Chapter 2 – The Rehearsal
Shuichi and Hiro were still in the coffee shop. Both men were surprised to learn that the person Shuichi was destined to meet was a guy.
"What does this mean, Hiro? He's a guy!" Shuichi cried and buried his upper lip into his mouth.
"It would be simple if he's a she."
"Even I know that." Shuichi snapped.
"So the real question is how do you feel? Do you like him? What do you want to do?"
Without thinking Shuichi replied, "I want to see him. I don't know how I feel about him, but if I see him again maybe I'll know."
"What a bumper and here I thought that you'll introduce me to a beautiful young lady." Hiro mocked and broke the depressing atmosphere.
"Shut up!"
"Just forget it for now, okay. Try to relax, it's not like you to mope over a dream and beside we have other matters to attend."
Shuichi took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I don't know if I will ever see this guy again." He'd been exhausted from lack of sleep as he groaned, "I can use some coffee. Do you mind?" He pleaded.
"No, I'll get some and we need to go to Fujisaki's place."
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Tire screeching.
"Woo-whoo! We're here and we're ready to rock n' roll!" Shuichi jumped off Hiro's bike and caught his foot onto the curve; he tilted forward holding the coffee cup holder in one hand, while the other hand broke his fall and he landed on his back.
Hiro was relieved to see his clumsy old friend back to himself.
They were standing in front of Fujisaki's front gate. "Se, you know what Hiro?"
"What?"
"No matter how many times I come to this place, it always amazes me. How can Suguru live in such a huge mansion all by himself? Of course, there is the butler and all the maids, but… they don't count. This place has wealth written all over it; look at the entrance, its enormous! It's at least five cars length! The mansion itself is another story; the ceiling must be at least fifty feet above ground level, and then all the rooms; how many rooms are there? There is the guest room, the study, the library, the bedrooms, the kitchen and he even got his own music studio for goodness sake." He protested.
"That's why we're here. Both of our places are too jammed and the neighbor will complain. Here, we have all the equipment that we need and no one around to give us a hard time about our music being too loud." Hiro explained as he rang the bell at the gate.
"I know that." Shuichi smirked. "Suguru… He's a good guy. He's rich, but he's not a stuck up. He can be stubborn and throw tantrum sometimes, but that's what make him…Suguru."
"Hmm… I wonder why?" Hiro said with a smirk look on his face like he knew why Suguru acted the way he did.
A woman's voice came through the attached speaker on the gate, "May I ask, who's coming to visit the Fujisaki's resident?"
"It's us, Hiro Nakano and Shuichi Shindo. Suguru is expecting us." Hiro replied.
"Yes, please come in." The voice replied as the gate opened.
The gate opened from the center and led straight to the main entrance. Along the path, both sides were bordered with variety of flowers and green plants. Spring had just begun and the light breeze gently showered the flowers as their perfume evaporated in the bounded area. "This is so refreshing." Shuichi inhaled as he and Hiro made their way to the front door. Further back to the right of the mansion was a huge swimming pool, a sauna and a guest house. The weather was still a bit chill for swimming; therefore the lid on the pool was still on. "This summer when we make it big, I'll throw a pool party and drink all the beer and I can consume." Shuichi's purple eyes sparkled and doubled it size. He was dreaming about the Band's success, stage performances, hit albums and of course many fans, millions of them.
Hiro grabbed onto his friend's orange jacket and gave it a few yank, "Reality to Shuichi! WAKE UP! You're in wonderland again weren't you? First thing comes first; we have an audition this week at NG Corporation. If we're accepted, then we're one step closer to our goals and…"
"You're right!" Shuichi cheered up sporadically, "We'll get accepted and then…and then… Oh this is exciting!" Shuichi raced for the door flew, passed the guess room and down the corridor to the last room located on the right side of the building. Hiro calmly followed behind. The studio was adjacent to the swimming pool area with sliding doors that led to the pool. The room was fully loaded with all the newest equipment. There were amplifier, mixer, enhancer, speakers, recorder and everything else that made it equivalent to a professional studio. Shuichi kicked the studio's door open and freeze-bee the coffee holder onto the side table.
"You're late!" Suguru's voice rose, "What took you so long? We have an audition in four days and you guys are slacking off!" He was having a fit, "Maybe it just me, am I'm the only one who's concern about this?"
"I'm… I'm sorry." Shuichi turned into a midget and hid in the corner of the room.
"Shuichi had some rough time last night. He had a…" Hiro started to explain, but was cut off by Suguru.
He was irritated. "Rough? Of the two years that I've known him, he's always having a rough time!"
"Shuichi is Shuichi and you're you and come to think of it, you changed a bit in the past two years." He caught Suguru flaming chocolate eyes with a warm smile.
"I have?" The level of his voice dropped as he caught sight of Hiro sitting on the side table sipping his grande cappuccino.
"You used to be so polite, elite and very collective. You still are… but with more… personality."
Suguru sighed and exhaled, "But, I'm not… It's just that…"
"I know." Hiro smiled gracefully and Suguru quickly turned away blushing.
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Flashback - Two Years Ago
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A slender, fragile looking figure entered the school's auditorium, "Good evening, I heard music playing from the end of the hall, so I came by to check it out. I'm supposed to join a club for extra creative curriculum and I heard that you're the only music club around. I enjoy playing myself and if I may so say, I'm pretty good at it. May I join your band?" The young boy asked politely.
"Who are you again?" Shuichi smirked looking at the younger student.
The boy walked up to meet the club members on the stage. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Suguru, Suguru Fujisaki. I'm fourteen and a freshman."
Shuichi and Hiro exchanged glances and laughed. "Is the guy serious?" Shuichi examined the freshman. His school uniform was well minted and appeared to be very delicate; he was just too neat and polite to be band material. Shuichi started to rotate his head from left to right.
"Please, this is the only club I'm interested in." Suguru begged. "I'll prove myself, please give me a chance." He creased his hand together and his dark round chocolate eyes pleaded with sincerity. His eyes complimented his short emerald hair and Hiro found it was charming.
Hiro lighted up with a big charismatic smile, "Sure, I don't see why not."
"Hiro!" Shuichi gave him a 'you know what look'.
"If he could survive for one week, then he can stay. Is this okay with you, Shuichi?" Hiro suggested and Shuichi agreed with a nod, "K."
"Though, we don't have many requests, we still practice a lot. We get together everyday after school. Our biggest event every year is the school festival and every now and then we get requests from other clubs. The composition itself is not difficult." Hiro stopped and looked at Shuichi who was already curling into a ball rolling back and forth on the stage next to his microphone. "The most difficult task would have to be dealing with Shuichi and his on going demands and stupidity."
"Hiro, you JERK!" Shuichi swayed over and smacked Hiro in the head.
"Ouch! That hurt! What did you do that for?"
Shuichi stuck out his tongue, "You deserved it."
Hiro rubbed his head, smiled and carried on, "There had been many others who tried out, but no one lasted for a week. I guess we drove them crazy." He laughed.
This made Suguru felt a bit edgy; he'd just realized that he walked into a nightmare. His head dropped and he felt stiff; he didn't know what to do. He tried to imagine what could have happened to the others who tried out, but then quit or got scared away. Then he realized that it didn't matter, he loved playing music and if this was the only club in school that offered it, then he will stick it out and give it his best. He finally perked up and met Hiro's brunette eyes which gave him a piece of tranquility. "I'll try out. I'll try out for a week and prove that I can be part of this band." He spoke with confident.
"Cool! A new member! We'll make a man out of you!" Shuichi emerged up from behind and gave Suguru a hard welcome punch on the back which sent him flying above the stage and into the trash can.
'What have I got myself into?' Suguru thought to himself as he managed to escape the turmoil underneath him and headed back to the center of the stage.
Hiro approached him and handed him a towel, "By the way, I'm Hiro, Hiro Nakano. I'm a senior and seventeen." Suguru blushed into a crimson color at the sight of Hiro's long cherry red hair. It was so bright and radiant under the spot lights.
"Thank you, Nakano-senpai."
"Just call me Hiro." He insisted.
"And I'm Shuichi Shindo, junior, sixteen."
Surprisingly, Suguru lasted over a week, covered with bruises from head to toes. Never in his life had he experienced such torture. He'd proven himself to be a good pianist and on the seventh day, Shuichi and Hiro welcomed him as a permanent member of the band. Little by little, day by day, week passed, month came and gone, then years; Suguru was still alive. He learned to adapt with Shuichi's infinite personality and mood swings. He changed from the fragile and timid Suguru to a bolder and livelier band mate and a best friend.
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Flashback - Ended
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"You do notice that there is something different about Shuichi today, don't you?" Hiro interrogated his younger friend.
"Yah." Suguru admitted calmly as he found Shuichi still sitting in the corner, "He would normally curse back or give me a nerve-racking kick on the ass by now. What's wrong with him?"
"You see, Shuichi had a rough encountered last night, and I think it's time for him to find a special friend, like a woman."
Suguru blushed and in a small tone or voice he repeated, "A woman?"
"Yeah, you won't believe it." Hiro started to recital the story that he'd just learned in the coffee shop to his young friend.
"That is something... I guess I owe him an apology." Suguru walked up to his midget purple eyed friend and apologized. His big circle eyes lighted up, but he had no movement whatsoever and he remained a dwarf size. Suguru then rolled his eyes over to Hiro for help.
If there was anyone in the world, who would be able to cheer up Shuichi, then it would be Hiro. He gracefully smiled and said, "You know, Ryuichi Sakuma will be there. If we perform well enough, then we'll have a chance to meet him."
Shuichi vanished from the corner and somehow transported before Hiro; his big purple eyes tripled in size and with a vigorous voice he asked, "Do you really think so?"
"Sure, why not?"
"I can really see Ryuichi Sakuma?" He asked again and his older friend nodded. The thought of seeing Ryuichi, his number one hero powered him up, '"Whoopee! Okay, I'm alright. Let practice!" Shuichi was happy again and Hiro gave Suguru a two thumb's up. Their purple eyed friend is back to his human size, "Okay, NG. A new band is coming and we'll blow you away!"