Hey guys, it's Anya! Sorry that I haven't updated for awhile (I should be saying that about my other three fanfiction... hehe... .), but I've been really inspiration dead. I had a hard time figuring out how to get Amu to the oncert and such, and I ended up writing this chapter about five times. This is the best I could come up with to get her to the concert, and I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, some people were talking about how they missed Ikuto. I miss him too! But don't worry, he'll be back soon!
Important:
I have a lot of ideas for this fanfiction and my other fanfiction, but I have a huge geometry exam that will take part on Wednesday and Thursday. I have to study really hard, because this exam is one of my two chances to get my 10 credits for the past year I've spent in geometry. So once Thursday passes I'll have spring break and I'll be able to write a ton! So hopefully I'll be able to get all four of my fanfiction updated then!
CLAIMER:
I own DEMNO, their songs, and the band members! DEMNO is a pure creation of myself, so don't go stealing them!
Sorry for the long intro, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Sixteen
"Yo, Ikuto!" Akatsuki ran up from behind and put his arm around Ikuto. Ikuto felt his heart sink a bit; Akatsuki's hyper activity was something he could never seem to get used to. If that was so, why were they best friends?
"What do you want, Akatsuki?" Ikuto asked with a bitter tone while closing his eyes.
Akatsuki cleared his throat and explained quickly, "There's going to be a concert tonight, want to come?"
Ikuto gently pushed Akatsuki's arm off of his shoulder and opened his left eye to look at Akatsuki. He asked, "Who's playing?"
Shuffling excitedly through the messenger bag Akatsuki always carried around to hold various things, he answered, "It's a new band made up of four people. They're about our age, except one's a year older and the other is three years older." After rambling on he pulled out four tickets and said, "They're called DEMNO. I heard they're supposed to be an awesome band."
Opening up both of his eyes, he got a better look at the tickets. The tickets were maroon with black, English calligraphy letters that stated the band's name with a white stub on the end which stated the time, place, and date.
Raising his left eyebrow he replied, "So you want to go see a band that you've never heard of before?"
"Nami said they're supposed to be an awesome band!" Akatsuki stated, referring to his girlfriend.
Ikuto sighed and replied, "So is Nami coming?"
"Yup!" Akatsuki replied with a large, goofy smile on his face.
A question popped into Ikuto's head, he asked, "Who's the fourth ticket for, then?"
"Don't know." Akatsuki replied. "Do you have anyone you want to invite?"
A face popped into Ikuto's mind, the face of a young girl with honey colored eyes and bubble gum pink hair with a bored expression on her face. Though the thought was tempting and the opportunity had arisen, he decided it would not be the best idea to invite her. For one thing, she was only thirteen and it would be odd to have three eighteen year olds and one thirteen year old, especially since Akatsuki and Nami might look at him as a pedophile. Another problem was that she would probably never agree to it. The teenager was one of the coldest people he had ever met, next to himself.
"No not really." Ikuto replied in his apathetic tone.
"What about that girl from the hospital?" Akatsuki thought aloud. "What was her name… her name was Amu-chan or something, right? You two seem to be pretty close."
Ikuto closed his eyes and sighed. He replied, "Akatsuki, I barely know the girl. Plus, she's only thirteen. Just tell Nami to bring one of her friends."
As if he were thinking, Akatsuki's eyebrows drew closer together. His eyebrows went back to normal and he gave a huge goofy smile. He agreed, "All right. I'll pick you up at about six thirty, okay? See you then!"
Akatsuki ran off again. Ikuto sighed as he watched his friend leave. Ever since he had gotten his cast taken off back in the end of April he had been ecstatic and twice as hyper than before the accident ever since. Ikuto let a small frown cross his face. It had been about three months since he had last seen or talked to Amu. He began wondering whether or not she was okay and if she was smiling more often. The last three times he had met with her she had only smiled once, and that was over seven years ago.
Grimacing at himself, Ikuto tried to get his mind off of Amu. He was eighteen; she was thirteen. The five year age gap was too big for them. Besides, why was he thinking about these kinds of things? He could have any girl he wanted in the blink of an eye. Why did this little thirteen year old girl concern him so much? He turned around in the opposite direction in which Akatsuki had run off in and began walking.
That night was going to be a long night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~
"Yoo-hoo, Amu-chi!" An excited Yaya greeted me. I was extremely excited for the concert, and it seemed like the members of the student council were excited, too.
"Hey." I greeted the student council as I approached them.
It was strange seeing everyone in average street clothing. Nagihiko and Tadase dressed in a casual, yet sophisticated manner; Kuukai dressed in sporty, everyday apparel; and Yaya dressed in a stylish, yet somehow child-like style. I, on the other hand, was dressed in my usual gothic-like attire. Everyone looked so different out of their uniforms, it was strange to see.
"The concert looks like it's about to start, shall we go inside?" Tadase offered. I never really realized until now, but Tadase always looked somewhat tired. Being the student council president in elementary school never seemed to make him this tired, but now it seems like the student council work in middle school was a lot harder.
We had met right outside the entrance to the concert. There were all sorts of people here. There were parents, small children, teenagers like us, people in their early twenties, and so on. It was so amazing that DEMNO had such an audience. They seemed to be a really cool band, and they must sound good if they could attract this kind of diverse crowd. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I hadn't listened to any of their songs yet?
Inside the concert hall we immediately came into contact with tons of stands. Food stands, souvenir stands, and a stand where you could buy the band's latest album. Once again we were met by a crowd of people of all ages. I was surprised that this many people were into the same band.
"Amu-chan, are you okay?" Nagihiko waved his hand in front of my face.
I blinked a few times and replied, "Yeah, just a little overwhelmed."
Nagihiko chuckled, "You've never been to a concert before. Have you?"
I shook my head and said, "No, this is my first."
We decided not to get food and walked over to the entrance of the area where the concert would actually be taking place. The man checked our tickets, and told us that we need to hold on to them if we want a chance at win anything from the raffle. We took our seats which were right in the middle of a huge auditorium. The rows of seats elevated upwards so that everyone could get a good view, and the seats seemed like they would never end. When we had finally taken our seats it was about seven fifteen; the concert started at eight.
While we waited, Yaya spoke excitedly to Tadase. It really seemed like the two made a cute couple. Yaya was very hyper and childish, while Tadase was very patient and kind. The two matched each other well. Nagihiko and Kuukai ended up talking about the latest basketball game. It seems that our school's team won by a landslide. I was sitting by myself most of the time, listening to everyone's conversations. Somehow, it was pretty fun just to watch people interact. Since I was planted right in-between Yaya and Kuukai, I was able to listen to both conversations without much of a problem.
Eventually, I hoped that I would be able to speak comfortably with others like how Yaya can speak with Tadase and how Nagihiko can speak with Kuukai. Sometimes it made me feel a bit lonely, the way that I chose my loner lifestyle awhile back, but I had seemed pretty content up until recently. My heart began feeling warm as I thought of how eventually I would have close friends and we would go to concerts and have fun on the weekends. It sounded like a lot of fun.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I looked up to the stage, taken aback by the male voice that was echoing throughout the auditorium. Before I knew it, the forty-five minutes had already passed and the concert was already starting. "I would like to present to you: DEMNO!"
Four people walked out onto stage while the audience began screaming and shouting. I saw the four band members just as they looked on the picture that Yaya had shown me. Except now I could see their entire bodies. Hally was the shortest of the group, and she looked like she was only fifteen years old, but she was actually about eighteen. She was wearing the same top as she wore on the picture I saw of her with a maroon double ruffle skirt with black lace around the edges, a pair of mid-thigh high black socks, and a pair of black hiking boots. Ali was the second shortest of the group, but she actually looked like she was eighteen. She was wearing the same attire as Hally, except that she wore the opposite colors of Hally. The black parts of Hally's outfit were the maroon parts of Ali's outfit and the maroon parts of Hally's outfit were the black parts of Ali's outfit. Ren was the tallest of the entire group, and he looked like he was a lot older than twenty-one years old. He was wearing the same top that he had in the picture with black skinny jeans and a pair of maroon sneakers. Nate was in-between Ali's and Ren's height, and he was wearing the same top from the picture with a pair of maroon skinny jeans and a pair of black sneakers. All of the band members look really cool.
"Hi everyone, how are you guys tonight?" Hally spoke into the microphone with confidence and happiness. Her voice sounded like cheerful chimes rather than just words. She was standing at the front of the stage while Nate stood to her left with his black guitar, Ali stood to her right with her white bass, and Sean sat in the back with his black and maroon drum set. I may be giving a late observation, but it seemed that their band colors were maroon and black.
With her words, the crowd went off into a set of cheers. Different things like confessions of love and wishing them good luck could be heard from the audience. If I were up there, I would definitely be blushing, but Hally seemed to be used to it.
"Are you guys ready to hear some music?" Nate spoke into his microphone this time; his voice was scratchy, making his voice sound really cool. He seemed to be filled with even more confidence than Hally was. Once again the crowd went into an uproar. Girls were squealing cheers and confessions of love to Nate as he stood there with his smile of confidence.
"All right, let's get started!" Hally smiled brightly and punched one fist into the air.
Ren began a countdown with his husky voice, "Three."
Ali continued the countdown with a voice that was very cool and sophisticated, "Two."
Then all of the band members said together, "One."
As Ali began the song with her bass, Sean followed about ten seconds afterwards, beating his drums rhythmically. They were into a pretty solid tune when Nate finally joined them in with his guitar. They all looked so focus on what they were doing. Hally closed her eyes once the music had started, and she seemed to be intently focused on getting the beat just right. Once a certain string was brushed on Nate's guitar, she opened her eyes and began to sing.
My heart is like ice
I never meant to be so mean
Especially when you were so nice
My heart has been wavering
It can't find a steady beat
For love was never my thing
It was like it gave me no choice
I was taken aback by the lyrics. They seemed to speak out and relate to me so well. Lately my heart had been wavering, and it seemed as if I had no choice because of my wavering heart. It was amazing how the song seemed to speak out to me. Even the chorus was symbolic to my emotions.
I left you
For the starless night
My life has spiraled downward
I swear this isn't life
Where are you?
Where did I go?
I wish I hadn't paid this price
For now I know
What I couldn't easily show
Hally's voice was truly angelic. It was singing with such passion and it seemed like she was trying to get a message across. Was she also feeling like this? Am I not the only one who feels like this?
You were always there for me
But never me for you
How could this be?
There was nothing I could do
I refused to believe it
I had never once felt like this
Until I met you
A face popped into my mind at that moment. It was the face of an eighteen year old male with navy blue hair that was chopped into all sorts of neat, yet messy layers and deep sapphire eyes. Ikuto? Why was my mind thinking of Ikuto at this time?
The chorus kicked in again, giving me time to think. Why was I thinking about Ikuto? It's not like I had any connection with him that would lead me to think about him. I hadn't thought about him in the past three months, so why was I thinking about him now?
Why must I be this way?
Love is all I want
Yet it's what I fear the most
No way
Not in hell
I cannot believe myself
What will I do?
As the chorus began playing again, I felt myself feeling sort of bad about what I did with Ikuto. He truly had done nothing wrong, so why was I shutting him out? He helped cheer me up when I was six years old, he gave me a shoulder to cry on back in the beginning of April, and he even gave me a place to stay when my father randomly showed up. So, if he was being so kind to me, why was I being so cruel to him? The song corresponded to how I felt about Ikuto in so many different ways. And as the chorus began to play through a second time, I realized that this song represented how I was feeling. I was wavering, the promise I made so many years ago had been wavering. I thought that I had finally found out what I had been feeling when the last line of the song played:
I've fallen in love with you
Anger slightly rose up within me. No way in hell was I in love with Tsukiyomi Ikuto. Now I was positive why I was pushing Ikuto away. He was an eighteen year old pervert who chased after thirteen year old girls. No way in the world was I going to be friends, fall in love with, or having anything to do with a guy like that!
A few more songs played, and I had forgotten about my dilemma with the first song that the band had played. It was when their tenth song was over, that Hally began speaking again.
"Well, the first half of our show seems to be over." She announced, while moans of how they didn't want the concert to end echoed throughout the audience. "But now, I have to announce that we'll be having a raffle!" This seemed to cheer people up. The audience began cheering again, and two men dressed in all black brought out a machine that had seven small black screens on it. "Thank you." Hally thanked the men quickly as they left the stage. "Ren, would you like to tell everyone what they'll be winning?" Hally slipped her microphone out of the stand and looked back to the drummer.
As if he were reluctant, Ren came out from behind the drum set and took the microphone from Hally. He said in a cool, husky voice, "Five people will win an mp3 player."
"That's right!" Hally spoke cheerfully as if she were a game show host. When I thought about it, the Hally that was speaking seemed different from the Hally who sang the songs about heartache and trying to move past obstacles. "Five lucky winners will win an mp3 player with the band's logo on it and all of the songs from our two albums will already be downloaded onto it. That's a total of twenty songs!"
Once again, cheers were sent throughout the crowd. A lot of people seemed like they wanted to win. I didn't really mind whether or not I won, especially since I wasn't a real fan of the band. Some people here were completely dedicated to this band, coming to every show and buying all of their CDs.
"Ali, do you want to call out the numbers?" Hally looked over to the bassist.
Ali walked up to the machine and Hally handed her the microphone. Hally pressed a button on the top of the machine and the seven small screens flashed. "Everyone, be sure to take out your tickets and see if your numbers correspond with the numbers here. If you won an mp3 player, come backstage before the second half of the show and present your ticket to them." Ali explained in a sophisticated monotone.
The numbers on each screen swirled in a bright green. While the numbers were swirling I took out my ticket and looked at the numbers: 24-527-14. The numbers seemed pretty random, so I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to win.
Hally pressed the button again and the number 3 popped up. I didn't bother to listen to the rest of the numbers, since I obviously wasn't going to win. The second time, the first number was the number 2, but the second number was also the number 2. Once again, I was positive that I wasn't going to win. It wasn't until the fourth time, that I began to get hopeful.
Ali called out the first number, "Two." Hally pressed the button again and Ali called out the second number, "Four." I looked down at my ticket, two numbers in a row was a new thing. The next number was called out, "Five." My heart skipped a beat. I was getting too hopeful; I knew I wasn't going to win. Ali called out the fourth number, "Two." I felt my heart beating faster and my palms began getting sweaty. I was sort of excited now. I wanted to win. The next number was called, "Seven." My mind was focusing on my ticket, making sure that the numbers were correct. As Ali called the next number, I got excited, "One." My mind was shouting out the number four. I wanted to win so badly. It would be a token of my first concert ever. "Four" was the last number called.
My heart almost stopped. I couldn't believe that I actually won the mp3 player. It was probably something silly to get excited over, but I just couldn't help it! I had never won anything in a raffle my entire life, so this was quite exciting for me.
"Hinamori, did you win?" Kuukai looked over at my ticket, since he noticed that I wasn't paying attention anymore.
"Oh… yeah…" I shuffled nervously, not so sure what to do.
"That's great, Amu-chan!" Nagihiko smiled at me. I looked down at my ticket; Nagihiko did win these tickets in the first place. Didn't he really deserve the mp3 player?
"Nagi, do you want the mp3 player? These were originally your tickets after all…" I really regretted saying that, but it seemed like I would be acting selfish if I didn't.
Nagihiko shook his head and replied, "You won it, Amu-chan. You should probably hurry up and get your prize before the second half starts."
My brain dinged. I had completely forgotten. Then I realized something that was pretty important. "But I don't know how to get backstage…"
Kuukai stood up and said, "I'll take you. Hinamori, let's go."
I shook my head and we walked through the crowd of people. Their eyes were on us, since they probably realized that either Kuukai or I had won. Some people were saying that I was lucky and that they wished they had won, which I actually agreed with. I was lucky. In this stadium filled with thousands of people, I was one of the five people who had won.
Kuukai and I walked through the lobby which we had entered through. I could see another girl walking over towards the place which I thought was the backstage area. She looked like she was about seventeen years old or so. I was amazed that only five people had won the mp3 player, and that she and I were two of them.
"Why couldn't Nami get the mp3 player herself?" I heard a familiar voice ask.
"She wanted to talk with Hikari about something in private. Besides, I don't really mind. I need to get up and move around, anyways." Another familiar voice replied.
"And I had to come because?" The other voice asked in an annoyed tone.
I looked over to my right. A little further ahead of me I could see the backs of two familiar heads. One was covered with brown hair and the other was covered with navy blue hair. It was two people whom I thought I wouldn't seem for a long time. That's right, they were the two eighteen year old boys, one who had sent my heart on a wavering journey and the other one who was his best friend: Ikuto and Akatsuki.
Gasp! Akatsuki and Ikuto are at the concert and they're going backstage, the same place that Amu is going! What will Amu do when she crosses paths with the two boys? Stay tuned for chapter seventeen: My Wavering Heart.
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I really need reviews to keep me going!