A/N: I had this idea right from beginning. Now... I can finally unleash it on the world!
Chapter 6: The Voice of Saga
I've never been a morning person. The sun had damn well better be halfway across the sky before you wake me up. If I open my eyes and see that fucker peeping through the window I'm taking those blankets and pulling them over my head till he fucks off back where he came from.
Now don't get me wrong, I like the sun. Love the sun. Nothing beats riding over the Matsuura River on a clear evening, the sky burning all round you, your engine's roar in your ear. That's how you watch the sunset. Just thinking about it makes me feel all mushy inside.
Really shoulda been more careful with that Kawasaki… Crashing out after giving a road safety talk was pretty badass though.
The sun's great. It's just not what you need at 9am. If it could hold off a bit, let me sleep in peace a bit longer, then my vendetta against it would be no more. Of course, back in the day I had school to worry about — or not. I went in just often enough to get straight Fs. And an expulsion, but that's another story.
So, mornings. Hate 'em. I don't think I'm being unreasonable here. Now that I'm a zombie I basically have no reason to be up during daylight hours except for concerts and shit. Even my radio show is at night. So you can see why, given the chance, I might let myself lie in.
In my defence, I didn't choose to lie in this time. I had a nap. Yes I needed it. Anyone who tells you zombies don't need sleep is talking horseshit. We don't need sleep the same way that salarymen don't need coffee. You see them giving that shit up? Yeah, exactly.
Anyway it was a slow day. We'd finished up preparations for Lily's bit on Japanese Got Performance and I was feeling nervous. She was fine, I mean of course she was, but I knew how much she wanted it to work out, how hard she was working to make it a success. I might've spent a bit of time punching one of the trees in the neighbourhood. If anyone took issue with it, they weren't stupid enough to tell me to my face. They didn't call the authorities either, and as I always say: no police, no problem. So, stress relieved, I went back indoors. It wasn't that late, early evening maybe. I had plenty of time before the show. It's a late night show, the kinda show only fuckups like me listen to. It's cool though, I like fuckups. If you're cruising through life then there's something wrong with you. Getting back to the point, I was exhausted from my one-sided fistfight with mother nature and I needed to sleep off my nerves, so I took a nap. I didn't see the harm in it.
Until now.
"Fuck…" I mumble, as I notice the moon glaring at me through the uncurtained window.
Across the room I hear a low grumbling.
"Tae?"
The voice grumbles some more. It's Tae alright. No mistaking that.
"You okay?" I ask. She mumbles something in reply. Her voice is strange, distant. Fuzzy.
The fuck…?
I sit up. I'm not in the bedroom.
"Where the fuck am I?"
I can barely see, but what I can see tells me I'm in the one room of the house that no one uses. Dust everywhere, cobwebs lit up all blue and white by the moon, criss-crossing every which way you can think of. Then I remember: I came here for a nap.
Looks so different at night.
Doesn't everyone? Reiko looked good at night too, if you catch my drift.
Why do I always wake up horny?
Some questions aren't meant to be answered. Pushing myself to my feet, knees cracking, I glance around the room, looking for Tae.
"You came here to join me, did'ja?"
Her voice whispers through the shadows.
"Tae…?"
Then I find her, and my blood runs cold.
"Oh SHIT!"
Suddenly the door to the up-till-now unused room bursts open to reveal Sakura, eyes wide in panic, "Saki-chan, there you are! Where have you been!?"
I blink, "Just… here. Asleep."
"Tae-chan, she's—!"
But she doesn't need to tell me. I can see perfectly well from the portable radio where Tae is.
Holding my chin in my hands, I say simply, "Fuck."
I listen to Tae go through the routine on the radio as Shades puts my makeup on.
"Why didn't you guys wake me up!?"
Ai gives me a pissy look, "We thought you'd already left."
"Shades always drives us."
"Except for when you cycle there."
"I never take Tae. That's his job. The minute she was missing he shoulda gone looking. You blew it, Shades."
He grimaces in silence as he touches up the paintjob on my left cheek.
"Exactly," I continue, "You know I'm right. Anyway, what about Shrimpy? Why isn't she there?"
Now Sakura answers, "You told her to get an early night, remember? For Japanese Got Performance?"
"Fuck!" I exclaim, jerking forward into Shades's brush and smearing a line of makeup across my face, "I forgot about that!"
Even more stress for me to enjoy.
Tae clears her throat, "Mragbruh rtroo, fhefhfbvegg—"
I smile ruefully, "Heh, sounds like she's reading one of the letters."
"—dhfheh, brlargh vnnnmng phtah dlurhg? Nnnngmgnmm… rrrffffgruh."
"Wish I understood what the fuck she was saying."
There's a click, and the ruffle of papers being tossed about, then Tae proudly declares, "Recksh up, mrehshamneretrrnnuhhhh, by FuRANshooSHOO!"
'Mezame Returner' starts playing.
Junko notes, "She seems to be handling it okay."
Through the radio's static-clogged speaker I hear her singing along.
"She forgot to turn her mic off."
Shades continues stoically applying makeup. I sigh, "The radio people are gonna kill me when I show up."
Good thing I'm already dead.
As soon as my face is done me and the big man cart off towards the radio station. I wear a bunch of long-sleeved shit to hide my scars and cross my fingers that the radio dudes won't question the bandages on my legs. Shades drives in silence, letting the sound of Tae's radio performance fill the empty minivan. She's been going on a full ramble for the past few minutes now, getting herself all worked up about something or other.
Suddenly she starts laughing, "Shakiran pfftf blagh!"
I smile.
At least she's having a good time.
Then it occurs to me, "She walked all the way there… right? That's crazy."
Shades keeps his mouth shut. Something about his expression in the rear view mirror pisses me off.
"Look," I snarl, "if you're pissed at me, just say it. I am not taking this goddamn silent treatment from you. I get it, I overslept, alright? I fucked up. It's like the first time ever that I've messed up like this, and no, jumping off Kagamiyama to help Maria doesn't count. That one worked out and you know it."
He continues driving calmly and quietly.
"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry."
Nothing.
"It's not like I wanted Tae to run off. I mean you should've kept an eye on her! You're the one that brought her back to life! It ain't her fault she can't communicate like the rest of us. If anything she's making us all look like fucking chumps right now. While you were sitting on your ass, and while I was sleeping, she's walked all the way there in time for the show. Yeah I'm probably gonna get fired now, but that's nothing to do with her."
The mountains bordering Karatsu loom large in front of us.
Like a pair of giant tiddies.
I tut, "Whatever, you moron. I'll handle the hard work when we get there, seeing as you've decided to become a lifeless corpse for the night. Notice how I didn't call you a zombie. You're nowhere near my level right now Shades, you know that? Just sitting there like a fucking statue. Don't give me some shit about not being able to talk and drive, either, cos I know you can. I had a girl in my crew who was literally autistic, so bad at multitasking that she couldn't even walk straight while she was talking, and even she could ride and talk with me at the same time, so you have no excuse. I hope you're ashamed of yourself, by the way."
He moves his head just slightly, his dark sunglasses tilting towards my line of sight in the rear view mirror, but his lips remain sealed. On the radio I hear Tae open up another letter.
I sigh, "Shades, come on. I'm sorry. I really am. You know how much I love Tae. We all do. She's like a sister to me. I didn't mean to let her run off. I just wanted a nap. It's been stressful. You telling me you ain't been stressed? I've heard you bumping about in your study, doing whatever weird shit it is you do. This TV slot is a big chance for us, for Lily. Helping her took more out of me than I thought. It was just meant to be a nap, something to help me keep focused during the show. You can't blame me for that, can you?"
His face is as expressionless as ever.
"Fine! Have it your way! Asshole."
I decide to stop trying to communicate with him and instead focus my attention on Tae's oddly soothing radio voice.
"Eeerogou, guhhh yhhr brnnght slah wrhgn fvungrllllll…srrhf?"
She laughs again, "Brllng!"
An envelope slaps the mic. Seconds later I hear it being torn to shreds. Tae starts to read again.
She's really ripping through them tonight!
And she keeps on ripping through them, demolishing my haphazard backlog of letters at mach speed. By the time we reach the radio station she's gone through at least ten, plus another song — some soul number by a dude from the 70s.
I'm out of the van before Shades is even done parking. I charge for the radio station entrance. As I shoulder my way through the doors he says the first thing he's said all night, "WAIT!"
I don't. The door opens, beige hallway, beige doors. I almost barrel right into one of the studio dudes.
"Oh, Number Two!" he says, "I didn't know you were coming!"
Breathlessly I bow forward as deep as my legs will let me without falling over, "I'm so, so sorry."
I wait for a reply, but none comes. I pull myself upright and see that the man, whose name I really should remember by this point, is thoroughly perplexed.
"What are you sorry for?"
Now I'm confused, "Well, I mean, Ta- uh, Zero. I should've been here with her. She, we… I… it's a whole mess."
The dude whose name I've forgotten grins, "Are you kidding? She's great! It was a genius idea to have her solo tonight."
He looks over my shoulder, "Tatsumi-san, you're back!"
Shades laughs nervously behind me, "I hope she wasn't too much trouble…"
"Not at all! She's a real pro. Of course, none of us know what she's saying, but we've been getting texts all night from listeners telling us how much they love her!"
"Haha… that's… that's great. Well, I think it's time we took her home."
The dude frowns, "Really? The show normally lasts for a few more hours."
Clenching my fists, I turn to Shades and say calmly, "Yeah, Shades. Let the girl finish. You and me can wait outside. Together."
His sweat shines under the hallway's warm lighting. He backs out of the door with a bow, and I follow.
The first thing I do is gutpunch him.
"You son of a bitch! You knew!? You knew this whole time!?"
Clutching his stomach, balled up on the floor and yet somehow still wearing his sunglasses, he winces, "I deserved that."
Back in the day I might've just laughed in his face. But I'm a different person now. A better person.
I take a deep breath, "No… you didn't."
I crouch down and extend a hand out to him, "Come on. Get up, you idiot."
With my help he shakily gets to his feet. He explains, "I… knew where you were the whole time. I knew you were napping."
I go and lean on the side of the van, "But you didn't wake me up."
"It's like you said. You needed the rest."
I chuckle, "Never knew you were so considerate."
He looks off into the distance dramatically, the wind billowing his jacket. Gotta give it to him, the man sure knows how to do theater. I can't imagine he's ever done anything low-key in his entire life.
I say, "You shoulda just told me."
"By the time you were up it was too late."
"What do you mean it was too late? You could've saved yourself time and makeup if you came clean from the get-go."
He keeps his eyes on the horizon, and his lips sealed. I decide not to punch him again.
"Well, at least it all worked out in the end, huh?"
Still focusing on whatever it is he's looking at, he solemly replies, "I need this to work."
"The radio?"
"Franchouchou."
"Strikes me that we're already doing just fine. I mean, we'll pay off the debt eventually."
"Mmm…"
Jeez, dude, throw me a fucking bone here.
I walk over to him, "I don't know what you're worried about, but stop it."
He looks at me, eyebrows raised.
"Don't give me that. I'm good at reading people, you know?"
He snickers.
"Hey!"
He covers his still-smirking mouth, "Sorry."
"I am a good reader of people. You have to be to be a leader. So I know you're worried."
He folds his arms and breathes in the cold night air, "I'm not worried. Just determined."
I grin, "Now that's more like it."
"Franchouchou must succeed."
"And we will. This is just the beginning, baby. You'll see. Shrimpy's gonna nail it tomorrow, just like Tae nailed the radio tonight. We got this."
He nods silently.
"You owe me Drive-in Tori by the way."
That gets his attention, "What…?"
"Drive-in Tori or I tell the girls that you brought Tae here deliberately."
"That's blackmail."
"Delicious blackmail."
His stern expression remains unchanged, "Tae was a huge success, I have nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, I need to save our money. For Saga."
"I was thinking more about the needless stress you caused the others but hey, whatever you want, man. The choice is yours. Just don't blame me if Ai baguettes your ass again."
When Tae comes out of the studio I make sure to give her a big hug.
"Look at you!" I say, "Nailing it all by yourself!"
She slobbers on my shoulder, squeezing me tightly, "Rgghaarrgh aghrhtfpftl!"
"You did a great job. I'm proud of you, you know that?"
In the van I strap her in and park myself beside her. She stares out of the window, entranced by something I can't see.
Shades clears his throat, "So, who wants some Drive-in Tori?"
