A/N: Thank you all for your faves, follows and reviews!
All songs mentioned are from One Ok Rock.
Enjoy!
Chapter 30
Rock Band Talks
…
When Kasamatsu had left to de-stress, the other four were fuming in their room. A part of them was sad, yes, but that was only miniscule. Nothing, absolutely nothing —except N.O.T.E's destruction— could calm them down.
"I have never been so humiliated in my entire life!" Takao screeched indignantly. "Not even when Shutoku was powerless against Rakuzan, I never felt this way!"
"This is it." Kise hissed in anger. His fingers were moving quite fast against his phone screen, which indicated that he was texting. "CINQ is going down."
"How? Didn't you say they were the top company in this industry?" Kagami asked.
"Yeah, but they have enemies in equally top places. Plus, they're the top in the idol industry, there are other industries about, you know?" the blond smirked evilly. "I leave them to my family. Papacchi and Uncle Koucchi are going to rip them to shreds."
The others could only look at Kise in shock. They knew that Kise was well-loved, but to be frank, they never knew what the blond's family was capable of.
"What ―" Kagami started but broke off when he heard Kuroko's phone ring. It was Hyuuga.
"You owe me a new TV and a cellphone." The captain started, never bothering to greet him with a "hello".
"How?!" Kagami asked, almost screeching. The redhead knew that neither he nor Kuroko had ever been to the captain's house.
"I was watching you guys, and in my angered clutch mode, I accidentally threw my phone when N.O.T.E's faces came up."
"Oh."
"I didn't get to finish watching because, you know, but I heard from Coach that you guys lost."
"No we didn't. Senpai was cheated." Kagami responded sourly. "They gave the bastards the point when their answer was wrong."
"Damn." There was a pause on the other end of the line before the captain started again, "But, you guys are alright? Right? I mean…"
"No we're not, Captain." Kuroko joined in. "We want to rip N.O.T.E apart but at the moment we can't do it. The frustration is maddening."
Hyuuga laughed out at Kuroko's bluntness. The rest of the team phoned in as well, given them their support and trying their best to cheer them up. It turned comical having the entire Seirin team on a conference call with some spitting out threats, some voicing their worry, some making jokes to lighten the mood. They extended this to Kise and Takao as well, having the two idiots burst with laughter as well.
Shutoku was the same, with Miyaji and Otsubo swearing that they'll hunt down the producers and brutally make them pay. Midorima sent a pretty simple message that sent a shiver down all their spines:
I'm in dialogue with Akashi.
From facing the small redheaded captain in Winter Cup last year, Takao knew he was a force not to be reckoned with. He and Kise exchanged worrying glances but then broke out in hysterical grins.
As the saying goes "Let sleeping dogs lie", so let the war begin.
Perfect 5th had stopped by as well, as Tobio put it "to cheer up their saddened little kouhai". But, to their horror, Catal Rhythm were the least bit sad, instead, they were murderous. Reiya had to be the one calming them down in Kasamatsu's absence, because God knows, Kagami and Kise were seriously contemplating razing CINQ to the ground.
"Calm down boys, don't do anything rash." Reiya had said. "Doing things that you might regret will not end well, especially in the music industry."
"We won't regret this." The four gave out quickly.
The leader sighed. "Hear what, let management handle it. The media has a way to twist people's words and put them in the hot seat, so just don't…"
"We get it, but it's so frustrating." Kagami mumbled. "And it's not fair. They made us look like idiots."
"That's not true," Daigo said, trying to soothe them. "Anyone with sense could tell that they were asking questions that second years couldn't answer." he added, "If you were idiots, how did you make it to the finals?"
Catal Rhythm were not amused. There were too many people out there after all who would think that they were idiots. But, to humour the rapper, they simply nodded.
Still, little did Perfect 5th know what kind of monsters their "cute little kouhai" are.
xxxx
Episode 353 of the Challenge was swimming around controversy.
For the past week, the entertainment —to a lesser extent, music—industry was abuzz with the latest drama. The incident had various people all over the internet slinging comments and posting articles all over the place. What this so crazy was not only the sheer number of persons it affected, but also how it morphed the internet into a vicious battlefield.
Fans of Catal Rhythm took to social media and voiced their disgust at the mistreatment of their idols. There were some who had even posted their school's curriculum guide to prove that what "Yuki" had been saying was right all along.
That would then prompt N.O.T.E.'s fans to fire back, saying that Catal Rhythm were just sore losers, dunces and "Yuki" just wanted to make a scene.
In addition, neutral fans who couldn't care less about either group quipped by saying "if Catal Rhythm were dunces, how did they end up at the final?"
Furthermore, fans of the other eliminated groups were split between siding with Catal Rhythm's fans in the injustice and unfair treatment of the groups, and saying that Catal Rhythm should just move on and suck it up.
In essence, fan wars were pretty nasty.
But the drama didn't end there.
The Classical Music Association of Japan was livid at the fact that on live TV, Mozart was credited to have been the one to compose Moonlight Sonata, and demanded that the producers of the quiz show rectify the embarrassing mistake immediately. And sadly, given that this was something that regarded one of the great musicians in history, news of it had even reached the homeland —Germany.
And needless to say, the German classical giants were thoroughly pissed.
With even them making a racket, N.O.T.E. was put under the scrutiny for making such a mistake. Being idols, they should have known what Mozart composed from what Beethoven did. And given Mozart's time of death, there was no way the man could have written Moonlight Sonata. Even someone without an ounce of interest in classical music knew that.
It was the only thing that the news talked about, and it was so much that neither of the boys from Catal Rhythm watched TV or even went to school. Well, Kasamatsu went, given that he was a third year; he couldn't miss any class these days.
That said, the third year captain was thoroughly annoyed.
No matter where he turned in school, all he could hear were talks about Challenge. He heard the good, the bad and the indifferent but in terms of the bad, he never girls could get so awful. Hearing what they said about his boys riled up the urge to punch them squarely in their faces but thank God for Akagi, Nakamura, Hayakawa for restraining him.
"Damn, now I know why they didn't want to leave home." Kasamatsu hissed angrily as he sat back in his chair. "This is pissing me off."
"It's pissing everyone off." Nakamura sighed. "Have they even apologized to you guys yet?"
"Pfft. As if." The captain said with an eye roll. "That's not gonna happen." He then added, "Or even if they do, it's only because the public is coming down hard on them, which, wouldn't constitute a proper apology."
"That's right." Akagi nodded. "So what are you going to do?"
"Move on." Kasamatsu sighed. "There isn't much to do either. We can always move on, but we won't forget."
Akagi looked at his friend with a smile. "I've never heard you sound so bitter before, Kasamatsu. Not even when you didn't get to crowd surf at last year's FujiRock."
"Naturally," Kasamatsu replied, taking a drink of his orange juice. "I'm just so frustrated right now."
"You know, I'm going to make it my mission to see him in action one of these days." Nakamura snickered. "Just imagining Kasamatsu crowd surfing is…" he broke off as he tried his best to stifle down his laughter. However, he couldn't hold it anymore and erupted in full blown laughs.
Akagi could only smile and shake his head at the ash-blond. "If only you knew the monster that is your captain."
"Akagi!" Kasamatsu screeched in an attempt to shut him up.
Nakamura's laughter immediately ceased.
"Is there a video?" Hayakawa asked, curious.
"Pfft! Video!? In Summer Sonic?! Are you nuts?!" It was Akagi's turn to laugh. "One cannot video in Summer Sonic. Your phone will die. Both battery-wise and parts-wise."
"Huh?!"
"Imagine filming a group and then their set ended. The stage dims and mechanics close up the stage so that the other band can come on without spectators knowing who it is. Then suddenly you hear one of Lynkyn Park's iconic songs come on." Akagi leaned forward and smirked. "Bitch, better believe that that phone will be flying."
Kasamatsu nodded fervently in agreement.
Akagi grinned as he looked at the captain. "I can remember when one year UnderWorld came on suddenly and Kasamatsu ended up losing his shit. Up until this day, we have no idea where he threw his phone due to the excitement." The raven-haired teen snickered. "It was only after the concert he was like, "shit! My phone"! You should've seen his face!"
"Akagi…I'm going to kill you." Kasamatsu said with a snarl.
"Maa…whose shoulders are you going to sit atop this year if you do that?"
"Abeno's." he replied without hitch.
"Cruel!"
Scary… The others thought in shock as they watched the exchange.
"But onto another topic," Akagi bounced back quickly. "What happened to your hair, Kasamatsu?"
The captain sighed. He had been wearing a cap to school in order to hide as he didn't know what to do with it. Thanks to Kise hounding them to take care of their hairs properly, forcing them to use moisturizers and the various hair treatment products; his hair had grown out so fast that he himself was shocked. "It grew out and I haven't gotten the time to head to the barber."
Akagi hummed. "Now you can try out so many styles! You'll become an even hotter heartthrob for the girls than you already are!"
"Shut up."
xxxx
While Kasamatsu was at school, the others were at home playing their instruments, hoping to get their minds at ease and calm their raging anger.
As Kuroko started to play familiar chords, Kise recognized the song immediately and started to play the matching beat on his cajón with Takao joining with the acoustic guitar and Kagami with his acoustic bass. They jammed out their song Lucifer, singing along where they could. For Kasamatsu's parts, Kise and Takao sung his lines, because Kagami didn't want to go with their suggestion of rapping the leader's lines.
For about one hour or so, they ended up jamming out some of their songs which actually turned out to be the right remedy for them. Although, the perfect remedy would to vent at a basketball court.
"Guys, I just realized something." Kise said as he continued to play his cajón while looking about the room. "We can only practice at home with our acoustic instruments, right?"
"Obviously." Kagami said, stopping from playing his acoustic bass.
"Isn't it going to be a problem when we want to practice with our other instruments and have to go all the way to Makicchi's?"
The other three looked at each other in realization. While this room was big enough for them to sit comfortably and practice with their acoustic instruments, if they should add the electrical ones plus the amplifiers and mics and all those other things, then…they have absolutely no space.
"We're going to need more space." Takao said, stating the obvious.
"But how? We live on the third floor, in an apartment complex. There's no room for expansion." Kagami said.
"And I doubt Aihara-san would allow us to do such a thing." Kuroko sighed.
"Then, we get our own house." Kise quickly said. "Simple as that. I mean, idols don't stay at their dorms forever."
"It isn't simple!" Kagami countered. "We aren't at legal age to buy one ―"
"Yu-chan will be in July."
"―nor does Kenji-san know that we want to be a rock band!"
"I just messaged him and he said we should meet him at the office later on when Kasamatsu-senpai comes from school." Kuroko said without looking up from his novel.
"―we aren't rich enough yet either!" Kagami continued to argue.
"Someone hasn't been checking his bank account. We get paid Kagamicchi. It's right here." Kise said while sliding the phone across to the redhead.
"Oh." The tiger said as he looked at the screen.
"But for a fact, we really aren't rich yet though." Kuroko joined in without taking his eyes off his novel. "Houses are expensive, you know? And I'd prefer one with yard space."
"Yeah, with a pool too." Kise fantasized.
"And a basement for our home theatre!" Takao added.
"I suggest we tell Kenji-san before we think of anything else. And then again, will the President even allow us to be a band?" Kagami asked, breaking their mood completely.
"With enough reason and persuasion, I'm sure he will." Takao smiled. "I mean, I managed to coerce the four of you into entering that competition with me."
"Good, because we're leaving it up to you." The other three said in unison.
Takao was not amused.
xxxx
When Kasamatsu reached home, he saw the bright smiles of his boys and felt at ease. Whatever happened while he was gone seemed to have vanquished the murderous aura.
"So Senpai," Kise began with a teasing face. "What made you all red when we were at the show?"
"Huh?" Surely, the captain hadn't expected that sudden question.
"Don't "huh" us. We saw you! When we were outside with Dress Code, you seemed to be remembering something and you got all red!" Takao smirked. "What? Rei-chan ran across your mind?"
"Wha—what?! No! It's…I…" the captain stuttered, unable to say anything.
"So it is her." The two said with devious grins. Kuroko's face was playful.
"I'm not going to do this with you guys." The captain said as he sat in the sofa.
"Whatever you say, Onii-chan~" Kise grinned.
But Kasamatsu was not amused. "Call me that one more time and I'll rip your tongue out."
"Senpai!" Kise wailed, pretending to be hurt. But, the blond could notice that there was something different about his Senpai. He seemed a lot more agitated and…disturbed. "Senpai, are you alright?" he asked with a more worried tone.
Kasamatsu was startled. With a slight chuckle, he said, "Yeah. It's just that I've been pretty annoyed lately."
They didn't need to hear anything more. They knew exactly why the captain would have been annoyed.
"Ah…"
"But, we have our dream team to meet. So let's head out to hear what they have to say, ne?" Takao chirped. "I'm really excited to see what it is. Maybe N.O.T.E.'s destruction?"
"It'll be too fast. There's no way they would have been able to work that quickly." Kise sighed. "Not even Mom would have been able to sink someone of CINQ's calibre already. And her skill of finding shit out is on the FBI level."
"Damn, your Mom is scary." Kasamatsu shivered.
Kise smirked at his Senpai. "Oh yes, yes she is."
…
After Kasamatsu freshened up in the bathroom and changed out of his school uniform, the five headed out to the complex to meet with their dream team. Given the ruckus that's been going on, the five wouldn't be shocked if it was something pertaining to it.
And so it was.
"Guys, the producers and organizers of Challenge are making a public apology to you." Ren said without hitch.
Immediately, the five's faces twisted with disgust. They wanted nothing to do with it, not after all they were put through. And knowing themselves, the moment they see the quizmaster, the MC and whoever else, they won't hold back. Punches will fly; kicks will be sent…the list is endless.
"Do we have to go?" Kise asked. "I mean, I'll seriously punch them to death if I so even smell them." The blond hissed. His face had darkened; his rage could be seen emanating from his body.
"Ah…but out of good manners and measure, I think you should ―"
"We don't want to." Takao strongly said, cutting the publicist off.
"It won't be a genuine apology anyway." Kuroko grumbled.
Ren sighed. It seems like these boys aren't going to budge no matter what. Kiyotaka then stood up and leaned over the cubicle partition.
"Even if it kills you, there has to be some representation of the group Catal Rhythm."
"Then why can't you guys go represent us then?" Kise asked, "I mean, that way we won't have to see their stinking faces." He grumbled.
Ren, Kiyotaka and Kenji have never seen their boys like this before. And frankly, they didn't know what to do with them. On one hand, the three could understand clearly why they didn't want to go that public apology thing; while on the other hand, if they didn't…
"Excuse me," Kasamatsu began, "Since my boys are so bitter, how about I go instead?" he started. "That way, there will be representation and I can always lie and say they're too shaken up to function."
"Senpai!", "Yu-chan!" Kise and Takao screeched in slight anger. They weren't in the least bit shaken up, at least Kasamatsu could think of a better lie than that.
"You can't go alone!" Kise said. "Don't do it! And that lie is pathetic! I don't want people to think we're a bunch of crying wimps!"
"Then are you willing to come with me?"
"Well…I'm still smouldering…and…"
Kasamatsu smiled at his blond ace. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen this time around, right?"
The others descended in grumbles, complaining that Kasamatsu shouldn't go because they won't be by his side etc. It was cute, seeing how much they really cared about each other to the point that four of them didn't want to see their Leader face the people who hurt them, alone.
"Alright, we'll go but in return I wanna snap the quizmaster and MC's necks. Fine?" Kise said with a grin. "I wanna hear their bones breaking in my arms."
"No way! You can't have them both! Who the rest of us will get to beat up?!" Kagami roared.
Aghast, Kenji nearly screamed, "Boys! You will not beat up anyone! The hell are you thinking?!"
"How to de-stress and properly vent out anger." They shamelessly gave out.
"Holy Shit…" Kiyotaka couldn't help but giggle. In all his years of working with idol groups, he's never encountered one quite like Catal Rhythm.
"Still, there're bigger things we need to get out of the way." Takao said, clearing his throat and changing the subject.
"Which is…?"
"We would like to be a rock band."
Ren and Kiyotaka's jaws nearly dropped through the floor, Kenji did a vicious spit-take of the water he just drank and started to cough violently. With wide eyes he looked at the five boys, refusing to believe what his ears just heard.
"Excuse me? Come again?" Kenji asked.
"We want to be a rock band." Takao repeated.
"No you cannot."
"Why?!" they screeched.
"Because, you're already idols. Why do you want to venture into that anyway?"
"Yu-chan writes amazing songs! And we're not happy that the world won't hear them if we remain only as idols!" The hawk eyed teen argued. "Plus, we won't be comfortable with another vocalist singing the songs! The world needs to hear Yu-chan's voice!"
"Boys…"
"Think of it like us being a sub-unit, a side project. Please, Kenji-san?"
Kiyotaka whistled in shock and looked to Kenji, so too did Ren.
"Boys, think about it. Being a rock band isn't a walk in the park. You'd have to ―" he cut himself off, "Can you even play any instrument?!"
"Of course we can!" Kise chirped. "I can play the drums, Senpai is a guitar master, Takaocchi and Kagamicchi plays the rhythm and bass and Kurokocchi is on the keyboard."
"What kind of convenient plot is this?!" Ren whistled in shock. "It just so happened that all five of you can play the main instruments that make up a rock band?!"
"Believe it." Kise grinned.
"I refuse to!" Ren screeched.
Kenji felt a headache coming on. This was unprecedented. While he's heard of frontmen in the past being idols first (even though it was a short time or they only did it just to get proper voice training), he's never encountered a situation such as this. And as much as he didn't want them to venture out into the rock world while still being idols, he knows that nothing said will stop them. Plus, he was the one who brought them into this. Who knows? Maybe their true talents lie within being a rock band instead of pop idols.
With a stressed sigh, he said, "I have to talk to Dad about this." He then picked up the receiver on the desk and proceeded to dial, tuning out the others in the room.
"I hope he says yes." Kagami grumbled.
"I hope he says no!" Ren voiced his opinion. But for a fact, he was truly worried. Idols venturing into rock? That's dangerous territory! "Boys, even if Kasamatsu-kun is capable of writing the song of the decade, the mere fact that you all are idols is going to get you marked down! Pop idols and screamo rock bands don't mix! Ever!"
Kasamatsu chuckled, "Ren-san, not all rock bands are about screamo."
"I know that! But…!"
"Plus, who says the world has to know that we're idols?" Kise smirked. "I've been doing research and there are bands out there that wear masks and no one bitches about it!"
Ren paled. "Surely you aren't thinking of wearing any absurd masks or painting your faces like you're participating in Halloween, are you?"
"No!" the five screeched with disgust.
"As Kenji said, let the President decide their fate. But in my opinion, I'd say let them go for it." Kiyotaka joined in to turn the conversation onto a different topic. The talks about scary masks and shit wasn't his cup of tea.
"What? Why?!" Ren looked like the older man had just betrayed him.
"Because nothing will stop these boys. I think they'll still do the band stuff after their contract ends with us if the President says no."
"Aww, you know us too well, Kiyo-san!" Takao perked, slinging an arm around his neck.
"Of course." The bleached blond haired man smiled.
"Well," Kenji started, hanging up the phone.
"What did he say?" Kise asked. "Did he agree?"
Kenji shrugged. "He's coming here."
Silence fell yet again.
"Is this where we start to panic?" Kuroko asked.
"Uh, no, but it is quite odd for Dad to leave his office to come here instead of us going to him."
"Oh."
But what they didn't know was that the President was already on his way out of his office when Kenji called. So, he decided to drop by to hear what his son wanted to say before leaving for his appointment.
"Hello," President Aihara said with a smile when Kiyotaka opened the door. The blond stepped aside and allowed the elder man to come in, but the atmosphere within the office could tell that whatever it was, was a serious matter.
He was greeted by everyone in the room and even when Kenji offered for him to sit; he declined because he was in a hurry anyway. "So what's the emergency?" he asked.
"They want to be a rock band as a side project." Kenji said without hitch.
President Aihara was stunned into silence. "Gimme the chair." He said somewhat breathlessly. The older man was trying to wrap his head around what his youngest son just told him, but he found it hard to do so.
When he sat down, he asked, "Come again? They want to be what?"
"A rock band." Ren answered. "You know, the ones that create their own music and lyrics and play their instruments ―"
The President chuckled, "Ren-kun, I know what a rock band is." His eyes then turned to the five boys who had unreadable expressions on their faces. "Why do you want to do this?"
Kise and Kagami nudged Takao in the back, prompting him to take a step forward. "Sir, as I have said before, Yu-chan writes amazing songs. Plus, the songs that he writes fit the rock genre. Having him "pop them up" isn't going to work! And having someone else sing them is injustice!"
"But, there are plans of forming a sub-unit and solo careers to think about and ―"
"I'm sorry, but there's no way either of us can solo. The thought of going on stage without these idiots beside me is incomprehensible!" Kise interjected strongly with the others nodding behind him. "Please let us do this! Think of it being in the space of a sub-unit."
"So, you're telling me that you rather not be a sub-unit or have your own solo careers but instead be a rock band?"
The five nodded.
With a sigh, President Aihara said, "Fine."
Catal Rhythm burst out in screams, jumping and hugging each other in the process. As for their dream team, they were stunned beyond words. Kiyotaka simply resigned to his chair, as he was never against them being a rock band in the beginning. As he said, nothing could change their minds. Ren and Kenji however, could not believe their ears.
"Dad, why…?" he asked.
"A moment." The President said. He then cleared his throat in order to get the attention of rejoicing boys. "So, what are you going to do for management?"
"Well, we plan to stay here. It doesn't make any sense to go to another company because that'll cause too much back and forth and schedules will inevitably clash. So, staying where we're already known is the best course of action." Kasamatsu replied.
"What about a manager? Kenji can't manage a rock band."
"We have someone in mind." Kise smiled. And although the others had no idea who that "someone" is, the expression they wore indicated to the President that they all knew who Kise was talking about.
"Okay." Even though he said so, there was a sudden chill coming from the aged man. "I want two songs. Not demos, but complete songs —verses, chorus, bridge, the whole nine yardsby…" he trailed off and opened up his phone. "Alright, we're in June so I want these songs done by the end of August. You have summer to work on them." He looked up to meet the grinning fools. "After I get your songs, we'll continue our talks from there. That is, if I'm impressed."
"Oh, you will be." Takao smirked.
President Aihara wanted to bust with laughter at their daring faces. "Now, I need a little alone time with your dream team. If you don't mind…"
"Sure!" they screeched."
"Yu-chan! Let's use Et Cetera and Kasabuta!" Takao screeched as they headed through the door.
"I only have one verse of Kasabuta, idiot!" Kasamatsu scolded.
"Clock Strikes!" Kise argued.
"Kagerou! I think that one is better!" Kagami argued.
Soon, their voices died down the further away they moved from the office. President Aihara was gaping in shock. Did they already have songs written and waiting for this moment?
"Dad…" Kenji started, snapping the man out of his thoughts. "How could you?"
President Aihara shrugged. "There were two reasons for my decision. One: they didn't audition here off of their own free will. They were dragged here by you, so I thought that maybe their true potential could possibly lie in being rock band.
"Before this, all that was on their minds were basketball, but now that they've been exposed to a whole new world, they're seeing other sides of themselves and as such, I don't want to stifle their possible growth by hindering them from doing this. Plus, they aren't idol-like to begin with. They're so raw, unfiltered and truthful that the idol world may end up seeing them as unfit to be what they are. But in the rock world, people would accept them with wide open arms."
"Hmm…you're right about that." Ren mumbled. "So what's the second?"
"They're determined." President Aihara said curtly. "I could see in their eyes that nothing would have stopped them. Even if I had rejected their idea, that was just delaying the inevitable. After their contract ends, they may not renew it with us, but go off to their band activities. So really, telling them no now would not change the fact that they will be a band."
Ren and Kenji sighed in defeat. Those were indeed logical reasons, and knowing their boys, nothing would have stopped them.
"It seems you were right, Kiyotaka-san." Kenji sighed.
"Of course, our boys are something else."
"Oh My God!" Takao screamed as he took up his acoustic guitar. "I can't believe we get to be a band!"
"I know right?!" Kise screeched as he sat on his cajón. "So what two songs are we gonna use? I suggest Clock Strikes."
"Et Cetera!" Takao screeched.
"Kagerou!" Kagami shouted.
"Et Cetera." Kuroko deadpanned. "That song will definitely bring some feels to the president."
"Yus! We have two votes for Et Cetera. So…"
"Alright, then we'll do Kagerou." Kasamatsu sighed.
"Senpai! Why didn't you choose "Clock Strikes"?!" Kise screeched, looking betrayed. "How could you side with Kagamicchi?!"
"I didn't side with him!" the captain defended. He softened his voice before talking again to hurt-looking ace, "It's just that I really like Clock Strikes and I want our skills really awesome before we actually record it."
"Aww, Senpai…" Kise cooed. Kasamatsu inched away from him in disgust causing the ace to make pouty faces at him.
"So, how are we going to practice? I mean, we can play the acoustic version of Et Cetera but I don't think the President wants that." Kagami started up again.
"Right…"
"I can look over the guitar chords and re-arrange it and then Kise can add the drum beat and we'll work in the keyboards." Kasamatsu suggested. "How about that?"
"We can work with that." Kise nodded.
"So, what are our stage names gonna be? I'm sure we can't use the current ones." Takao said.
The other four looked to each in realization. They've been so focused on mastering their instruments (or rather, being able to play decently), that they had totally forgotten about the stage name aspect.
"I'm too tired to think of a stage name at this moment," Kasamatsu sighed. "So Kise, go cook." He ordered the ace.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Kise responded with a salute and a wide grin before sauntering off to the kitchen.
"But onto a better note, is it just me, or is Yu-chan's hair longer?" Takao asked, looking at the Blue Elite.
"It's longer." Kuroko and Kagami deadpanned.
"I'm not going through this again." Kasamatsu grumbled. "It grew out, I'm going to trim it when I get the chance to."
"No!" Kise screeched from the kitchen. "Style it Senpai! You can style it! Don't you wanna be a heartthrob!?"
"I already am."
Silence befell them yet again, but this wasn't just because they were shocked. The sheer confidence that emitted from Kasamatsu was enough to leave them gaping.
"Well..." Kise trailed off in a playful gasp.
"What? My mother told me so."
That said, their faces immediately fell.
"You know Kasamatsu-senpai, just admit that Reiko-san was the one who told you that. No need to be shy." Kuroko said, closing his novel with a snap. "Your mother is in a league of her own."
"Wha...? But she ―"
"No need to hide it, I see all your messages, you know?" Kise smirked.
Kasamatsu turned tomato red. "I don't believe you."
Kise's smirk turned into a devious grin. "I've got a mother who's an FBI that's not in the FBI remember? Whose phone she can't hack into?" Of course, this was just a plot to get the captain flustered and riled up, as even thought Kise Ritsuko could find information quickly, there's no way she could really hack someone's phone. "So I see all your messages to Reiko-nee and boy," he took a deep breath before exhaling easy, "I just love the fresh smell of an upcoming wedding in the evening."
Kasamatsu couldn't counter the blond, instead, he wanted to die of embarrassment. Kuroko, Kagami and Takao were going to drill him to death.
"Give me a break." he mumbled while hiding his face in his palms.
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