"Who're you?"
"Takeru."
Only one dark green eye peers at Takeru suspiciously, the other half of the boy's face eclipsed by the ajar door.
"So?" he responds, not unkindly but not friendly.
"I'm... uh, here for Yamato."
The door creaks open a little more, enough for an eye and a half to appear as the boy says, "He's not here yet... He said he'd be late..." The door then swings fuly open to expose two others boys in the sparsely furnished room, one huddled over keyboards and the other lounging in a sofa, an electric guitar straddling his lap. Takeru follows the red head, who motions with drum sticks for him to sit down in a tattered armchair.
The keyboard player stops noodling and openly calculates Takeru through thick-rimmed glasses. There's a glare on the lenses. "Who're you?"
"Yamato's brother."
There's a spotlight bouncing off Keyboard Player's glasses as he tilts his head and grins. "Oh, you're Takeru."
Drumsticks Kid hands Takeru a can of soda after he emerges from ransacking a mini refrigerator in the corner. "You two do look alike..." Guilt smothers his features. "Sorry I was a jerk. Some kids like to mess around here, especially when we're trying to practice..."
"I'm fine," Takeru reassures. "No problem."
These people are strangers to him; this storage garage slash practice room isn't familiar.
"Yamato... has never really talked about you," the guitar player says slowly, cautious of his words. His russet hair falls over his confused eyes.
The Yamato they're mentioning is a stranger to Takeru, but only pieces of him. Of course. His older brother is a very private person.
Takeru allows the soda's cold, desolate exterior to freeze his fingers. "He's never mentioned any of you, either."
And the band members all speak at once:
"Figures-"
"I'm Takashi, he's Yutaka, and he's Akira-"
"You want some chips, Takeru?"
"When did you move to Odaiba?"
"What grade are you in?"
"Can you play the harmonica too?"
"Do you write any songs?"
"What kinda music do you like?"
"You play an instrument?"
And they all stop in unison, staring expectantly at him; Takeru already feels like he can't harmonize with his brother's world.