Disclaimer: We don't own Gravitation!

Chapter 3

*

This whole situation was nothing but a bother to me. I was cold, I should have been home writing, and that irritating woman that called herself my editor was going to have a fit once she realized I was gone. Once again, I was going to miss my deadline, and on top of that, I was not in the mood to listen to that little hypocrite's excuses about why he was late. He was the one who called me out here in the first place.

I sighed. Sometimes I felt like I could just do everybody a favor and introduce him to Tokyo's famous hospitals, or better yet, the morgue.' I need a smoke before I do something I regret, like beating up the first person that crosses my path.'

…' Damn it, why did you have to break too? Stupid lighter! Whose the hell's side are you on anyway?' I thought furiously as I threw my lighter against the pavement. This in turn made about 15 people who were standing in line to turn their attention on me. I was regarded skeptically and their facial expression clearly read, "What the hell is his problem?", but I really didn't care. My only concern was that my night was getting worse by the minute, and that idiot was nowhere to be seen. I was lucky nobody recognized me. The last thing I needed was fans attacking me, and having to put on a stupid smile to charm everyone like I did on my book signing tours, just to save my sanity and life. I still couldn't believe there were people who bought my novels because they seemed real to them. There was no such thing as true love; nobody was going to sacrifice their life for you just because of a stupid concept such as love. These days, there were only two important things: money, and sex. I guess my novels were some sort of an outlet for this, but it was stupid to believe that life was all fluffy and pink. That's why I would never write a happy ending. I needed to keep a bit of reality when it came to them.

Now, back to the real world; what the hell was taking so long? Where was he? I was at my limit. Any moment now, I felt like I was going to explode, especially since I know he will pop out of nowhere and sprout some pathetic excuse about work. It always manages to piss me off.

"Gomenasai, Eiri-san. Something came up at NG, and I had to attend to it. I'm so sorry you had to wait for me for so long."…Like I said, pathetic. This was the man Tohma Seguchi, the famous NG president, really was. Oh man of many faces, I lost count at around a thousand. He was the type of person that only cared about making things go his way; a true manipulative bastard with no regard towards anyone, no matter how close they were to him. I couldn't help wondering what he wanted this time.

"Shall we go in?" this statement was followed by that sickly sweet smile of his that always made me wish I had never met him.

"Not before you tell me why you called me here out on a night like this, and you better have a damn good reason for it."

"It's not anything specific; I just want your impartial opinion."

"Since when do you care what I think? And anyway, what do you need it for?"

"If you'll just follow me, everything will become much clearer. Now please come inside, it's about to start."

I don't know what possessed me, but I followed him inside. Maybe it was curiosity, but one thing had to be made straight: the day Tohma Seguchi asked for help was a day worthy of being marked in the calendar. Said problem must be either a very difficult one, or was really simple and he was complicating it too much and couldn't see the answer in front of him. I wonder what it is?

**

I never liked Zepp Tokyo. No, that wasn't right. What I really hated were the pathetic singers that performed here, or at least attempted to. They tried to impress the public with badly written lyrics, and a horrible melody in the background that expressed absolutely no feeling whatsoever. They were not worthy of calling themselves artists. They were only cheap copies of what true talent and devotion meant. An outsider (with the minimum knowledge of what music was all about) could see the difference between a potential talent and a waste of time. A true artist sent a wave of emotions towards the public, and even if involuntarily, he expressed what he felt through his music and gave 110% while performing without waiting for something specific in return. They would be satisfied with something simple, like a smile. That's what it took to survive in this industry, right?

While I was thinking all those things, I light up a cigarette. Tohma arranged for me to be able to smoke inside, which suits me just fine. I couldn't be bothered with going outside every time I wanted a cigarette. And lord, did I need one now. On stage there was a band 'performing'. They were the opening act for Bad Luck. After the joke was over…I mean, after they left the stage, I could feel my curiosity growing inside of me.

"Alright, are you going to tell me why I'm here or not?" I asked in a very cold voice, which probably managed to drop the temperature in the room by a few degrees. I saw a few people in front of me putting on their jackets.

"Do me a favor and check out the band that is up next. Excuse me, but I need to go use the facilities."

Of all the times for him to want to use the toilet, why did he have to go now?...As soon as he left, I reluctantly turned my full attention towards the stage.

***

How in the hell could you stumble on the stage like that, and miss your intro on top of that? Was this supposed to be a sick joke? The kid was lucky that the guitarist managed to cover him up without anyone really noticing. It just goes to show you, not everyone was born to be on stage, but the song was pretty good, for it was sending something out there. They obviously still needed work on stage attitude and presentation; of course, the music also needed a little work, and don't even get me started on the lyrics. I never thought I'd hear such crap on stage. It was zero, parallel to the feeling it was supposed to send.

"What do you think about them Eiri-san?"...In the meantime, Tohma returned and I felt myself watched like a lab rat in the middle of an experiment.

"Stop looking at me like I'm something to eat!"

"Gomen…I was just curious of what you thought about the band. At the one before, you looked like you could throw a chair at them. Or, at least the first person you could grab (That person being me.)"

"From what I can remember, I was the picture of calmness. Now do you mind telling me what exactly you want from me?"

"I want your opinion on Bad Luck."

"To be blunt, they are pretty good. But, they still have a lot to work on, especially when it comes to lyrics."

"That I have noticed. Anything else?"...what else did he want from me?

"There is something missing, I just can't put my finger on it…maybe another instrument. It doesn't look like the guitar can take the whole blow."

"What instrument do you have in mind?"….My last statement brought a smile on his face; that meant it was what he wanted to hear.

"You know better than me. Last time I checked, you were NG' president, not me."

"Thank you, Eiri-san."

And with those parting words, he just upped and left. Typical.

Bad Luck? A less creative name I haven't had the misfortune of hearing before, but I had to admit I was curious as to whether they would fulfill their dream. Are they willing to take all the risks and sacrifice everything to get where they want? Only time will tell.

I guess it's worth looking into…plus, that singer looks awfully familiar, I wonder if we met before?