Chapter II: The Tour

Weeks went by, the agreement that Yuya made between her and the management team of The Shiseitens went on really well. She signed the deal in the management team's office, where as soon as she finished signing the paper and shook hands with Sanada, Kyo suddenly grabbed her body and tickled her again. The next thing she knew, Yuya was sitting in a bus, becoming a part of The Shiseitens' national tour (hurray!).

It was a rather big group; they left with three buses and one big truck especially used to carry their equipments. Yuya sat on the first bus, where the band members sat and relaxed, and she totally adored the comfort and luxury the bus got to offer. There are two beds that Akira and Hotaru fought over, a big television set completed with PlayStation, a fridge crammed with junk foods and Akari's supplies of non-fat snacks, and a comfortable couch where Yuya sat, altogether with Akari, with Hotaru mindlessly watched over them. Kyo was sitting at the other end of the couch, busily talking to someone on the phone, with his computer on his lap. Bontenmaru was happily slapping Akira in the face for losing again in a virtual football match. And Tora, whom Yuya finally decided should go with her in this tour and helped with the documentation, was busy taking pictures of the whole happy situation. Every minutes, Yuya wrote everything that she saw on a small notepad, as a tool to record the material for her upcoming book.

Akari was attacking Yuya with her stories, on how she decided to finally wear this flowery dress instead of that comfortable loose pants, until she finally caught a glimpse of Yuya's nails. "Oh my God! It's really pretty! What color is that?" she gasped, examining Yuya's fingers.

"It's baby pink or something. I got it from a friend. She knew a great place which sell lotsa cute things like this, I'll give you their address," Yuya replied happily. She was glad to meet Akari, whom she can related to pretty well. Akari, a visual kei devotee who dresses up as a girl, understands a good deal of girly things, even though he is a he. This was comforting for Yuya. She had tried to imagine living with these guys for months, and she did not like the images that she saw in her mind.

Suddenly Hotaru interrupted. "So, Yuya-san… you actually made a living out of writing?"

Yuya lifted her eyebrows. "Well… We can say so. I'm a journalist, working in a magazine. And I also write books, which is why I'm here," answered Yuya, looking a bit puzzled. Somehow she felt that the question, and the way Hotaru asked it, was a little bit strange.

Hotaru looked as if he was thinking really hard, his eyes stared at Yuya and he made this mumbling sound. Suddenly he punched his palm with his fist. "So… you're just like a typist! You write and you get money from it," he said, pointing at Yuya, his gaze still as empty as usual.

"Actually, no! It's pretty different. Typist, they were like… well… they just type… write down things that they are told to. As for me, I did more than just that. I decided what to write, and make research for it…," Yuya tried her best to explain the meaning of the profession to the seemingly clueless Hotaru. Off course it was more than just 'typing', she thought. I did not graduate from Tokyo University just to type! Is he dumb or something?

Hotaru nodded, yet Yuya could not tell if he really got her point or not. In fact, she began to think that something is really weird about the question he asked, especially in the way he asked it. Hotaru seemed to be… it is hard to say it, but something seemed to be wrong in him. He was like a child, the one with a developmental problem. And Yuya does not have a right feeling about it. She cannot really put her hand on it, but she had this feeling that something bad could possibly happen due to these characteristics of him.

She turned to Akari for advice, but before she could say anything, Akari tapped her shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry. Hotaru's a bit weird, but once you get to know him, he can be really nice," he said it with a smile. "And he'll be fine, don't worry. He always managed to escape troubles."

Yuya smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Kyo's voice suddenly interrupt. "Hey, guys! Check this out!"

All heads turned towards his direction. Kyo had ended the phone-call, and was turning the direction of his computer towards his band mates. He was smiling mysteriously, and there was a proud look in his expression. "You gotta check this out. This is the design for our latest merchandising range, produced by my clothing line, Red Eye."

Everyone gathered in front of the computer, and there were sounds of "Ooh…" and "Ah…" made. Yuya struggled to squeeze herself in, and was finally able to made it when Bontenmaru realized that he covered her up and moved away. Then she began to examine the design shown on the computer screen.

There were pictures of T-shirts, caps, sweatshirts, and even umbrellas, most of them are colored black. On the back side of these clothes was a picture of the band's mascot, a red cross with bat wings on its side. On the front side, there were the band's name written in Kanji characters. The merchandising range was pretty good, but Yuya found that some improvements need to be made.

"Wow, it's really nice, Kyo! But I think you better erased those Kanji characters. It doesn't match the Gothic style you're trying to portray. At least you have to change the font. Or don't use Kanjis," said Yuya.

Suddenly, everyone went silent.

Akari looked as if he was trying to say something, his expression seemed worried, but he was interrupted by Kyo. "So you think you know better, eh?"

Yuya opened her mouth. A bit panic, she realized that Kyo seemed offended by her critics. "Oh, that's not it… I was just giving comments…"

"Your comments are not needed. I'm the CEO of the clothing line, I made the whole concept, and I work my ass off to make it real. Therefore, my decisions are final. And no smart-ass brat tried to comment on my works," Kyo said coldly.

Yuya folded her arms in front of her body. "Well, excuse me, I was just giving some comments, as I believe we're all living in a free country. But you… well, you had problems with it!? I don't think that was appropriate," she said, one of her hands moved around wildly. She can feel her heart beat faster, and her face started to burn with rage.

Kyo gave a sinister laugh. "That's not the point, missy."

"Well, the point is, you're being so arrogant that you think no one should criticized you," Yuya fired back.

"They're fighting," Hotaru suddenly interrupted.

"Why don't you just shut up, dogface?" Kyo replied, looking annoyed.

That really hit it. Yuya stood up, her face was red with anger. Her fists were clutched tightly, and she was struggling to say, "W-what did you…."

Immediately, Kyo put his computer aside, ready to start a fight. The situation grew tense, and flames of anger started to sparks between them…

Until Bontenmaru broke in.

"Hey, hey! What is this!?" he yelled. His loud voice made everyone stopped and stare at him, including Kyo and Yuya. "Could you guys just calm down!?"

Then Kyo returned to his seat, and Yuya ran to the toilet, followed by Akari.

An hour later, they stopped at a famous fast food restaurant for lunch. After making an effort to escape groups of fans asking for autographs, they finally made it to the counter, place their order, and returned to their tables with the well-anticipated lunch.

Yuya sat in a corner, while Kyo sat in the other end, refusing to talk to each other. Akari sat beside her, trying to soothe her down. "I know he can be a bit of a pain in the ass… but please bear with him…."

"It's so rude! He actually called me 'dogface'," she said, waving her hand.

Akari took a deep breath, staring at Yuya with a pitiful look.

Yuya grabbed her portion of French fries, and continued to pour her heart's contents out. "I just don't get it. Why does he had to put himself in such a high position, that none of us could criticized him? It's so… disgusting. You guys should not surrender yourself to him and let him dominate like that. It's not healthy. That's not how a team supposed to be, Akari."

Akari just went quiet, but his expression suddenly grew serious. But before he could say anything, Bontenmaru came and took a seat in front of them, followed by Akira.

"Hey, pretty!" he yelled. Akari started to fixed his hair, smiling gladly. "Not you, drag queen," Bontenmaru added, looking slightly irritated.

Akira opened up his lunch package. "So, how do you like your first day with these bunch of hooligans?"

Yuya took a deep breath. "Kinda hard, but… it's still nice though!" she replied, giving a warm smile.

Akira smiled back. "Anyway… I heard that you graduated from Tokyo University. Is that true?" he asked, with his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking.

"Yes, I used to major in English," answered Yuya.

Suddenly Akira slapped the table. "That's great! Guess what? I also graduated from Tokyo Uni, English major!"

Yuya's eyes widened. "You gotta be kidding!"

"Hell no! I just graduated last year, after five long years trying to juggle academic life and a rock band," Akira replied. "Isn't this great? We actually went to the same school!"

"I'm so ashamed that I didn't know about it before…," said Yuya, realizing this evident flaw in her research on the background of the band's members. "So, does Muramasa-sensei still teach there? He's so kind, the best lecturer ever!"

They soon found themselves involved in a vary warm and intimate conversation, talking about their college life; how Yuya used to be part of the campus magazine, how Akira tried hard to stay awake in his classes after a night of concert.

"Ahem… Sorry, guys. Could you please talk about something that I could understand? Please, we're still here…," Bontenmaru interrupted, while finishing the second helping of his lunch.

"Oh, so sorry for that…," said Yuya.

"Anyway, Yuya. I often wonder. And I always wanted to ask this question, and now that you're here, I think I'll just spill it out," said Bontenmaru, putting down his piece of hamburger, looking very serious.

"Please, what is it?"

"Is it true that Izumono Okuni never wears any underwear?"

"……!!"

Yuya accidentally spit her drinks out, Akira choked, and Akari started to roll on the floor, laughing hysterically. "Oh my God, Bon!! What a question!"

"What makes you think so!?" asked Yuya, wiping her mouth with a tissue paper.

Bontenmaru raised his shoulders. "Street gossips. You know, those manly talks," he answered quietly, as if nothing is wrong.

Yuya began to chuckled. "But it's funny, though."

"Bon, that is so embarrassing. Of all the things you could ask, why do you have to ask that question?" Akira protested, his face blushed.

Bon scratched his ear. "Well, from your point of view, it might not be that interesting anymore… you know, now that you got a girlfriend and all…."

"Shut up, Bon!"

Akari started to cheer. "Akira got a girlfriend! Woo-hoo!"

"Akari!!"

Yuya moved herself closer to Bon, who is laughing hard now, looking very interested. "So who's the lucky girl?"

Bon stopped laughing and looked around, as if looking for something. Then his gaze stopped at a TV set hanged on the wall of the restaurant. His smile widened. "That girl."

Yuya turned herself around, and looked at the TV. There was this rock music video, and the singer was this stunningly pretty young girl, sitting on a chair in the middle of a desert, playing a guitar. She was wearing a white summer dress, which complemented really well with her short blonde hair, frail figure, and porcelain skin. Yuya smiled. "Oh, I know her! She's that new singer!"

"Yup, her name's Tokito. Right, Akira?"

"Shut up!" Akira snapped, blushing even more than ever. But then he turned to Yuya, and mumbled slowly, "Yes, it's her."

Yuya smiled.

"Ah… I always feel better after lunch…," said Bon, rubbing his stomach as they walked out of the restaurant. Suddenly his gaze fell at a statue of the restaurant's mascot, a red-haired clown, sitting on a bench. People can actually sit beside the clown on the bench, and suddenly, Bon had this fantastic idea.

"I wanna take pictures with the clown! Could anyone please help?" he shouted, taking his mobile phone out and changed it to camera mode. Tora immediately prepared to take pictures with his camera.

Kyo blew smokes from his cigarette. "Here, let me do that for you." He took Bon's mobile phone and began searching for a good angle, while Bon hastily ran to the bench.

Yuya lifted her eyebrows. He offered himself to do a favor for his friend? How very unlikely.

She folded her arms and watched Bon took pictures with the clown statue, followed by Akira, Hotaru and the rest of the team ("We want one too!"). In the end, all the members of the band and their management team took pictures with the clown, and people started to gather around the site just to watch them do it ("Isn't that Kyo?" some girls whispered to each other). Tora was having a great time; not only that he could get some nice pictures of the band members, he can also took pictures of the crowds as well.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, until Akari finally decided to do something unexpected.

"Tora, please take a pic of me and this mister," he politely asked Tora. He moved away to sit on the lap of the statue, posing in a girly way and kissed the statue's cheek. Everyone laughed and cheered. She continued to pose and take pictures, until her poses suddenly became more and more… vulgar.

"Wait, don't start it…," Bon interrupted, started to get annoyed. But Akari did not listened. Instead he changed his sitting position; now he is sitting face to face with the statue, his legs wide apart.

Everyone screamed.

"Akari!! It's disgusting, stop it!" Akira yelled, his face became red again. The crowds started to scream and ran, even an old man in kimono started to point with his walking stick and curse Akari for his 'indecent actions'. Kyo, Bon, and the management team just laughed, Tora continued to take pictures, while Hotaru just stare and went silent.

Yuya could only stop and stare, unable to believe what she had saw. Akari and his erotic pose! With a clown statue! What was that? Why does this band always seemed to shock her with their attitude? Is there anything else that could be any crazier? She just did not get it. Yet she began to search for her notepad, and started to write things down.

"Attention, guys! Please listen to me, this is important! And I'm not going to repeat it."

They have been continuing their journey for an hour until finally Sanada made this important announcement. He stood up in the front side of the bus, exactly behind the bus driver. At first he had to struggle to keep standing up, as the bus was riding in a rather high speed, but he finally found something to hold on to ("Careful, dude… we don't wanna lose you after our sixth manager jumped down from Tokyo Tower. Stressed out, they said," Bon interrupted). Then he took out his Blackberry, and started to read things out.

"A few minutes later, we're going to arrive in Osaka," he announced.

"Hurray…! I love Osaka," Akari yelled.

"Then we're going straight to the radio station. There'll be an interview, and an acoustic performance… I believe I have told you guys about this, so please be prepared. Then afterwards we're going straight to where we're going to stay…," he continued and mention a very famous name in the hotel industry, and everyone cheered to the sound of it. "Alright, don't forget to thank me for that. Make sure that you guys get some rest, as tomorrow we're going to start our big gig. Is that understood? Any questions?"

Hotaru raised a hand.

"Yes, what is it? Hotaru?" asked Sanada, pointing his Blackberry to Hotaru's direction.

"Where are we going?" Hotaru asked.

Yuya sat near the window, just a few moments after Sanada decided to ignore Hotaru's question. She noticed that the view outside began to change. They have left the highway, and now they started to enter the downtown. Yuya liked what she saw; the view of Himeji castle in far away, the people who walked down the streets. It seemed that she was not the only fan of the city, as everyone in the bus started to cheer.

They continued to ride, until Yuya realized that the sideway was more crowded than usual. There were hundreds of people, queuing and gathering, filling the streets. Many of them are young, dressing up in the way many young, rebellious Japanese would. Some of them had this placard in their hands, but Yuya cannot see what they wrote on it. They seemed to be anticipating for something, and some of them cheered as they saw the bus ride passed them. Geez, what are they doing? Yuya thought, curious. Is there a strike or something?

"Attention, guys!"

It's Sanada again, and as Yuya turned her head to his direction, she could see him standing in front of the bus' door. He looked as if he was ready to open it, and in his hand was a walkie-talkie, beeping and making noises. "In a minute, the bus will stop and we will head directly into the radio station's office. And you guys have to be quick and be really careful, as you can see, there are lotsa fans out there waiting for you…," he said.

Yuya dropped her jaw, unable to believe what she just heard. Those people are here for us!?

She turned back to the window, and for the first time, she realized that the placards that they are carrying are actually posters of The Shiseitens.

"And I want you guys to just hurry up, there'll be extra time for a meet and greet session. So no pictures and no autographs, ok? Saizo is outside, so just follow him, he will guide you…," Sanada continued to give directions.

Yuya turned to Tora, who was just behind her, taking pictures of the crowds outside. "Tora! Those… those people… they're here just to see The Shiseitens coming out of this bus!?" she asked in a whisper.

"Off course! Who do you think they are? Tsunami victims?" Tora replied without taking his eyes off his camera.

"I know! But I never thought…."

"Yuya! Tora!"

Both of them turned their heads. "Yes?"

"You guys are also going to come with us. And you're going to get out of this bus after these guys," Sanada pointed at the band members. "Don't worry, we have our security ready, they will help you guys to get there. Kosuke will be right there behind you as well. Is that understood? Any questions?"

"Nope, it's all clear!" answered Tora, pointing his thumb, while Yuya was still trying to adsorb and remember the things Sanada mentioned.

The bus suddenly stopped.

Yuya could feel her heart jumped. She hastily grabbed her postman bag, feeling slightly panicked for not being ready. Then she ran to stand behind the band members, who was already getting ready to get out.

"Saizo, is everything clear? Copy," Sanada talked to his walkie-talkie. The thing made some beeping noise.

"All clear, you may come out now," a voice replied.

Yuya gulped, feeling even more nervous.

Everyone was silent. Sanada was the only one speaking.

"Ready guys? Here we go…."

Then he opened up the door, and all the silence was being broke by these huge, loud screaming of the fans outside.

Kyaaa!!

Kyo! Oh my God, it's him!!

Akari, I love you!

Marry me, Kyo!

Akiraaaaaa… I love you!

Yuya's jaw dropped again, while one by one, the members of The Shiseitens walked out of the bus, ready to face their fans. Kyo came out first, waving to his anticipating fans, with his trademark cynical smile. Akari came in second, giving away air kisses. Hotaru just watched and lifted his eyebrows as girls tried to grab his shirt. Bon almost gave a fan his autographs when suddenly he was being pulled away by the bodyguards. Akira struggled to walked passed his fans, trying to maintain a smiling face, while deep inside he felt like screaming.

Now it's Yuya's turn, but instead, she just stood in front of the door, staring at the crowd. She had never been that famous throughout her life to have fans screaming at her (even when her book was launched, it was Okuni who got the most attention, not the writer), and now to see the real face of fame in front of her very own eyes, she just cannot believe it.

"Yuya! What are you doing? We have to be quick!" Tora shouted.

She then moved, but her amazement to the world of rock still lingers.

These are the noises that came out from every listener's radio in all over Osaka, and the actual scene behind it.

"Konnichiwa, minna!! Back again in the Afternoon Show!" a young girl with a cheerful face and a high-pitched voice yelled to the microphone. She was sitting in this recording studio, with a furry, rabbit-ear-shaped headphone covering her ears, while a light bulb outside flashes red ("ON AIR").

"Right, Saishi, we also have very special guests today…," another girl, whose face looked sterner than the other, answered with her deep, serious voice.

"Oh my God, who are they? Are they handsome?" Saishi asked, overexcited.

"Sure, they are…," replied Saisei, the other girl, her voice still as cold as usual.

"Ha! Handsome, she said!" Bon's voice could be heard, followed by a chuckle.

Akari pouted. "It hurts the feelings of a girl…."

"…in fact, they are more than just handsome. They're the hottest thing in our country now!" Saisei continued.

Akira suddenly moved his hand. "All these… handsome-hottie thingy is getting on my nerves. It's not like we're Kimura Takuya or something!"

Yuya chuckled as she heard Akira's last comment. She was sitting together with Tora, just outside the recording room, where they could watch the ongoing interview through a glass window. She watched all these interviews closely, while taking down notes for her book. Her smile grew every time she saw the band members laughed and cheered while answering the given questions by the DJs. In the other hand, she frowned as she realized that almost all of the questions were being answered, or at least summarized, by Kyo.

She tucked Tora's shoulder. "Tora, listen…."

Tora made a growling noise, too busy staring at his camera.

"Listen!"

"What!" He finally turned, putting his camera down.

"Look, I just don't get it. Why does he -I mean, Kyo- always dominate the whole interview? I mean, do the others ever, like, contribute something?"

Tora returned to his camera. "Nonsense. The Shiseitens is one of the most solid team on earth."

"But he always seem to dominate!" Yuya replied, clutching both of her fists tightly.

Tora did not answered, yet he slowly put his camera down. He then turned to Yuya, his slanted eyes stared at the girl's seriously, making Yuya lost her words.

"Look, Yuya. I've known that guy for years. To me, the point is not whether he dominate or not. The point is…," he took a deep breath, his hand moving around. "The point is, even if he does dominate… he did it for good."

Yuya rolled her eyes. "Tora, whatever the intention…."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I gave you… The Shiseitens!"

The sound of Saishi's high-pitched voice made Yuya turned back to the window, and Tora grabbed his camera back.

There in the recording room, the arrangement of the sitting position had changed. Saishi and Saisei was still sitting behind their desk, facing the microphone, but the band members were now sitting far away from them. They were being given a different microphone, and Kyo had already sat with his acoustic guitar. So was Hotaru with his bass guitar. Akira sat with a baby grand piano, while Bon made some noises with the tambourine in his hand. Akari pulled a deep breath, and began to sing, following the rhythm to Kyo's guitar.

And I look upon to see leaves fall upon my head… my head, which endlessly think of ghosts of the past…

He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to adsorb essence of the song into himself. While Kyo made a stronger melody with his guitar, followed by the soothing sound of Akira's piano. The instruments played their music, catching up to each other and mingled well to each other. As if they were two best friends, competing on a friendly fencing match.

After the chorus bits, Kyo lifted up his head, and his gaze fell directly to Yuya's eyes, who was staring at the band's playing. After a clumsy second, he smirked, and his lips silently mouthed "dogface".

The sound of showering water was heard, followed by the sound of a girl's singing. Then the water sounds disappeared, replaced by the sounds of footsteps and the sound of a towel being thrown into a basket.

The bathroom door swung open.

"Aah!! What a nice hot shower!"

Yuya walked out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed. She had just taken her night shower, just a few moments after they had arrived in the hotel. Now she is walking around in her suite room (especially reserved for her, with a very nice queen-size bed) with wet hair and her favorite pair of pink pajamas (sorry boys, no nude scenes here).

"Geez, it's not really bad anyway to stay with these guys… it's been a hard and tiring day, yet the room is just impressive! It's really worth it," she talked to herself, while drying her hair with a hairdryer.

"And the guys were really nice. It's the best job I've ever had so far! Except for…."

She then went silent. The hairdryer continued to make blowing noise, yet Yuya just stop and stare at her reflection in the mirror. Her face had turned red again, smokes puffed out of her head, and her eyes grew bigger and white.

"Except for that !"

She threw her brush to the table. "That Kyo person! Never thought he would be soooooo annoying!"

"But the worst thing is… everyone seemed to be on his side!" she continued, taking her brush back. "He did it for good, Yuya," she added, mimicking Tora's way of saying it.

She switched off her dryer and put it back in to her suitcase. I thought he would be just a little nicer… but…

BANG!!

"Kyaa!!"

She started and jumped at this loud banging noise on her door. Someone seemed to be slapping the door with rage, making her scared.

"Who is it!?"

"It's me, Akira! Open the door! Quick!"

Yuya ran to the door, panicking. "What's the matter, Akira!?"

The door swung open, and Akira burst in. "Close the door! Quick!"

"Geez, what happened? You look so scared!" Yuya said, closing the door, turning her attention to Akira. He was running out of breath and is now leaning to the wall, looking very much relieved.

"Yuya… phew… whatever happened…," he paused, trying to catch his breathing. "Don't tell them I'm here!"

Before Yuya had time to say anything, the door bell rang. "It's them!" Akira shouted, then he ran straight to the bathroom to hide.

Yuya opened the door with a large question mark on top of her head. And found Akari standing in front of her, with a very happy face.

"Yuyaaaaaa! Oh great! You definitely had to join our party!" he shouted, his arms wide open. Imaginary confetti seemed to be floating around him, and as he moved himself closer, Yuya noticed a strong smell of alcohol. And his face was red, too.

"Oh, what party?" she asked politely, walking out of the room. Actually she felt too tired to join such event, but she thought it would not hurt to just appear and say hi to everyone.

Akari happily pulled her to his room, and as she got inside, she dropped her jaw.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Tora was there, he happily yelled "Yuyaaa!" as she went inside. Hotaru was sitting on the window-sill, puffing smokes from his hand-rolled cigarette (Or was it weed? This idea really sent chills down Yuya's spine). Kyo sat on a couch, with two girls -seemingly a group of groupies- hugging him cheerfully and kissing his cheek. There were some people that she did not know, yet there were all having fun with bottles of sake on their hand, clapping and shouting at, to Yuya's horror, a naked Bontenmaru dancing on the table.

The sight was too scary and she decided that she was not going to join in and clap at a naked Bon. "Err… hi, guys! What a great party… uhm… but I had to go, I… a bit tired…."

"Geez, why, Yuya? We're expecting you to join…," said Akari, looking sad.

"Not joining us, eh, dogface?"

Everyone turned their head to Kyo's direction, exactly when one of the groupie started to kiss him on the lips. Kyo seemed a bit surprised at first, but then, he really enjoyed it and began to French kiss the girl. Everyone cheered ("Kyo just scored again!").

Yuya stared, her lips trembled.

"Why? You jealous, dogface?" asked Kyo, just as he finished kissing the groupie.

"No way," Yuya mumbled. But she turned and walk away from the room, feeling totally disgusted.

Yuya slammed the door shut. She leaned on the door, taking a deep breath. Then she yelled with all her power. "Uurgh… Uwaaaaa!!"

Then, much to her surprise, Akira (who was sitting on a couch and reading a travel magazine) stood and ran up to her. "Yuya! You made it! Geez, what's wrong?"

Yuya let herself fall into sitting position. "Well, let's just say that I just had this privilege to check out Bon's cheek…."

Akira made that thinking pose again. "Oh, he finally took it all off, didn't he? That was quite a progress… but never mind," he muttered. Then he sat on the floor, facing Yuya. "Seriously, what happened?"

Yuya sighed. Then she told Akira what she had saw in Akari's room; how Kyo had these groupies around him, and started to kiss one of them, with tongues included. And how the sight really disgusted her, and made her decided to leave right away.

Akira listened attentively. Then he made this understanding smile. "Well, I know that it must be hard for girls. I don't mean to underestimate, but the sight of Kyo, playing around with girls, and this so-called rock and roll lifestyle…," he sighed. "Even I, who spent days in it, sometimes just don't get it. It can get really mad sometimes…."

"Yeah… I mean, I kinda expect it to happened when I took this project. But nothing could have prepared me for that," she replied, out of energy.

They both went silent for a while. Yuya took the chance to examine Akira carefully; he was sitting there in front of her, with his legs folded. By the time he was wearing a grey T-shirt and a black training pants, his strawberry-blonde hair was as messy as usual. His brilliant blue eyes always seems to be glittering with spirit. He smiled back as he realized that Yuya watched him rather closely. That moment, Yuya grew even sure that something made this guy different than the other. What is it? Probably because he was younger than the rest of the group? Or maybe his educational background? Yuya decided to found out.

"So, Akira…," Yuya took a deep breath.

"Yes?"

"How did you join The Shiseitens? I mean, I notice that you're kinda different from the rest…," Yuya asked, feeling like pinching herself, for she sound too much like a journalist on an investigative report.

Akira mumbled. "Honestly, I don't know what you meant by 'different'. So, I think I'll just explain to you how I got into this group."

Yuya fixed her sitting position. "Please, I'd love to."

Akira then took a deep breath, and began to tell the story of his life. On how he was such a musical prodigy. He began playing the piano by six and followed by violin when he was ten. Then, when he was in junior high, he joined the national youth orchestra, and was even once went to Germany to represent Japan in this international music festival. Classical music was such an important part of his life, yet he also had another obsession.

"Apart from classics, I'm crazy about rock music as well. I actually woke up to Aerosmiths' songs in the morning, and went to sleep with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' by night! It put a balance in my life. And I remember… once I was listening to this song by X-Japan, and I thought that…," Akira said, moving his hands around. "Well… these two very different kind of music can actually mingled really well. And I began to dream about joining a rock band."

"So you joined The Shiseitens right away?" Yuya asked, hugging her legs.

Akira shook his head. "No! Actually, it wasn't until my freshman year in college. Before that, I used to join this small garage band, trying to play The Beatles' songs. But it didn't last, the band was really bad anyway."

He paused. "Oh, right, about The Shiseitens itself…."

"Did you had an audition or something?"

Akira went silent, his eyes stared into a 'do not disturb' sign on the door knob. There was something mysterious in his smile. Slowly, he began to answer, "Let's just say that… it's an audition made by fate…."

Yuya released her legs. What?

Akira chuckled.

"So… I used to had this part-time job playing piano at this four-star hotel…," he began. "I usually play some classical tunes to accompany people drinking in the coffee shop. But one day, I decided to do something different."

"Uh-huh…," Yuya muttered, still bewildered, trying to follow Akira's stories.

Akira moved his head closer to Yuya, looking as if he was going to tell a very big secret. He cannot contain his excitement, and it made Yuya moved herself closer to him. "I decided to play Light My Fire by The Doors! Yes, with the grand piano!"

All was silent. Yuya returned to her original position. She gave a thinking look. "Okay… what made you do that? And what happened next?"

Akira shrugged. "I don't know, I just feel like it. I've been practicing the song for some time, and I feel like I wanted show the world… that I could actually do it. And it turned out that I made the right choice!"

"People starting to clap, following the rhythm of the music. Usually they just talk among themselves or focusing on their drinks, but this time, they actually pay attention to my playing… and then, when I'm about to leave the stage, it happened," Akira continued.

"What? What happened?"

"I realized that I was being closely watched by someone…."

Yuya mumbled. She knew where the direction of this conversation is going.

"Right, it was Kyo," Akira sighed. "He was there, standing with this black, formal kimono… Smoking… He was there to attend a cousin's wedding, and he got bored, so he went to the coffee shop. And he saw me! So he came up to me and asked if I ever considered playing in a rock band. With my piano."

"And you didn't say no…."

"Sure. I came to practice with them on the next day…," Akira replied. He took a deep breath. "Yuya, that was the greatest experience in my life! I finally meet my best friends and do something that I'd always dreamed of."

Yuya smiled. As a journalist, she had to interviewed a lot of people, and to hear them talking about their stories always gave this pleasant sensation to herself, and she always loved it. Until…

"Since then, Kyo became a very important person for me. He was a brother, a mentor… he inspired me a lot," Akira added, with this dreamy gaze in his bright blue eyes.

Yuya just did not like it. Of all the things she did not like about Kyo, the number one on her list is why people seemed to admire and adore him so much, despite of the fact that he always seemed to dominate his friends and mock her around. She started to fix her sitting position.

"Look, Akira. Actually, there's one thing that I just don't get. Why do you guys always seemed to adore and admire Kyo so much? That you don't even mind when he became…," she tried to find the right words. "Too dominant?"

Akira went quiet, and gave that thinking look again. "I don't know about the others. But to me, I found Kyo an inspiring person… as he allows me to express myself to the fullest. He allows me –and the other- to make our own music, and to put all our abilities to our work…," he answered. "He let us become ourselves. And to the full extent of it."

He slowly nodded, looking very certain about his belief.

Yuya could only wished if only she could see Kyo in such a positive way. Tora, Akira… all had their reasons to view Kyo as 'an inspiring person', and to let him do the things he do. But she just cannot see it. To her, Kyo was this arrogant, dominant, dirty, perverted person. Not an inspiration.

Suddenly Akira gave a starting look.

"Ah… Yuya! I bet you're really tired and you wanted to sleep, and I have kept you awake for a long time… I'm really sorry!" he said. Then he stood up and bowed. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to leave now."

Yuya hastily stood up. "No, seriously, it's OK…."

"I don't wanna disturb…," Akira muttered, starting to turn the doorknob.

"Well, if you really had to go then…," Yuya muttered. But suddenly she remembered something.

"Uhm… Akira, wait!"

Akira turned his head around. "Yes?"

"Anyway… uhm… when you first knocked my door… what did you try to escape from?" Yuya asked, playing with her fingers. "It looked as if you're escaping something."

Akira did not answered. Instead, he opened the door with a very red face. "Let's just say that… I have a very low tolerance against alcohol. And that every time I drink, I tend to…well," he sighed. "Embarrass myself a lot. Good night!"

The door was closed.

Later that night, Yuya laid herself to bed. She was tired, and the comfortable bed sheets started to pull her away to dream land. But her mind kept on wandering, still unwilling to rest.

Akira… the musical prodigy. Kyo's huge fans… she tossed and turned. But he was such a good guy though…

She rubbed her eyes, and found herself laid awake. Then she got up, turned on the table lights, and picked up her small notepad.

She checked all the thing she had written today, reading them out loud and talking to herself. "Unexpected behaviors… crazy fans… endless parties."

She continued to make notes. "Yet good music. And friendship, with trust in it," Yuya muttered. She looked slightly cynical. "Though I personally think it's unacceptable."

She went silent for a while, laying her head down on top of the notepad. Then she got up again, placing the notepad on the table, turning the lamp off.

The Shiseitens… indeed, a very interesting project.

While she drifted herself away into sleep, the party in Akari's room had moved to the hotel's swimming pool, where everyone started to jump in and went skinny-dipping in the middle of the night. As for Akira? He was successfully caught and thrown to the pool.