Noriko's Story

Memories…

I have a horrible memory and no one or thing to blame it on but myself. I drank them all away, in hopes to make better ones the next day. Some memories I was happy to leave behind, others, not so much. But the one's that stick with me are going to be there forever. I can never get rid of them. I try, but they only become buried and washed out, only to return full force.

Flooding my senses with dulling alcohol was the best option I thought I had. So many things I wanted to repress, not enough alcohol consumed to obliterate them. Shattering them into the tiniest of fragments, the voices in them tinkling like small, sliver wind chimes as they crumbled.

If only they would stop tormenting me… it wouldn't be so bad.

What's In A Name?

I stared blankly at the flimsy card between my fingertips. Bold, upraised lettering printing out in the simplest of terms what was before me.

Shinji Records

Kurosawa Jiro

Producer

Looking back up at him, I had to laugh, not meaning to offend. He waited patiently until I had finished, the people around the bar giving us curious looks.

"I'd like to take your band and get it signed onto the Shinji label," he told me in all seriousness.

I blinked, staring at him. "What?"

He seemed patient enough. Like he'd done this a thousand times before. "Your band… I want to get it signed."

No way.

No FUCKING way was this happening.

Impossible. We were just friends having fun. Brought together by chance, a random shuffle of the cards, blown in by a passing wind, that was all it was. No way in hell that this was really happening.

"Nori-chan?"

I turned towards the soft voice from behind. Tohma was smiling but his eyes frowned, eyeing up Kurosawa behind me as if he should be careful.

"Tohma… look at this, and then pinch me please," I requested, holding the card out towards him.

His delicate fingers removed the card from mine and stared at it hard, face never showing a thing. He stepped forward, extending a hand towards Kurosawa.

"Seguchi Tohma," the blonde introduced, taking on a new personality. "I think we have a few things to discuss."

Kurosawa grinned, taking Tohma's hand firmly in his, giving it a small shake before letting go.

Someone… pinch me please.

"OW!" I yelped, one hand rubbing the tender flesh on the back on my arm.

I turned to glare at Ryuichi who was grinning madly. "Tohma forgot to do it," he explained.

Lucky he was too adorable to punch, especially after a performance like that. Muttering, I followed Tohma and Kurosawa to a table in the corner where we all sat and he explained his proposition.

He said he'd stopped in a few times before after hearing a small buzz about our little no name group. I was a little thrown off. There had been a buzz? Well, apparently there had been. That was pretty cool. He told us he'd almost given up on finding us when we had disappeared for those months a while back. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, sitting on my hands, staring down at the table. Kurosawa told us he needed a demo of some of our songs to present to his boss, who was excited from everything Kurosawa had apparently told about us.

We looked at each other before breaking out into small fits of giggles.

"What?" Kurosawa asked, brows knitting together.

I spoke up. "We… don't really write anything down, Kurosawa-san."

The brows unknotted and rose up high in surprise. "So… everything you've done… was improvisation?"

Improvisation? I had never thought about it like that, but I guessed that was the right way to put it.

"Yes. Ryuichi has written a few songs… but we don't write any music really," I informed him with a shrug of my thin shoulders.

His surprise only seemed to grow and meld into an almost awe-like state. But he soon regained himself.

"Well, you don't need to present any music, and if you can pull off what you did here tonight… I'm sure we'll have no problems. If nothing else, after the recording, we can write down the song."

He seemed absolutely determined to sign us, but Tohma wasn't agreeing to any contracts until we had a demo. Once done, we'd get back to him and get another meeting together. Eagerly, Kurosawa snatch up the business card, scribbling something on the back and sliding it over to Tohma.

"Direct extension. It'll bring your calls straight to me," he explained, rising from the chair.

Tohma did the same and the shook hands again with the promise of a call. When the blonde sat back down, Ryuichi and I looked at him. He was staring down at the card.

"This is absolutely unbelievable," he murmured. I could've sworn he was a bit amused.

"What should we do?" I asked, leaning in closer.

Tohma leaned back in his chair, tapping the card lightly on the table. "We said we would call… well… it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

No. Fucking. Way.

We were actually going to make a demo? We were actually going to try and get signed? I mean, I remember Tohma telling me that if we didn't try for it, it would be a waste, but still, I didn't take him seriously.

"I… I guess not," I admitted, feeling nervous and giddy all at once.

But there was one small concern.

Ryuichi.

If we did get signed, and if we got big, we'd have to do concerts. Live ones, where the sea of faceless masses was a writhing joined clump of flesh, screaming at the top of their lungs. Not just a small crowd of drunks.

Well, that was all an 'if' for now. At the moment, the demo was important. Tohma said he look around for the best recording place he could find and secure a studio for us. Ryuichi and I nearly tackled him out of his chair in a hug.

This was my dream almost come true.

But then that dreaded question raised its head again.

"We need a name."

Hey one and all! Thanks for the awsome reviews! You guys read fast, that's for damn sure... Anyway, Ihope you enjoy what's to come, I'm putting a lot up in a short amount of time. Thanks again!

SL