p class="MsoNormal""Thank-you for having us! We are Alien Earache and we hope to see you again!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Yoji smiled down at the crowd below the stage. Thousands of fans had turned up to see him and his band play. Right at the front, stood a girl with the brightest smile out of all of them. She had a set of distinctively pointed ears and a backpack slung over her shoulder./p
p class="MsoNormal"He couldn't believe his eyes…she had come to see him perform! Cass and Max-Ernest had always supported his music throughout their friendship but neither of them had the chance to see his global success./p
p class="MsoNormal"Until now./p
p class="MsoNormal"Yoji waved at her before addressing the crowd: "Because you guys have been so great, I have one more song for you all!" he positioned his hands on the electric guitar, poised to begin. "It's a song I wrote for someone a long time ago and I think I'm finally ready for you all to hear it!" he lifted the guitar pick with his right hand, ready to strum the first chord and looked up./p
p class="MsoNormal"She was gone./p
p class="MsoNormal"Something was wrong. The place where she had been standing only mere seconds ago was now a crowd of empty faces./p
p class="MsoNormal"Yoji blinked hard and rubbed his eyes- he was so sure he had seen her!/p
p class="MsoNormal"He looked down and realised his guitar had now been replaced by an expensive DJ deck. Around him were no longer the familiar outlines of his bandmates, but a faceless tech crew and featuring singer./p
p class="MsoNormal"The roar of the crowd became louder and louder. Just as Yoji was about to motion to his sound crew to turn his mic up, strobe lights began flashing in his eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey!" he shouted to no-one in particular, his arms now shielding his vision. "You've got it all wrong, the lights are supposed to be facing the other way! This is dangerous! HEY!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He was overwhelmed completely and his cries for help were falling on deaf ears./p
p class="MsoNormal"As he screwed up his eyes, the scene playing out before him began to disappear and he felt himself falling slowly, slowly…./p
p class="MsoNormal"back into his bed./p
p class="MsoNormal"He opened his eyes to his childhood bedroom and sighed in relief./p
p class="MsoNormal"em"Only a dream."/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"A battered poster of his school band was stuck to the ceiling. One of the only copies that remained./p
p class="MsoNormal"Yoji peered up at the faded picture of his former bandmates- none of whom had pursued a career in music. One was raising his young family, and the other studying for his PHD. They all tried their hardest to catch up whenever they were all in Japan but with their newfound responsibilities, quality friendship time was becoming fewer and further between./p
p class="MsoNormal"Curse of adulthood./p
p class="MsoNormal"The rest of his bedroom was mostly empty- his blue electric guitar remained in the corner. He daren't take it around the world with him for fear of damaging his favourite instrument./p
p class="MsoNormal"Feeling nostalgic, Yoji got out of bed and began re-tuning the guitar before he felt satisfied with the final sound./p
p class="MsoNormal"On his laptop, he found the file containing all of his old music he had written as a teenager. Pinned to the top of his folder was his favourite: "For You". The one he had never finished and never played for anybody in full./p
p class="MsoNormal"After some wrong notes and pacing issues, Yoji eventually fell back into a fondly remembered rhythm. Just as he began experimenting with different scales, he heard his door creek open and saw his Mom and Dad smiling with somewhat exasperated looks on their faces./p
p class="MsoNormal""Do you ever stop playing music, Son?" his Dad asked. "You Mom and I have to get going to work now but we will be back tonight. Will you be okay by yourself?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine" Yoji replied, his parents couldn't help but worry about him even now. "Also FYI, I'm picking up Cass from the hospital today, she's being discharged."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, how is Cass now?" His Mother suddenly seemed very interested in Yoji's schedule. "I bumped into Mel the other day and we were saying how it is such a shame we don't see more of each other ever since the two of you…"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, okay Mom!" Yoji quickly interjected. "She's feeling better now thanks but she's still gonna need help at home."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh really? You've come back to help her?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I was going to come back anyway, but since I'm here…" a faint blush beginning to creep onto Yoji's face./p
p class="MsoNormal""Give Cass our best then." his Dad remarked. "We're going to get going now, right Aiko?" he motioned to his wife to leave./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, I suppose. But tell me everything when you get home, Yoji!" his Mom quickly added whilst being gently guided out of the door by his Father./p
p class="MsoNormal"Yoji sighed again, put his guitar away and grabbed his towel. He glanced at the poster one more time before heading towards the shower./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"emLater that afternoon/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A combination of baggy clothes, dark sunglasses and a bucket hat was usually all that was required for Yoji to avoid being recognised./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sure, he wasn't nearly as famous as the artists who featured on his songs, but every now and then, someone would recognise him and, as much as he appreciated his fans, he really didn't want to be late today./p
p class="MsoNormal"Trouble is, he looked so conspicuous, that the hospital staff almost didn't let him in to get Cass. After desperately explaining that "no I'm not her next of kin, but I'm her friend" and "I was here the other day" and "I don't think it's safe for her to go home alone" the receptionist finally let him go into the ward as a "unconfirmed relative". Whether this was because he finally accepted Yoji's explanation or whether it was because he had too much to do and simply couldn't be bothered anymore, Yoji wasn't 100% sure. (Though he suspected it was more likely to be the latter.)/p
p class="MsoNormal"Yoji removed his sunglasses before entering Cass's room; the last thing he wanted was for her to start questioning him as well. He stood for a moment and took a quick, shaky breath before knocking. Why did he feel so nervous all of a sudden?/p
p class="MsoNormal""Cmnn.", Yoji heard a faint mumble on the other side of the door./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry?" he called before a slightly more audible "come in" responded. He opened the door to see a very fed up Cass sitting on her bed. All of her belongings were packed and she was back in her regular clothes. Her ears were redder than he had ever seen them and her arms were tightly crossed in frustration. On her left foot, a small ankle brace was being fitted by a physio./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey Cass…what happened to your ankle?" She groaned and put her face in her hands./p
p class="MsoNormal""Don't worry, it's not broken, the x-ray was fine" explained the physiotherapist. "Just a nasty sprain after slipping in the bathroom. We talked about this Cass, your body has taken a real hit and you're going to need time to recover, try not to do too much at once."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Cass looked at Yoji with a look in her eyes that screamed: "Get me out of here!" As soon as the physio was finished making sure Cass could use her crutches properly, Yoji bent down to pick up her bags./p
p class="MsoNormal""No, don't worry I can get them myself." Cass started as she bent down and almost fell over, catching herself just in time./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's fine" Yoji began as he picked up her stuff, "I won't be carrying them for long, the car is parked close by."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh I was actually planning on taking the bus. We should all try to be more considerate of the environment, you know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, totally. But you're really unwell and maybe a car would be a bit more…helpful?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Ugh" Cass groaned "so many emissions!" She whined. "But now that I think about it, I guess we don't have a choice. You can't leave your car here."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Great! Let's get going." Yoji was already having flashbacks to their past, where the two would often bicker about how his lifestyle was damaging the world around him. He allowed Cass to slowly hop out of her room and down the corridor as they made their way out of the ward and towards the elevator./p
p class="MsoNormal"The elevator dinged as they reached the ground floor and made their Click…click…click /emthe crutches allowed her to move slowly./p
p class="MsoNormal"emClick…click…click. /em"Erm, Cass, how will you manage at home if you're not walking around like you did before?" Yoji asked./p
p class="MsoNormal"emClick..click..click./em "I'll be fine" she retorted defensively, picking up her walking pace./p
p class="MsoNormal"He stopped himself from shaking his head in response. "I'm not sure…do you need me to stay with you for a bit?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"emClick..click..click, /emCass almost snorted "No, no, no, I will be fine." The sounds of her crutches slowly getting louder on the marble floor./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, it's okay if you don't want me to, but I'm just worried. I don't want you to have an accident or something."/p
p class="MsoNormal"emClick, click, click. /em"And like I said, I…" Cass never finished her sentence owing to the fact that she just slipped and fell backwards. Reflexively, Yoji quickly dropped her bags and caught her before she hit the ground./p
p class="MsoNormal"He was holding her arms from the back, her head and torso leaning on his chest as her crutches fell past both of them and clattered onto the floor./p
p class="MsoNormal"They drew attention from a couple of passers-by before Yoji leaned his head down towards her left ear and dropped his voice to a whisper: "It's okay if you don't want me to stay…" he slowly helped her up to her feet before handing back her crutches. "I only want to help." Cass, eyes still wide from the shock, was looking up at him. "Let's just get you home and figure things out from there, does that sound okay?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah". She said taking back her crutches and beginning again at a slower pace towards the exit door. "I'm sorry if I was a bit abrupt with you I just…"/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay, I understand."/p
p class="MsoNormal"And he did./p