Disclaimer: Hmm...no, no and no. I do not own Groove Adventure Rave; it's characters and the series. And although I don't own Japan either, I perfectly understand I'm allowed to use their language. And...uhhh, other things like that.

A few days ago, I dusted off the lid of my Playstation CD "Chrono Cross" and fell in love with the soundtrack again. Radical Dreamers will be used in here (the ending song of the game, and if you wanna hear it, just mosey down to and search for Chrono Cross music clips, it's really dang good if you get the message...). Uhm, since I don't own the song, let's just say it was a classic in this world. Nuff said'


Chapter 5

"Ohayou, Shuda-san!"

Shuda was not in the least surprise to see Haru well and up again, knowing that Haru realized he had seen the bruises and marks on his body, obviously not from a fall in the stairways. Shuda decided not to press the issue, and took a piece of paper from the table, after serving Haru his okonomiyaki and green tea. Gale was still indifferent of the things around him, lightly sipping his tea.

"Ok...since Gale was "courteous" enough to give both of your school schedules, I have laid out a scheme for both of you to work part-time at the Shiro Honya..." Shuda sat down, taking his cup of coffee and sipping a little. "Since both of you have almost the same schedules of classes, I decided to place both of you on Saturday afternoons. You can spend the rest of the weekend doing whatever you want..." Shuda laid the piece of paper down that contained the schedules for the duties at the bookstore.

"We'll remember that Shuda-san." Haru grinned at him, then placed his cup on the table, and grabbing his bag, left after saying an abrupt "itekimasu!"

But the truth was...Haru wanted to leave Gale alone...

"Ohayou, Haru-san!" Elie waved at Haru, who looked up from his trail of thoughts to meet up with the girl.

"Ohayou, Elie. Nice day, isn't it?" Haru replied, after the brunette caught up with him.

"Hai...anou...are you okay now?" Elie looked away, and Haru was reminded of what happened yesterday.

"I'm fine Elie, there is nothing to worry about..." Haru guaranteed her, to which Elie heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oi! Ohayou, Haru-kun! You look beautiful today! Well, not as beautiful as me, but still..." Julius waved at them, appearing with Seig just around the corner. Haru sweatdropped at him, waving nervously back.

"Daijobu, Haru. Julius just likes to assume he's the most beautiful person around. In a male and masculine sense that is..." Seighart assured Haru, to whom Julius was again sticking up to.

"You know, Haru-kun, we're classmates in Ancient History, and English...beautiful, isn't it?" Julius beamed, shuffling through random receipts and documents to view his registration form and compare it with Haru's.

Elie peeked from behind Julius. "Huh? I only get to be your classmate in Literatures. Darn..." Elie kicked a pebble; frustrated at the prospect of knowing Haru would be only her classmate in one subject.

Even Seig peeked a random eye at Haru's schedule. "Hmm, I'm your classmate in Music, Arithmetic, Computer Applications and..." Seig trailed his fingers to even more subjects. Elie and Julius jaw dropped, muttering "how's" and "why's" at their rotten fate.

A little while, the four had reached school and pairs had separated ways and classrooms. Elie and Julius went to the second floor, while Haru and Seig went to the orchestra room to take up Music.

"I'm glad you're my classmate, Seig. It would be hard to start a day without knowing anyone..." Haru looked up to the much taller blue-haired boy. Seig nodded a smile back, as he opened the doors of the orchestra.

The orchestra room of the school looked more like an opera house. Seats lined the rows in front of the stage. There was a stage in front, and the lights shone brightly, illuminating the draw curtains. The two decided to talk about their lives for a while until the students arrived.

"Wow...so you mean to say that the whole city is nothing but clock workshops?!?! Median sounds very interesting..." Haru dazed off into a dream city that was one big clock.

"Median can be what you call "clock-obsessed". Even I am a bit obsessed with time." Seighart chuckled at Haru's interest at the revelation.

"Honto ka? Then why can't a see a single watch strapped in your body? I thought you're a bit "clock-obsessed" too". Haru quoted in the air.

"I don't need to. I can exactly tell what time it is right now. And right now, the students are going to flood in...in two...one..." Seighart motioned for Haru towards the door, to which students and teacher exploded in on cue.

Minutes later, the teacher had everyone settled down. He was a middle-aged man that had the air of an experienced music conductor. Seighart noted to Haru that the man was a "Mr. John Doe".

"John Doe? Isn't that a term used for people who don't know their names, or don't want other people to know their names?" Haru quirked a silver eyebrow at Seig.

"Actually...you were right at the first part. Mr. Doe was an American teacher who lost his memory a year ago. Nobody knew him here because he had no relations and the government still had a search going on for his relatives. In the meanwhile, the university absorbed him to teach here for a while. He's very good at any instrument you can give him." Seig finished, to which Haru muttered a soft "Yokatta!"

"Alright, everybody! Settle down now please! Settle down! I would ask you to go to the storage room and obtain any instrument you so wish to use. I assume that you have an area of expertise in the field of music..." Mr. Doe ushered everyone towards the backstage to get an instrument.

Haru panicked.

Seig noticed Haru's incessant blushing, and asked the withdrawing boy what was wrong.

"I...I don't know how to play any instrument...Back in Gallage island, we...didn't take Music as a subject that much. We did take it up though..." Haru surrendered to the inevitable.

"Daijobu, Haru. Just go with me and I'll teach you an instrument that would be good for you." Seig chuckled softly.

After a few minutes of rummaging, both Seig and Haru settled to using the violin. Haru was more intimidated as he was thinking violins are for professionals only, evidencing the things he saw on TV. Seig just heaved a sigh and dragged him by the collar out back to their seats.

A few minutes of fussing and calibrating, Haru was now performing well with the violin. Even Seighart was impressed by Haru's adaptive ability.

"Kakoi! If I've known I can play this well, I should have started back in Gallage..." Haru admired the wooden instrument and kept playing with it in the light. Seig rummaged through the case of his violin to pull out two musical pieces.

"Haru...can you read musical notes? "Seighart handed him one of the pieces. Haru nodded to which he carefully studied what Seig wanted to show him.

"Anou...this is a bit complicated. There are just so many notes in here. How do I fit this all in?" Haru bugged at Seig, pointing to four rows of notes that piled on top of each other in his piece.

Seighart was just about to answer when Mr. Doe called each and everyone to give a mock performance, according to the instrument they used. Haru was now in full-panic mode, as he didn't know what to do. Seig just sweatdropped at him as he ushered Haru to calm down and discussed what they were going to do.

A few minutes pass by.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! I loved that song..." Haru contemplated in remembering the tone and lyrics and tried to fit it in into the violin. Seig decided to join in with Haru as well, agreeing that both will do the song.

"Radical Dreamers..."

Haru turned back to the person sitting behind them.

"Gale-san..."

"Are you two gonna do the song too?" Gale drolly gazed at the two. Haru nodded in silent assent as Seighart shrugged. He still hadn't forgiven the blonde to what he did to Haru, but thought it best not to create an outburst in front of him.

"You might as well join me. I'm doing a solo on the piano. It would be better for the three of us if we won't perform separately..."

Seig looked at Haru for his decision.

"Of course...Gale-san. It...would be an honor..." Haru hesitantly gazed at Gale, shuffling back and forth from his lap to the blonde. Seighart made no comment as he prodded Haru back to practicing until either one of them were called. Gale slacked off again, crossing his arms as he half-listened to the ones on stage.

"Hmph...what lousy amateurs. It shames me to go to a school with a bunch of pathetic losers like them..." Gale nastily retorted as the last performer, a girl, screwed on her flute and raised a pitch too high, creating a screeching sound that led the audience to roll on the floor and cover their ears.

"Thank you, Ms. Austria. That was...a bit off-key though..." Mr. Doe, who apparently recovered, ushered the girl off the stage. Haru could sense the insecurity and discomfort of the teacher's best effort to provide a good atmosphere for them.

"Mr. Glory...please come up on stage. And if there is company, please join him as well." The middle-aged man strained from his class list as he waited for the three to gear up and perform.

"Haru...I'll sing. You realize both of you can't and are in no position to do so. And don't you damn make any snide comments about my voice either. Or I'll screw you up real good, and don't you fucking forget that..." Gale glared balefully at Haru, who gulped at the sudden threat and took his position alongside Seighart.

Gale closed his eyes and started the slow and somewhat painful melody of the song. Haru and Seig caught up and accompanied Gale's intro. Almost everyone perked up in the performance, having just heard nothing but screeches and howls from the previous one. But this...it was a performance nobody dared to miss.

Gale ran his fingers through the ebony and ivory of the piano. Deftly weaving into the shades of black and white, he was somewhat a thing to look at. The spotlight shone on top of the three of them. But to Haru, it was as if Gale was the only one he can see...

And then the words came out...

Osanai te ni tsutsunda

furueteru sono hikari

kokomade tadottekita

jikan no fuchi wo samayoi

sagashi tsutzukedo kitayo

namae sae shiranai keredo

Tada hitotsu no omoi wo

Anata ni tewatashitakute...

Toki wa ai mo itami mo

fukaku dakitome

keshike yukukedo Watashi wa

oboeteiru

zutto...

Watashi no mune no oku ni

itsukaraka hibiite ita

Yotsuyu no shizuku yorimo

kasukana sasaya kidakedo

Iketsuku hoshi no yamie

tsumugu inori ga

Taoi anata no sora ni

todoku you ni...

Haru dropped his arms after ending the melody, violin slack in his grip, as he heard Gale's deep and dark monotone. Then he realized when Gale stood up from his seat in the piano...

Gale had shed tears of silence.

Not the tears of just pain, or grief, or sorrow. But it was sadness...

Sadness so eternal, and deep. Sadness rooted in pain felt in years of being...alone.

It was sadness that was directed to oneself, Haru could see well.

It was hard to resist reaching out a hand to comfort Gale, but Haru saw his own extending to the blonde. He wanted to reach and let Gale know what he wanted to say.

That it was not hopeless.

That there would be happiness in the end.

That someone...cared for him.

Haru remembered his conversation with Gale well in the ferry weeks ago. He was an orphan. He could understand well that he suffered quite much with that reality.

Haru figured out that Gale didn't want to be alone.

Despite how much Gale would harden up on him, how much beating he would get from going against his way; the pain is always as evident.

His fingers touched the fabric of Gale's tees. Gale gazed at the brief contact...

...And placidly walked off his reach; Haru's arm fell limply back to his side.

"You don't have to go through all of this alone, Gale..." Haru clutched tightly on his violin. Seighart rested a hand on Haru's shoulder, asking him to be ok.

"That was brilliant, the three of you!" Mr. Doe walked up to the stage, having recovered from the shock of witnessing such talent.

"Arigato, sensei..." Haru bowed, hiding the turmoil he had experienced.

"Oh, no need for formalities here. Next meeting, I expect that the three of you will lead a smaller group each. I suspect a growing fan base in the crowd..." The teacher smirked as he gazed at the audience, who grew more rowdy after the performance. Minutes ago, they were just as stunned as the teacher.

The morning bell ended the first subject for them...

Haru immediately went down to the lockers and retrieved a few of his notebooks there. His mind was now experiencing emotional hell...

Why did he care about Gale?

It wasn't as if the guy had almost killed him in the number of injuries he received from the boy, but to be experiencing mercy, no, pity!

How did he expect to give "pity" if the blonde didn't even know what that would be?

"You're in my way..."

Haru instinctively slammed his locker shut upon hearing a familiar voice. He gaped as he saw Gale, back with his old and apathetic self.

"You play the piano well, Gale-san..." Haru stood by the side as Gale strode before him. Gale stopped momentarily on his tracks, almost contemplating the silver-blonde's words, before taking pace again.

But not before letting out an inaudible remark pass his lips...

"Arigato, Haru..."

And Haru meekly followed the blonde towards their next class...


Damn...too much angst...This is what I get for playing old Playstation titles.

Ah, well. It's not as if I enjoyed it. I do have the inane connection with being corny on my script.

Itekimasu! – "I'm going!"

Kakoi! – "cool!" Well, sorta like that I guess...