Rui, when he wasn't sleeping, would teach her how to play the guitar.
Things are going to be okay after all, Tsukushi thought to herself.
===================
Or maybe not, she was thinking two weeks later.
The first day she officially worked for F4 had started uneventfully enough. Soujiro fetched her from her apartment and brought her to the record store at the mall. There, he introduced her to her co-employees, who were all very helpful in orienting her to her new job. It wasn't much different from her old one but this time, instead of clothes, she would be selling cd's.
Mindful of what Tsukasa said about being prompt, she left the store at 2:30 so she would get to Akira's house on time. She made it there with several minutes to spare. All of the F4 were already there.
"So, how'd you like your first day of work at the store?" Rui asked when she arrived.
"It was okay. Everyone was pretty helpful," she replied with a smile.
"Okay people, enough chit-chat," Tsukasa called out as he took his place behind his mike stand. "Let's start."
Tsukushi walked to her position behind the other mike stand, while the other three went and got their instruments ready. They started with an easy song. Or at least Tsukushi thought at first that it was an easy song. Not long after she'd started singing her part, Tsukasa signaled everyone to stop.
"You were half a beat off in coming in," he declared flatly.
"Oh. . . sorry," she grinned sheepishly.
"Okay, let's do it again, from the top." And he started singing again.
Midway through the song, when she thought they were doing okay, he stopped her from going further. "Your pitch is all wrong. It's too high. Go an octave lower."
"Um, okay," she replied, although she found nothing wrong with her pitch at all.
And so it went on the whole afternoon. If it wasn't her timing or her pitch, then she got the words wrong, especially when they were singing the songs Tsukasa had composed. By early evening, she was ready to rip her hair out of her scalp. It was then that Rui suggested a break. "Come," he said as he pulled her by the hand. "Let's go and buy some Chinese take-out for dinner."
Tsukushi was only too glad to go. She was beginning to feel suffocated inside the small basement. She welcomed the cool evening breeze that blew in her face as soon as they stepped out of the house and walked to where Rui had parked his car.
"I hope you don't think Tsukasa's being too hard on you," he said once they were on the road.
"Isn't he?" she answered, her voice a little higher than usual. "The man is a certified slavedriver!"
"Tsukasa's always been a perfectionist. He was like that at the start with Shizuka too. You just have to get used to him, that's all."
She eyed him uncertainly. "I don't know, Rui. I think he's being like that because he doesn't like me. "
"Trust me. Tsukasa's a professional. Even if what you said about him not liking you was true, he wouldn't take it out on you that way. C'mon, don't you think he had a point every time he'd correct you?"
Tsukushi thought about what Rui said and then nodded slowly. "Well, not ALL of the time, but yeah, I guess he has a point most of the time."
"So how 'bout you give the guy a chance, okay?"
"Fine," she said grudgingly.
When they got back to Akira's house with the food, they were informed that Tsukasa had already left, after having decided to cut short that night's rehearsals.
Tsukushi was able to enjoy her dinner in relative peace with her remaining bandmates. Akira and Soujiro had the same words of advice as Rui. So Tsukushi decided to heed them. She would keep her cool and give Tsukasa a chance.
This of course was easier said than done, especially since the next day proved to be a lot worse. They were practicing one of the band's original songs, and since this was unfamiliar to Tsukushi, she kept on forgetting the words. It didn't help that she left her lyric sheet at home.
After they stopped for the nth time because she got the lyrics all wrong, Tsukasa blew his top. "When the hell are you gonna get it right?!!!" he yelled.
By this time Tsukushi had had enough as well. "Well, it's not as if this song is in the Billboard Top 40 and I hear it on the radio everyday!" she bit out scathingly.
In an attempt to stop the argument from escalating further, Rui spoke up. "Tsukasa, since Tsukushi hasn't memorized this song yet, why don't we just move on to the next song?"
"We'd be on the next song by now if only SOMEONE had done their homework," Tsukasa spat out as he looked pointedly at Tsukushi, leaving no doubt as to whom he was referring to. "Let's take it again, from the top. 5, 6, 7, 8 . . ."
Rui, Soujiro and Akira knew better than to argue with Tsukasa when he was in such a mood, so they merely looked at each other resignedly and started playing at his cue.
Everything was going well until they reached the final stanza, wherein Tsukushi fumbled on the words yet again.
"Damn it!!! If you hadn't just wasted the last couple of hours demonstrating how incompetent you are, I'd think you were doing this on purpose!"
Something within Tsukushi snapped at what he said. Who the hell did this guy think he was, accusing her in the same breath of being both incompetent AND stupid enough to mess up the song on purpose?! She felt the blood rush up to her head and suddenly saw the microphone she was holding fly out of her hand and hit him square on the nose.
The look on Tsukasa's face was priceless. His eyes had widened to their maximum circumference and he was speechless as he gaped at her, one hand covering his bloodied nose.
"Tsukushi! Tsukushi!" Akira was shaking her by the shoulders vigorously.
"Huh? Wha. . . what?!"
"You were daydreaming again," Soujiro said as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.
Daydreaming?
She blinked her eyes several times and saw all four men looking at her strangely. There was no blood on Tsukasa's face. It was all her imagination.
Tsukasa was getting more worried by the minute. The girl seriously looked like she needed psychiatric help. One minute he was yelling insults at her and the next she was off to la-la land, a smile of extreme satisfaction on her face. He wondered how she could smile so contentedly after the insults he had flung at her. "Crazy bitch," he muttered under his breath.
"Tsukasa," Rui's voice broke into his thoughts, "I think we could all use a break. We've been practicing the whole afternoon. Let's take a half hour to rest and recharge." Soujiro and Akira nodded, seconding Rui's suggestion.
"Okay. 30 minutes," Tsukasa agreed. It was then that Akira's cell phone rang. He answered it and ran upstairs to get a better signal. Tsukushi followed him so she could use the bathroom in the upper floor.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror after splashing cold water on her face. How she wished this day were over so she could just plop onto her bed at home and get some much needed rest. This day was turning out to be longer than she thought. She wondered how she'd be able to last a year of being with Tsukasa when she wasn't even sure if she could last the week. Arrogant, pompous ass! she thought.
When she stepped out of the toilet, she saw that Akira was still busy talking on his cell phone, so she went past him and returned to the basement. To keep herself busy during the remainder of the break, she sat down at the table and wrote down the lyrics of the song they were practicing, once in a while consulting either Rui or Soujiro when she wasn't sure. Tsukasa was seated at the couch with Rui's guitar, strumming the chords to what she assumed was a new song he was working on.
They all looked up when Akira burst back into the room, the expression on his face a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.
"I've got some news. That was Kazuya on the phone. He told me his boss was getting impatient as to when we're gonna play at Frenzy for that trial run we promised. There are a couple of other bands itching to try out but Kazuya's holding out on the slot for us, 'cause we were the very first to volunteer. That, plus he's a really good friend of Tsukushi's, and now that she's with us, he really wants our band to have first dibs on a chance at a regular weekly stint."
"And?" Tsukasa prompted him for more information, when he paused to catch his breath.
"And, Kazuya said we either play this Saturday or else he can no longer promise us a shot. Of course I said yes. So. . . we'll be playing at Frenzy on Saturday. Tsukushi, be ready for your debut performance."
"What?!?" Tsukushi exclaimed in a shrill voice. "But. . . but. . . I'm not ready yet!"
"All the more reason for us to practice," Tsukasa declared grimly. "Break's over. Let's get back to work."
Tsukushi could only sigh dejectedly as she took her place back at the mike stand. A hard knot was forming at the pit of her stomach as she thought of this new development. Panic, that's what it was. Even as she took care to get the words right this time, the panic was slowly creeping up from her stomach to her chest until it found its way to her throat. They had to stop several times because she kept singing at a pitch higher than normal.
Tsukasa could see the dread written all over her face, and so he tried to be patient at first. But when he saw that the panic was getting the better of her, he couldn't help himself from blowing up again. "Will you fuckin' forget about the gig on Saturday first and focus on getting this one song right?!! Damn it, at the rate we're going, we won't even get one song done today!"
Tsukushi was hyperventilating but that didn't stop her from lashing back at Tsukasa. "Maybe we could get more done if you don't insist on practicing this particular song all day long! I don't even know why we're wasting our time singing something no one had ever heard yet before! There are so many other songs, BETTER songs we could rehearse, but nooooooo, we need to practice the one song I couldn't get right! Who cares about the sucky song you wrote anyway?!?!"
Her tirade obviously hit a raw nerve with Tsukasa, and at once she regretted her words when she saw the hurt look on his face. For a few tense seconds it was quiet throughout the room. Too quiet, they both realized a second too late as they tore their eyes from each other and found that their other three bandmates had sneaked out of the basement. The audible click of the lock on the door was unmistakable and they both ran towards it.
"Akira! Soujiro! Rui! Damn it, open this door now!" Tsukasa yelled as he rattled the knob repeatedly. Tsukushi, meanwhile, was pounding on the wooden door with both her fists, as she let out a string of expletives that would make a truck driver blush.
Akira's muffled voice came from the other side. "The two of you have got to get your act together, and soon! We have a gig this Saturday, and we'll never be ready for it if you keep on going at each other's throats. Use this time together to work out your differences. We're off to buy dinner. We'll be back later with food for you. Try not to kill each other while we're away. Ta-tah!"
Tsukushi and Tsukasa looked at each other helplessly, their earlier fight now forgotten. They had just been locked in.
**********************
A/N: Whew, another chapter done (and right in time for V-Day)! A tad longer than usual, but I hope you liked it and it didn't bore you (feel free to tell me if it did though). Hehehe, I might have gotten carried away and wrote up Tsukasa to be a musical genius in this fic. So shoot me, I just adore the guy, lol.
XxSwtDreamerxX1: Thanks! I really liked that last chap too. Here, I managed to squeeze another chapter out for you in the midst of my 'busy weeks,' hehe!
Sailor Angie: I hope you liked the TxT action in this chapter. As for your question on the length of this story, I honestly have no idea yet. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it within 20 chapters so I don't lose interest, but no guarantees there. In my first outline for this story, the audition part was supposed to be chapter 6. . . I was only able to write it up in chapter 11. But anyway, you said you wanted longer stories, right? Well, here you go, this fic is already longer than my first one. And this chap is one of the longest I've churned out, I think.
Invisible Rain: Yup, there were some loose ends I wanted to tie up in that last chap. I'm glad you liked it!
shirlynn: Don't worry, I don't want Rui to be sad either. I think he's too nice a guy not to have his own happiness. Thanks for still reading, even if it's a TxT fic and you're a Rui fan.
cristine mae: Oh, thank you for the compliment! Hope you liked this TxT chapter. The next one will be about them too.
Nermal: Hi, it's good to hear from you again. I'm glad you found this story again and took time to catch up.
See you all next chapter! As always, please leave a review if you have time. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!