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Chapter 35
Get In Gear
…
…
Kenji raked a hand through his silky brown hair in distress. A sigh escaped his lips, which didn't go unnoticed by Ren who was nearby.
"Ken, you alright?" He asked.
"I just don't know what to do with our boys."
Ren stifled down a chuckle. "What did they do this time?"
"Their fridge. It's full of forbidden foods! I know they play basketball and everything but the foods…it's got me worried."
"So, they aren't going according to that diet plan, huh?"
"I doubt it. But I don't think they'll eat unhealthy foods all the time. It's just…"
"Well, Ken, as your best friend, I'd say let them eat. I mean, they play basketball, so they'll burn off the excess fat right away. Plus, I know you know it's good to see idols of their sizes. Everyone these days are just so thin." Ren shuddered. "You know the reason why I don't watch female groups perform?"
Kenji shook his head. This was news to him. Of all the times prior, Kenji just thought that Ren wasn't a fan of the girl groups. Not even their company's own group ―Triple Threat ―Ren would never watch perform at Ai-Fest or anywhere for that matter. "No, why?"
"I'm scared that they'll break." He replied. "Idols fall all the time, but I always imagined the horror of them breaking some part of them. They look so fragile."
Kenji couldn't say a word more, shocked at this revelation. He's known Ren for as long as he could remember, and yet, this was a fact that he never knew about the man. As a matter of fact, he never thought of asking him the reason for staying away from girl groups. Kenji just though that the songs sung by the girl groups weren't Ren's cup of tea.
"But I say that so say, let the boys eat."
Kenji couldn't argue. With a small smile, he said, "Diverse freaked out and called them fat."
"It was Chrome, wasn't it?" Kenji nodded. "Of course." Ren rolled his eyes. He got up out of his chair with a folder tucked underneath his arm, bidding Kenji farewell. "Anyway, I gotta sort out our little rascals, wish me luck!"
"Where are you going?! At this hour?!" While the time of day wasn't extremely late, it still wasn't early enough to head out to do business.
"Interview."
Kenji shook his head. "Do your thing, Publicist-san."
xxxx
The next morning, Catal Rhythm woke up with aching pains all over their bodies. What they noticed, was as usual, they woke up in awkward positions that accounted for their body pains. And what made it worse, Inter-High Preliminaries were due to start this week. How were they going to play if they could hardly move?
"Good Heavens…" Kise groaned out as he sat upright in his bed. "My neck hurts."
"At least it's only your neck that's in pain." Takao snorted. "I'm in agony all over."
"Quit com―" Kasamatsu was about to speak when he cut himself off. The scent of fried foods seduced their noses, and immediately, they dashed towards the kitchen to catch the culprit.
And as they thought, it was none other than their manager, Aihara Kenji. He hummed as he worked his magic in their kitchen, moving expertly across the counter and stove.
Upon hearing a strangled gasp coming from behind, Kenji turned around and smiled rather darkly. "Good morning little ones." He said. Immediately, the five boys shivered. Something was not right.
"G-G-Good mo-morning." They stuttered out.
"I see your fridge has a myriad of fancy foods."
"Well…"
Kenji set down the chopsticks. "Just promise me that you'll control your eating portions."
Catal Rhythm looked at each other confused.
"Where's this coming from?" Kasamatsu asked.
Kenji sighed. "It's just that Chrome said something yesterday that made me wake up." He explained. "In the idol industry, people will see you as fat. Because, ever since the beginning, idols ―both male and female―are supposed to be slim." He emphasized the "slim" a little too much. "It's bad, yes, but no company is making a move to change that. So, I'm just putting you guys on your cues."
"Huh?"
"Don't 'huh' me you brats. I know your mouths. And if someone had called you fat in front of your faces before this warning, how would you react?"
The boys doubled their lips, an indication that Kenji was right on the mark. Of course they'd reply with sass, and in Kuroko's case, he'd rip them to shreds (unintentionally).
"So, here's your breakfast."
When the five saw the portions dished out, they went into a frenzy.
"Ken-chan! I can't eat this! Gimme some more!" Takao shrieked.
"What the hell is this?! Kenji-san…this isn't enough!" Kasamatsu said, pushing the plate towards his manager.
"Look at me Kenji-san! Look at me! This is just appetizer!" Kagami roared.
"I am offended!" Kise nearly screamed.
Kuroko only sat and ate amidst of the scream fest.
"Wait…what?" Kenji was stunned. "These plates are full! There are no more spaces! What do you mean this appetizer!?" His face then turned a ghastly pale. "How much do you boys even eat?!"
"Enough." They said with nonchalance.
"Wha —" Kenji broke off when he felt something brush against him. He turned to see Kuroko dishing out a second serving.
"I don't see what the problem is. If what's on the plate isn't enough, just serve yourself seconds and thirds. Simple."
Kenji gave up. "You know what, just eat."
The five broke out in grins. "I know you'd see it our way."
"Yeah, yeah, just remember that Inter-High starts this week, so you should get cracking."
"Hmhm!" Came the muffled responses.
Kenji just continued to watch, with utmost horror, at how his boys devoured the food like animals. Even Kuroko —demure, well put-together Kuroko who couldn't eat much when they first met—was eating seconds and thirds.
"Good God," Kenji could only breathe out in horror.
xxxx
The Inter-High Preliminaries had finally begun, and Catal Rhythm were the least fazed. While they never underestimated their opponents, the boys knew what their teammates were capable of —and trusted them.
That said, Seirin, Kaijou and Shutoku made it through with ease but there were other things on their minds throughout the week —preparation for Ai-Fest, moving into their new home with the bigger space, completing the two songs by August and lastly, an appearance on a music award show.
With so many things happening, Catal Rhythm barely had any breathing space. But thankfully, Kenji was a kind-hearted manager, and gave the boys a break from their classes. After all, according to him, the worst was yet to come.
xxxx
"At long last, the Prelims are over." Kenji sighed as he scanned through some papers. It was a peaceful Friday evening and this time, only he and Ren were at the office, the others having things to attend to. So, now that all his boys' schools were through to the actual tournament, Kenji started to plan around the tournament's matches. It was pretty straightforward from here, which the young manager was grateful for.
"Ken, Ai-Fest is coming up and the boys haven't started anything in terms of their meet and greet yet." Ren started, shuffling through the papers on his desk. He had even startled Kenji for a bit. "What's with the delay?"
Kenji looked up from his laptop to the publicist. "Well, all I'm hearing is that they have to sort out the other groups then deal with our boys. Because of budget and shit like that." He replied with a stressed sigh. "I'm now wondering if I did the right thing…" he grumbled underneath his breath, but alas, Ren heard anyway.
Bang!
Kenji jerked backwards at the sudden sound. Ren had slammed his palms down on the table and stood up. His face was twisted with rage, and Kenji kept stealing quick glances at the door. He knew his best friend like the back of his hand, so should he really flare up, Kenji has his escape route in sight.
"Ken, don't let me hear you say something like that. Ever." Ren hissed out. "Of course you made the right choice! We can see that these boys are talented and will bring something different to the table! Idols tend to be like manufactured goods, programmed to do whatever it is that aligns with their image! But our boys…" His voice softened here to emphasis on what he was about to say. "…our boys aren't like that. The idol industry needs a shakeup, a fucking revamp and our boys are gonna be the ones to do it."
Kenji didn't say anything. After all, he wholly agreed with the publicist's statement. "So, what do you suggest we do? Because by the time A&R are done with everyone else, it'll be time for Ai-Fest." Kenji sighed. "And if we don't get the funding…"
Ren grinned. "Kenji, I see you've forgotten who your best friend is."
Kenji burst out in laughter. "I can't believe it! I can't believe I forgot what a monster you are!" He calmed a little bit before cracking his knuckles, "Let me get into shape as well."
"You know I've got your back, bro." Ren grinned.
"What would I ever do without you?"
xxxx
"Achoo!" Kasamatsu sneezed, dropping the box he carried.
"Catching a cold, Senpai?" Kise asked as he bent to help Kasamatsu pick up the spilled contents. At the moment, Catal Rhythm were in the process moving out and into their new home, although their beds were left back in the old dorm.
"No way! Maybe it was a stray germ in my lungs that my body needed to get rid of." The captain replied quickly. He refused to believe that he was getting sick. After all, Inter-High was in full swing now.
"Someone's watching too much anime." Kagami mumbled.
"Or maybe someone's talking about you." Takao joined in with a smile. "Rei-chan, maybe?" He wiggled his eyebrows up and down as if insinuating something.
Kasamatsu was not up to their shit this time around. "Don't even."
"So, what do we have on our agenda?" Kuroko asked to change the subject. "Time is winding down." He took a seat in the conversation pit, to where everyone else followed.
"Alright, we have that music awards show to attend, we have our album to record starting in July and we have two new songs to complete for Alter-Ego." Kagami said. "And we have Ai-Fest to prepare for which includes the collab with Digital Club."
"Oh right. Kenji-san was going to bring us there tomorrow, right?" Kuroko said with a pensive look. "I wonder if we're going to spend the entire day there…"
"That's true." Takao joined in. "But what I want to know, is the meet and greet. What are we gonna do? We told Ken-chan our plans but there hasn't been any feedback on it."
"Right!? And I hear that D:FI already has their stuff sorted out." Kise agreed. "Are we being neglected?"
"Jun-san told me that they were ready too." Kuroko joined in.
Kasamatsu sighed. "The most we can do is practice our songs and choreo. I'm sure Kenji-san will say something soon." The captain then said, "Alright, so enough of Ai-Fest, what about Alter-Ego?"
"What about it?" Kise asked with a shrug. "My drumming skills are coming along quite fine! I can even play two songs!"
"Which two?" Kasamatsu inquired.
"The first two you gave us." Kise shrugged.
Kasamatsu grinned. "Takao and Kagami are supposed to be able to play the guitar arrangements for those two." He looked at the two in question. They nodded.
The captain then looked to Kuroko. The blue haired boy promptly replied, "I got a cool arrangement, especially Heartbeat."
"All right. Let's have a run-through of those songs, ne?" Kasamatsu couldn't contain his grin. If only his boys knew what the captain had in store for them.
xxxx
When Saturday rolled around, Catal Rhythm got ready to head to Spectertainment, home of the five-member boy group, Digital Club. Surprisingly, they woke up on time, even though they complained about pains.
After over an hour of driving, Kenji pulled up in Spectertainment, parking in the area designated for visitors. The boys of Catal Rhythm looking around at the unfamiliar place, while it was totally different from the Aihara Complex, there was still something aweing about the place.
"Although it totally crushed my imagination, it still looks nice." Kuroko said as he exited their van.
"Not everywhere is gonna be like Aihara and have a building for everything, you know?" Kise said, following suit. He exaggerated a bit here, the company didn't really have a building for everything they did ―Aihara had an Admin building, which housed everything pertaining to their operations. Of course, this is where the managers of the idols were, their dream teams and so forth. The other buildings were collectively known as the "Arts Blocks".
These buildings housed the dance practice rooms, the recording studios and so forth.
"Well…"
For once, Kuroko couldn't refute Kise's argument.
Not soon after, they saw Dan of Digital Club jog up to them, with a big grin on his face. He greeted Kenji first, before he greeted the five boys. And almost immediately, he and Kasamatsu fell into a deep conversation. The two walked and talked, until they entered the elevator. Dan pushed the button for the fourth floor, before Kagami spoke up.
"So, what made you want to collab with us of all people?" The tiger had been curious ever since Kenji told them about it.
Dan shrugged. "To be honest, we have no clue." He laughed. "I think it's because we met on that abominable quiz show, and both hated N.O.T.E., and then we got invited to the Ai-Fest, I guess we just thought of you guys immediately."
"This doesn't have anything to do with Kasamatsu?" Kagami probed.
"That too! You guys have a really cool leader!"
"O…okay." Kagami said, with a bit of awkwardness. He lived with the Blue Elite, so he never knew what to think. Sure, Kasamatsu was very comfortable to be around, but the older boy was scary.
"Plus, Thunder is a big fan of basketball, so he watches tournaments, especially, the high school ones a lot. He was kinda psyched up to collab with you monsters."
"Monsters?" Kise gasped out. "Well! I'm offended!"
Dan rolled his eyes at his overdramatic behaviour. "Apparently, you haven't seen your performance in the Winter Cup last year. You are, in every shape and form, a monster."
Kenji chuckled. He knew that Dan was right, but for the life of him, he never understood why Kise didn't like to be referred to as a "monster". He felt that it's because monsters are typically grotesque, instinctual creatures, the blond didn't want to be classed in the same category as that.
When they finally reached the fourth floor, Dan led them down the hallway to a recording booth, where the other four members of Digital Club were.
"Guys, they're here." Dan said as he pushed open the door.
The tallest of the four perked up and stalked towards Kise. He had bright dyed red hair, and bright brown eyes. He wore a simple jeans and t-shirt. "Ooohhh, Kise! Why didn't you play in the prelims!? I wasted my money to attend the matches! I want a refund!"
"Eh?" The blond was rather lost. He turned to look to Kasamatsu for a response, but the older teen just shrugged his shoulders.
The tall youth continued onto Kasamatsu, "And you! I've been waiting to see you dunk one of these days, but you never do! Why not?!"
"Threes garner more points." The captain deadpanned. He spoke like he was accustomed to the young man's behaviour. "I don't dunk."
"Thunder! You're scaring them! Sit down!" Another shrieked in a rather loud tone. He was Raito, the main vocalist. Like Thunder, his hair was dyed, but instead of red, his was a bright yellow.
"Alright! Don't forget the reason they're here! Come on, let's not waste their time!" Dan sighed. "You little…"
And like that, the mood inside the room turned serious. Another one of the group ―Henri started to fiddle the musical equipment and gestured for Catal Rhythm to enter the isolation booth.
"I'll play the song, so just put on the headphones and listen." Henri said, unlike the others, he wasn't as bubbly and vibrant. But Catal Rhythm met him before at the quiz show and knew that he was a second Kise ―meaning that he's a two-faced bastard. To people he's just met, he'll be the one who isn't talkative but once a friendship has been established, he's as crazy as the rest.
Doing as they were told, the five boys put on their headphones and listened.
…
…
"So, how'd you like it?" Dan asked, Thunder in the back waving around a few pieces of paper. Kasamatsu deduced it to be the lyrics to the song.
"It has a very…" Kagami started. "…good beat."
"Well, duh," Henri said with an eye roll. "Raito made it."
Dan and Thunder face-palmed.
Kagami twitched.
"So, where's the lyrics?" Kasamatsu quickly said for some damage control. He could see where this was going if something wasn't done.
"Here." Thunder grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."
"History?" Kise whistled as he saw the song title. He continued to read the lyrics and remembering what the music sounded like, he felt that if done right, it could be very catchy.
"But one question, who's going to sing what?" Takao asked. "All I see here is the lyrics and no one assigned. Is it that we're gonna be singing everything together?"
"We're still working that out." Henri replied. "As you can see, there's ten of us, and we don't want anyone to get left behind. So, we're awaiting Dan's assignments."
"Oh."
"And for that, I'll need to hear your voices. Listening to a song just won't do it for me." Dan grinned.
Catal Rhythm nodded.
"Well, let's go!"
…
…
"Pleased to meet you, Aihara-san."
"The pleasure is all mine."
Kenji sat in the chair facing the coffee table and the other woman, who happened to the manager for Digital Club, Ikemoto Ria. While his boys and her boys were busy listening to the song, the two managers were having a chat with each other in a common room on the floor
"Coffee? Iced-Tea?" Ria asked as she made her way to the nearby machines.
"Iced-Tea." Kenji replied.
Ria poured the young manager a cup, while she herself got coffee. She returned to their seats with the beverages, Kenji nodded his thanks.
"I've heard a lot about you. But to think that the infamous Aihara Kenji would be this…" Ria looked at him up and down. "…unassuming."
"Infamous?! How am I infamous?!" Kenji asked. "And what did you hear about me in the first place?!" The young man nearly shrieked.
Ria sipped on her coffee. "Oh, nothing much." The smirk on her face says something otherwise, which unnerved Kenji. He knew he's done nothing wrong and would go to great lengths for his idols. Although, it would still be within legal and ethical means.
Kenji narrowed his eyes at her. "Nothing much, huh?"
Ria smiled. "Don't worry too much about it. What I've heard only makes me keep my guard up, that's all. After all, I want my boys to succeed."
Kenji scoffed. "And you think that I'll stoop so low to ruin them? I don't work for CINQ."
"I never said that." Ria said as she placed her cup on the table. "What I mean is that you're the type to fight tooth and nail for your boys, which, frankly, is pretty scary given the methods that you use."
"They're all legal and ethical."
"Which is what makes you so terrifying. Normally, when managers are this scary, they tend to use illegal and unethical means like sabotage. But you, you're clean."
"Well…"
"So, enough of that, it seems that my boys have taken a liking to yours. Care to share what sparked the interest? They won't tell me."
Kenji laughed. "I have no idea myself! All I know is that they met at the Challenge and that's where they turned friends, I guess."
"Oh, I see. I mean, it's rare for older groups to take an interest into the younger ones, especially one that rarely have any fanbase."
"My boys' fanbase are climbing…" Kenji defended. However, his face darkened as if sending a threat. "So be careful, they might overtake Digital Club when they least expect it."
Ria looked at him with equal fierceness. "This is why you are dangerous."
"Me?" Kenji sipped on his iced-tea with supreme nonchalance. "I doubt you've seen dangerous. The ones you should fear the most are my boys. Anything that stands in their way, will be ripped to shreds."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Kenji grinned. "Absolutely."
…
…
After the session, Kenji drove his boys back home, and all throughout, they were in a good mood. Still there were many things that lingered on Kenji's mind. Ria had been right, Catal Rhythm's fanbase was nowhere near Digital Club's, so it was strange that they wanted to collab with them.
Ai-Fest was an event that even though it wasn't an award show or anything of the sort, it was still recognized, videoed and shown across Japan. It was always the talk between the periods of January (the days leading up to the festival) and February (the days after the festival).
Kenji was inwardly worried.
Knowing how the netizens are, Kenji feared that his boys may receive backlash for something that isn't even their fault.
"I have to be prepared for that." He mumbled.
"What was that, Ken-chan?" Takao asked. Of course, Kenji was frightened to hear a response from the boy, as it seems that not only are his eyes capable of seeing everything, his ears are capable of hearing everything too.
"Ah, it's nothing." He entered the underground parking and quickly found a space. The five boys disembarked quickly, eagerly dashing towards their new house.
The move had taken a lot out of them, given that they had done it during the week, with Inter-High Prelims going on.
They made it up to Catal Rhythm's new house, and the first thing the boys did is head to one of their rehearsal rooms. This room has all their electronic equipment, while the other housed their acoustic instruments.
Kenji whistled when he saw the set-up. "You boys weren't joking huh?" Although he doesn't follow up rock music as much as Kasamatsu did, Kenji still knew enough to be able to identify this setting. Their set-up was the same as a live performance on stage, with the drum set being closer to the walls ―this would be the "upstage". To the left and right of the drum set up, were the lead and base guitars. A bass speaker was positioned on one side of the drums while another was facing towards an imaginary audience. The keyboard was placed in front of the drums, vertically. Which meant, Kuroko would be facing the lead guitarist with his left and right sides facing the audience and the drummer.
"Who helped you with this set-up?" Kenji wasn't underestimating his boys, but he had to ask.
"Google." They gave out.
"Of course." Kenji shook his head. Why did he even bother to ask? "Google has the answers to everything."
"But Ken-chan, I've been thinking." Takao started, taking up his guitar. "When are we gonna get our channel?"
"Channel? What channel?"
"You know, a You-Tube channel. I mean, we don't have that much fans, so why not reach out. That's what social media is there for."
Kenji looked at Takao who wore a knowing smirk. Kenji seemed unaffected.
"Sure. Go ahead."
Takao looked taken aback. "It was that simple?! I thought you'd have to write a formal request and get it approved and then someone else would manage the channel instead of us…" he gasped, "Was I misled by all the other articles out there?!"
"I don't know what you read prior, but we here at Aihara don't have the time for that. You want your channel; you manage your channel. It's just that to prevent any shitstorm from brewing, you should always run your posts by someone of your dream team. In your case, it would most likely be Ren since I'll have fifty million things doing." He then mumbled underneath his breath, "And he's your publicist."
"Oh. Alright." Takao nodded. "But why would you have fifty million things doing?"
Kenji rolled his eyes. His boys lived to annoy him. "Because you boys are something else."
"And while you're here, we'd like to know, what's going on with our meet and greet? We need to know." Kuroko asked.
Kenji looked at them. With a sigh, he said, "Well, according to the Accounts dept, you have to wait because you weren't in the budget."
Almost immediately, the room was enveloped in shrieks and screeches, but quickly, Kenji calmed them down, "Ren is on it, though. So, I doubt that there's anything that you need to worry about."
"Yeah because that's your job." Kagami snickered.
"Cheeky." Kenji retorted. But for a fact, the rapper was right. Kenji didn't even want them to know about it, but alas, they're too damn perceptive.
"So, does that mean…?"
"It means you get back to practice!" Kenji snapped. The five boys laughed and slowly made their way towards their instruments.
"Before I forget, Kenji-san, are we free next Saturday?" Kasamatsu asked, tuning the guitar amplifier.
"Yes, why'd you ask?" The manager replied with a raised brow. Usually, when they want to go somewhere, they inform him, not ask if they were free or not.
"Yeah, what's the deal Yu-chan? Got a date with Rei-chan?" Takao teased.
Kasamatsu smirked. "I wish." Cue the stunned gasps that escaped Kise and Takao's lips. "Alter-Ego has an open-mic to attend at Café Sundown."
Kenji looked dumbfounded. "When did you arrange this?! Don't tell me you and the manager are friends!?" With Catal Rhythm's luck, he wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
Kasamatsu shook his head. "I was passing by and decided to stop. That's all." He averted his gaze to the floor.
"But open-mics are tricky depending on where you want to perform. Some hosts wouldn't let a no-name band perform so easily."
Kasamatsu wore a sheepish expression. He turned his face away and scratched the back of his neck. "Well…" He started, and judging by the tone of his voice, the others realized that the captain had to bargain. "…I may have said that we'll bring a crowd."
"You might've?"
"It slipped out."
"Slipped?"
Kasamatsu gave up. "Fine. I asked our friends if they were free that day and told them to come."
"Friends?"
"Our teams. I have the numbers of all the captains. So I asked them and naturally, they'll haul the rest of the team whether they want to or not."
Kenji found himself applauding. This monster.
"Senpai!" Kise shrieked. "You mean to tell me that when we couldn't find you, you were busy trying to get us a spot for an open mic?!"
Kasamatsu chuckled. "Sorry."
"I love you!" Kise grinned. "It was worth it!"
"But we need to turn up at the venue roughly thirty minutes to actually perform." Kasamatsu clarified.
"What? Why?"
"Because that's how it works. Imagine if all open mics had sign-up sheets from the day before or the week before. We'd never get on that."
Kenji nodded. "I can't believe it." He said to himself as he watched his boys. "Kasamatsu-kun…what a terrifying boy."
"So now that that's settled, which songs are we gonna do?" Kagami said as he took up the bass guitar.
"Well, I assume it's the two songs that everyone knows how to play." Kise said as he settled on his drum throne.
"On the contrary," Kasamatsu said quickly, "That night's themed "Lovers Night" and you know what that means."
"I know a song we could perform." Kuroko piped up. "It's Crush, you can listen to it right now if you want."
"Yu-chan could sing To Be With You too!" Takao chirped. "It's by the same singer, right?"
Kuroko nodded.
"Oh! I know To Be With You! And Kagamicchi too!" Kise said. "So all we have to do is learn Crush."
"Wait. Wait. Wait!" Kenji stopped. "These aren't your songs, right? Because the last time I heard, one of the songs' name was Et Cetera."
"Right, they aren't ours. The plan was to start out as a cover band and perform all over the place to get our name out there. And then, we'll slowly slip in our originals." Kasamatsu replied. "You know, think of it as "warming up" the audience."
Kenji nodded. "You've thought this out, huh?"
"Naturally."
"Well, don't let me stop you, I'll be your first audience." Kenji smiled.
"Right." Kasamatsu said as he held the mic. "Let's start with To Be With You since everyone knows that."
Kenji was not prepared for what happened next.
Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review! Songs mentioned are sung by David Archuleta.