A/N: Hey, guys. I apologize for the late update since I've been a lot busier than I expected lately. Hopefully now I can have more time to write. This time, though, I think I got a little too carried away with my writing, and so I ended up writing a lot more than usual for one chapter, which was just supposed to be a quick interlude. As a result, I had to split the chapter in two. I hope that won't bother anybody.
Also, I don't think this story is going to be concluded any time soon. To be honest with you guys, I only planned for this story to be quick and light, but something suddenly inspired me by the time I was writing the fourth and sixth chapters, so it ended up as it is now.
Well, I guess I've shared enough so far. I hope you guys enjoy, and please do review, tell me what you think. :)
Chapter 7
Date Night, Part 1: Chicken Bumping
Sawako took a quick glance at her wristwatch as she sat on one of the benches in front of her apartment building while waiting for Haru and his family to pick her up. It was only six, though, a little early considering they agreed to meet at six-thirty.
She sat with her legs pressed together. She was still pretty nervous. She was going to meet Haru's brother his wife for the first time, and judging from the way he had talked to her before over the phone, Takahiro sounded like a pretty nice guy, but she still couldn't help but wonder if he was just that way because he was with his brother. Was he anything like Haru? Was he gallant? Was he obnoxious? Was he better? Or was he worse? Haru never really gave her a proper description of him. In fact, he has never really given her any decent description of each of the members of his family. All she knew was that he had a mother, a father, a sister, and a brother. That's pretty much it.
It wasn't long before she heard the sound of an engine coming her way, accompanied by lights getting brighter as the familiar vehicle got closer.
Haru pulled over right in front of where Sawako sat, much to her surprise, and lowered the window beside him, smiling upon making eye contact with his beautiful girlfriend. "I'm sorry, have you been waiting long?" He asked.
She stood up immediately, seeing a man who appeared in his late twenties along with a woman waving at her from behind the window at the back of the car. She blinked at first, but soon smiled back. It must have been Takahiro and his wife Alyssa. "No, not really." She said, turning to Haru again.
"Hop in, then." He urged, unlocking the door that led to the seat right beside him.
As soon as Sawako stepped in and sat down, Haru leaned in and greeted her properly by planting a quick kiss on her lips, causing her to blush. Until now, she still wasn't used to how affectionate Haru was, but for some reason he was in such a good mood considering the pretty crappy afternoon he has had.
Perhaps Yuji gave him a couple of chill pills to swallow before he went home.
Takahiro leaned forward with a lighthearted grin. "So, you're Sawako Yamanaka." He said. "Well, aren't you a fine woman. My brother certainly knows how to pick the good ones."
Sawako studied the man from head to toe. He had the same build and hair color as Haru, only his was darker and he was significantly taller. Unlike Takeharu, though, he seemed quite flamboyant, judging the way he dressed. He was wearing a dark suit but with no tie, with a pair of leather brogues. He also wore a Tag Heuer wristwatch to complete the ensemble. He looked positively dashing—but mostly just expensive.
She laughed nervously and blushed at his compliment. "Thanks, I guess. It's nice to finally meet you, Takahiro-san."
"Call me Hiro." He said, he then pointed to his wife. "And this is my amazing wife, Alyssa."
Alyssa greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, as if they were already close friends. Much like her husband, she also dressed quite expensively. She was only wearing a blue evening dress and a pair of velvet mules, but everything she wore looked just as expensive as what her husband wore. Sawako suddenly felt underdressed. "It's nice to meet you, Sawako, and please do excuse my husband. He gets really excited when he meets Takeharu's friends." She said, giggling. The way her voice sounded so cultured; not exactly British but definitely Ivy League.
They both looked like nice people, though.
Haru could only sigh quietly from where he was and proceeded to drive again. He took a quick glance at Sawako as he drove. "Fasten your seatbelt, sweetie."
Sawako looked down and noticed it herself. "Oh, right."
"So tell us about yourself, Sawako." Alyssa pried, causing Haru to frown. Here comes the interrogation. "Haru really hasn't told us that much about you besides the fact that you're his girlfriend."
"Yeah, he's really secretive about these things, I have no idea why." Hiro added, giving his little brother a mischievous look through the rear-view mirror.
Haru only glared back, daring him to go on.
"Well," Sawako looked up and actually thought of a decent way of introducing herself. These people could be her future in-laws, after all. She sat up straight before she spoke again. "I'm a music teacher at Sakuragaoka High. I used to play in a..." She suddenly stopped right then and there, mentally cursing herself for almost sharing the fact that she used to be a part of a death metal band. It certainly wasn't the kind of thing you'd share to get a good first impression. Haru quickly noticed this and chuckled quietly. "Er, I mean... I used to play the guitar, but that's pretty much it."
Hiro laughed inwardly. He really wasn't a lawyer for nothing. This girl was definitely hiding something, and whatever it was, it was probably something really embarrassing, or perhaps scandalous. He couldn't wait to expose it.
"That's amazing." Alyssa commented. "You know, Haru used to be into music too back when he was in high school. He played the bass, it was so adorable."
"Yeah, he told me about that. It's just too bad he doesn't play anymore." Sawako said, glancing over at Haru, who looked pretty occupied with his driving, as usual, when he was actually listening attentively to their conversation.
Hiro shrugged. "Yeah, we didn't know why he quit either."
"I decided it really wasn't my thing." Haru finally spoke up.
"Yeah, right." Hiro mocked.
Alyssa then clasped her hands together, as something suddenly came to mind. "Oh, by the way, how did you and Haru meet? That's what I'm most curious about." She said giddily.
Sawako giggled back at Alyssa's eagerness. She really knew how to make her feel like they've known each other for years.
Haru smiled just thinking about it, getting a bit nostalgic. It hasn't even been that long, but he was quite fond of the memories of when he first met Sawako and the first time they actually kissed that night at the Luca Label. The anniversary was already marked on the calendar in his mobile phone.
"It wasn't all that exciting, you see." Sawako said.
"Well, we'd still like to know." Alyssa replied, grinning. "Was it love at first sight? Haru is quite handsome." That compliment made the young man blush. Now he was even more curious about how Sawako was going to answer that question.
Sawako really wanted to just nod and say yes excitedly, but as much as possible, she wanted to stay poised, even though she completely agreed with it being love at first sight. "Well, I guess you could say that." She admitted calmly. "We just bumped into each other in front of the school one day. He kind of knocked me over and helped me pick up everything I dropped."
Alyssa couldn't help but let out a fond sigh. "Ah, that is such a classic!" She exclaimed. "Haru, you charmer! Being all polite and cute! When did you learn to move like that?"
"I just thought that was the right thing to do." Haru said, chuckling, keeping his eyes on the road. "She forgot one of the test papers, though, so I had to return it to her the next day myself."
"Oh, so it really was love at first sight!" Alyssa told Sawako.
"How can you tell?" She asked.
Alyssa turned to Haru. "You gave the papers to her personally the next day, right?"
"Yep. That's right." Haru nodded in and stole a glance at his sister-in-law via the rear-view mirror. "Is there a problem with that?"
Hiro realized what his wife was trying to say and joined in to her interrogation. "If that's the case, why didn't you just return it to the school and surrender it to someone instead of going through so much trouble?" He inquired, smiling impishly. "That is so unlike you, brother."
That actually made Sawako think about it for a moment. She then looked at Haru, and he glanced back with a nervous smile, getting all flustered.
Perhaps Alyssa was right. Maybe Haru already fell for her that day too.
After about an hour and a half of Alyssa and Hiro practically harassing Sawako with a bombardment of personal questions, the group finally arrived at Upper Heaven, one of the largest shopping malls in the country that stretched beautifully along the bay. The place consisted of four to five buildings interconnected by walkways, and was large enough to be considered a small city. They even had a huge bronze globe in the middle of the roundabout right in front of the main building that reminded Haru a lot about the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park back in New York.
Sawako stared up in awe as they slowly drove right past the gigantic globe. It really wasn't her first time here; she had been to Upper Heaven a couple of times before, only to sit by the bay and watch the sunset, since it was one of the best spots in town to just sit down, shut up, and watch the sun go down while having a good drink, even though the malls were crawling with the elite snobs of the country's higher society, kind of like Haru's family, only they weren't really that stuck-up. The experience was simple, but the feeling it gave was just wonderful. A lot of people did the same thing, just sitting there, drinking a can of soda or two (alcoholic beverages weren't allowed in the bay area, since people who've gotten drunk there have actually tried jumping on the rocks until they reached the water to swim with their clothes on). The bay was probably even a lot more popular than the malls themselves.
The mall was true to its name, though—Upper Heaven was a haven for the elite, housing the most expensive stores and restaurants in the country, most of which are from foreign countries.
The Sato brothers were no strangers to this place either, since it was one of their favorite hangouts when they were younger, and they'd usually spend their time playing at the open park by the bay, at the back of the mall.
"So, where do you guys want to go first?" Haru asked.
"How about you park this old thing first? Then we'll talk about it." Said Hiro, sitting back and tilting his head as he watched the scene outside the car.
"Actually, that's why I asked." Haru frowned. "This place has two parking buildings—north and south, in case you've forgotten, and it's pretty big, so we should park near our first destination so we wouldn't have to waste time walking."
Hiro groaned. "Oh, right." He then turned to Alyssa. "What about you, baby? Where do you want to go first?"
"What? Why ask me? This is my first time here." She giggled.
"Are you hungry?" Haru asked Sawako, trying to keep his eyes on the road. "How about we grab a bite to eat first?"
"Well, I haven't really had dinner yet." Said Sawako.
Alyssa nodded in reply. "Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." She said. "That way, we can shop with enough energy and without any interruptions."
It took a while before that registered into Sawako's mind. "What?" She suddenly asked. "Shop without any interruptions?"
The boys couldn't help but chuckle in unison, and Alyssa just smiled at her as sweetly as she possibly could. Alyssa liked talking as if shopping was her job. It wasn't much of a surprise, though, since the two of them both knew that she takes shopping quite seriously, even back in New York, and usually their shopping trips ended up with the two brothers being treated like bellboys, having to carry everything she buys, which is usually a lot. She was probably already a better shopper than she was a stockbroker. Well, girls will be girls, and Haru felt like Sawako was going to suffer with the boys, too. He just hoped she wouldn't drag Sawako too much into it.
"It's decided, then." Haru said. "Let me just find a good place to park."
Haru eventually found an empty slot and left his Innova at the north carpark building and soon the four of them found themselves walking along the bay, looking for a nice place to dine amongst the long dining strip of bistros and specialty restaurants that stretched all the way to the other end of the supermall.
Sawako held her boyfriend's hand as they both watched the large ferris wheel slowly rotating a still a little farther up. The music from the open hovered along the pathway and onto the darkened bay, where one of the yachts just passed by, and the lights that came from the park illuminated the area quite adequately. In fact, it may just be much brighter than the lighting from the shopping malls. Sawako found it simple, yet absolutely stunning, and it was even better now that Haru was with her.
Takahiro and Alyssa walked just a few steps behind the younger couple, and noticed the way Haru looked at Sawako—it was as if he didn't want to look at anything else. A little more and he could be drooling like a little boy. He held on to his girlfriend's hand as he put it in the pocket of his wool and cashmere pea coat to keep it warm, causing Hiro to smirk knowingly.
"So, Takeharu." He called, purposely pulling them out of their own little world. "Thought of a place to take these girls to yet?"
"I was kind of waiting for you to decide. You know this place better than I do, after all."
"But there are a lot of restaurants here that I like."
"Then just pick one." Haru sighed. "Jesus."
Hiro gave up and turned to Alyssa. "How about you, baby? Did you find any restaurant you'd like to try?"
"Oh, dear." Alyssa laughed. "You just want me to decide for you."
"Well, it's not like that. See, I don't really care where we eat, as long as you girls enjoy the place you choose." Hiro retorted with his signature debonair smirk.
Haru stared at his brother, then at Alyssa. Looks like she completely fell for it. Nice save.
"How about that place?" Sawako suggested, pointing up at a bistro along the dining strip, causing Haru and the others to follow her finger and look at where she was pointing.
The Sato brothers looked at each other and grinned. Sawako was pointing at one of their favorite hangouts at Upper Heaven—The Belle of the Boulevard, a bar and restaurant known for featuring locally renowned bands every Friday and Saturday. Although they weren't sure if it was still the way it was after all these years. A lot of things can change in such a time.
The four of them approached the settlement, hearing the sound of alternative rock and jazz music coming from inside. Well, at least their musical preferences haven't changed. Haru thought.
"You have good taste, Sawako." Said Hiro. "Haru and I used to come here all the time back when he was still in high school."
"Yeah, brings back a lot of memories, doesn't it?" Haru said.
Alyssa looked down and read the poster just by the front door; luckily for her, everything was written in simple English, although she could notice that some phrases were grammatically incorrect, which was a common mistake for the Japanese, anyway, so she really couldn't blame them. Besides, nobody's perfect. "Look. Apparently there's a live band playing tonight." She said.
Haru looked up at the notice board. The name of the band was written in Japanese, so Alyssa couldn't read it anymore. "Wow. Bump of Chicken." He said.
"Bump of what?" Alyssa asked.
"Bump of Chicken, dear. It's a local rock band." Said Hiro. He then turned to the others. "Looks like we're in luck. The guest performer's your favorite too."
Haru grinned in response. He looked over to Sawako. "Well?"
"Well, if you guys want to dine here, that's fine with me." She said. "I'm not really that picky."
Everyone then turned to Alyssa, causing her to flinch. "It's fine with me, too. It looks like a pretty nice place." She said. "Plus, the name of the band sounds… pretty funny. I like it."
"Hey, don't be like that. It's one of Haru's favorite bands growing up." Hiro laughed. "Now let's get inside already!"
They all nodded in unison and stepped inside the establishment, with the grouchy-looking security guard pushing the glass door open for them. It was still pretty early, but he looked like he was already having the worst day of his life. Haru just hoped that wouldn't jinx what was, so far, such a good date.
The interior of the Belle was quite 'burlesque' and elegant, but at the same time very 60's jazz and contemporary, decorated in deep shades of red and violets to impart that certain aura of relaxation as well as mystery to its customers. The vibrant bar area wears black and red stripes, and in the dining room, engraved glass panels rub shoulders with antique mirrors while hanging sconces pour pensively over crimson banquettes. The boys initially thought that the girls were going to find the place peculiar, but once they got inside, they were just amazed.
Haru was greeted by a cashier near the entrance. "Good evening, sir. What can I do for you?" She inquired, completely ignoring the other three.
"Table for four, please." He said. "And we're going to see the band."
Haru waited for the young cashier as she made loud typing noises on her keyboard and glanced down at her monitor. She then looked up at Haru again. "That would be 1,100 yen each, sir." She said. "Meals can be ordered once you are shown to your table."
Sawako walked over to his side with her wallet in hand. "How much is the entrance fee?" She asked him.
Haru just chuckled and held her hand. "No, that's okay. My brother and I are paying for everything tonight, so you can relax."
He then turned back to the cashier and gave her of his credit cards, and she swiftly punched the card though the machine and handed it back to him, along with four tickets. "Here." Haru said, handing one ticket to his girlfriend before walking back towards his group and giving them all a ticket each.
Sawako looked down and saw the price, almost dropping her jaw all the way to the floor. "Good grief. 1,100 yen?"
Hiro dropped a rather heavy hand on the teacher's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Miss Sawako." He grinned. "You're gonna have to get used to it, too. You're dating Haru, after all."
Before she could speak again, Alyssa grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along with her as the four of them went further inside, where they were greeted by a waitress. "Table for four, sir?" She asked Haru, once again completely ignoring the other three.
Haru was starting to notice this, and so he made sure he was holding Sawako's hand in plain sight before he answered. "Yeah."
The waitress cleared her throat before she led them further inside and ushered them to a table by the window, giving them a nice view of the bay as well as the small stage inside, where the crew from the bar were still setting up. It was still a good half-hour before the performance officially begins anyway.
As soon as everyone was seated, the waitress handed them all a menu booklet each, giving Haru a suggestive smile as she gave him his.
"Thanks." He said, curling up the corners of his lips to force a smile. "Choosing might take us a while, so why don't we just call you when we're done talking about our order?" He suggested.
"Of course, sir." The waitress replied. Thankfully she got the message.
The four of them eyed her as she purposefully strode away to take care of the other occupied tables, and as soon as she was out of sight, Haru let out a huge sigh in relief, causing his older brother to laugh at him.
He leaned in and grinned. "Still pretty popular with the ladies, I see."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Haru mumbled.
Alyssa looked at Sawako while the boys were talking, noticing that she looked more worried about ordering than the way the waitress just tried to hit on her boyfriend. Perhaps she didn't notice, or she just chose to ignore it. If that was the case, then thank God she wasn't the jealous type, or else there's going to be trouble.
Things like this just came with dating someone like Takeharu Sato. It was the same with Takahiro back when they were still just dating. Back then, it just felt like whenever the girls would catch a glimpse of the lawyer from Columbia, they'd fawn over him as if he were some sort of movie star—Hiro was just charismatic that way, and she was sure that the same thing went for his little brother. They definitely weren't that similar when it came to their personalities, but they were both handsome and charming in their own way, and of course, things like that inevitably and unfortunately attract a lot of ladies. Alyssa found it amazing that Sawako was smart enough to understand that. Looks like the girl just earned even more of her respect.
Haru leaned over to Sawako, spontaneously giving her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to jump a little. "What will you be having?" He asked. "And I don't want you going all diet-y on me tonight. You need to eat, eat, eat!"
Sawako scoffed. "You're one to talk!" She argued. She didn't even notice how Haru was being unusually merry. "Look at how thin you are!"
"I'm not thin!" Haru said with a little laugh.
"Yes, you are! You're probably already thinner than Ritsu, and that girl's already pretty thin herself."
"What? I'm not that thin." Haru then turned to Alyssa. "Am I?"
"Well, you have lost some weight, Takeharu. What have you been eating? Or what haven't you been eating?" Alyssa said.
Haru groaned in disbelief. "Come on, you too?" He laughed. "My muscles are just a little compact, that's all."
"Well, whatever diet you're taking, stop it." Said Hiro. "Or else you won't have any muscles left in you."
There was a short pause before all four of them burst out laughing. It was probably Haru's first sincere laugh in a while, and the first time he's laughed with his brother in years, much to his surprise. It was relieving, though.
But suddenly, their laughter was cut off by a pair of heavy, sweaty hands slamming against the table, grabbing the attention of all four of them. They all looked up in horror, but as soon as the Sato brothers recognized the middle aged man with a bald head and a beer belly standing right in front of them, surprised smiles suddenly began to surface on their faces.
He frowned down at them. "What the hell is with all this noise?"
"Masashi-san!" They yelled in unison as they stood up to give him a warm hug, causing the old man to laugh. The girls could only look up at them curiously.
The loveable old man known as Masashi Sakamoto, who was the owner of the Belle of the Boulevard, returned the greeting and ruffled the Sato brothers' heads as if they were still the little kids he remembered them to be, letting out a rather loud laugh. That actually made them feel like the young, stupid boys they once were, as if nostalgia just came charging and slapped them both right in the face. "When I heard that the Sato brothers were back in my bistro, I just had to come and see for myself." He said. He then looked up at Hiro. "You're still pretty much the golden boy, I see." He observed. He then turned to Haru. "And you've lost a lot weight!"
The old man called out to one of the waitresses. "Get us five Martinis here, will ya? On the house!" And almost immediately, another waitress rushed in front of their table with a tray in hand and distributed the cocktail glasses.
Sawako just laughed at the corner. Obviously she and Alyssa weren't the only ones who've noticed Haru's drastic weight loss.
Mr. Sakamoto, or Mr. Mash, as his regulars liked to call him, was a merry old man. He was bald and was quite short, and was wearing a black, double breasted suit. He had a loud laugh, and just like Haru, he was a musician. He was practically the boys' second father, since their own biological father usually couldn't tend to them that often. It's been more than half a decade since they've seen each other, so one could just imagine how happy the three of them were.
"You haven't changed a bit, Mr. Mash." Said Haru. "It's nice to see you're still running the Belle. I can't really imagine the place without you."
"Of course!" Laughed Mr. Mash. "This place is me. By the way, how did that engineering gig in New York go? Did you manage to finish it?"
Haru nodded proudly. "Yeah. It took me a while, though. I just recently finished."
"Oh, so you came to my bistro so you can brag about it, huh?" The old man laughed, ruffling the poor boy's hair again, causing him to laugh too. Mr. Mash then turned to Hiro. "What about you? I heard from Takumi that you studied to become a lawyer."
"A very handsome one at that, don't you agree, Mr. Mash?" Hiro grinned.
"And you still haven't changed, Takahiro." Mr. Mash said. He the noticed how Sawako and Alyssa were looking up at the three of them, listening to their rather boyish conversation and laughed in embarrassment. "Oh! We're being completely rude to these very beautiful women." He turned to the boys. "Are they your dates?"
"All right, back off, old man. That's my wife right there." Hiro laughed.
Haru smiled. "Yeah, and that's my girlfriend."
Mr. Mash couldn't help but cackle incredulously. He couldn't tell which news surprised him more: the fact that Hiro finally stopped his womanizing and got himself a wife—a foreign one at that—or Takeharu finally taking dating seriously enough to actually call a girl his girlfriend and look happy about it.
The boys really have grown up to be fine men, in both work and matters in relationships. Mr. Mash really couldn't be any prouder.
He extended a hand to Alyssa first, then Sawako, and they both gladly accepted the handshakes. "I'm Alyssa Sato." Said Alyssa, and Sawako also courteously introduced herself. "I'm Sawako Yamanaka. A pleasure to meet you, sir."
"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, ladies." Mr. Mash let his gaze linger on to Sawako. There was something about her that was quite familiar, he just couldn't figure out what it was.
The boys made their way back to their seats beside their respective dates while Mr. Mash grabbed a nearby chair and sat with them, stealing glances at the stage as he did so. He then looked over at Haru again and grinned. "What luck. Bump of Chicken's one of your favorite bands, right? By the way, kiddo, do you still play with your band?"
Haru shook his head as he took a sip from his drink. "Ah, no. Our last gig was before I left for New York, though I still played bass during college. I haven't seen them since we graduated high school."
"What about now?"
"I don't think I'm that rusty yet, but no, I don't play anymore."
"Aw, that's too bad. I was going to invite you to play again some time. You boys still have a number of fans here, you know."
"So I've noticed." Haru groaned.
"See, pops, the cashier and that cocktail waitress tried to hit on him earlier." Hiro explained with a laugh. "It was pretty damn hilarious."
Mr. Mash couldn't help but laugh too. "Ah, so that's it!" He said. "Good to know you haven't lost your lady killer traits, kid. It's a good thing your girlfriend here doesn't seem like the jealous type."
Sawako only giggled in response, and Haru held her hand with conviction. "Of course not, pops. We trust each other."
The old man nodded approvingly. "Well, that's good to know." Suddenly, the bartender called out to him, and he nodded to acknowledge that. He then stood back up, pushing his seat back and straightening his suit. He cleared his throat, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have a restaurant to manage. Ask for me if you need anything at all, and don't forget to stop by my office before you leave."
"Yes, boss." The boys said in unison.
"Again, it was nice meeting you girls." He told Sawako and Alyssa. "But, as much as I want to hear all about how these boys managed to entice you, I am a very busy man. Excuse me."
The girls just giggled in response.
The four of them watched Mr. Mash as he left and went straight to the back of the stage, assisting the members of Bump of Chicken as they arrived from the back door and started fixing their instruments onstage. Hiro and Alyssa went back to discussing what they wanted to order after Alyssa commented on how delightful the old man was while Haru poured all of his attention to watching the band set up. Sawako just looked down at the menu and tried to find the cheapest meal on the list, after being told that the Sato brothers were going to pay for everything for the night, but so far all she could see were names of food she has never heard of before and prices that were way beyond her reach.
Damn, these brothers sure know how to make remind a girl that she's poor and feel bad about it.
It wasn't entirely a bad thing, though. At least, whatever she was getting, she was going to get for free, though it did feel a little heavy on her conscience since Haru already paid her entrance fee. She didn't want to increase the weight of that debt any further.
"Something wrong?" Haru asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
Sawako shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I just don't know what to order. Can I just have whatever you're having?"
Ah, what the hell.
"Sure, I guess." He looked down at the menu Sawako was holding. "It's been a while since I've eaten here, so a lot of things may have changed about the menu. How about we play it safe with the, uh… Organic Chicken for Two?"
She looked up at him, and he just shrugged. "What? You told me I was thin."
"Okay, sounds good." She nodded favorably.
"All right, then." Haru then turned to Hiro and Alyssa. "What about you guys? Have you decided on anything yet?"
"Yeah." Said Hiro. "What about you?"
Haru only nodded in response.
Hiro waited a couple of seconds and looked at his brother, who was only staring at nothing, before it became ridiculous. He impatiently raised an eyebrow at his little brother. "Call the waitress so we can order, then." He directed.
"No, you do it." Haru whispered rather loudly, causing the other three to laugh again. They knew exactly why Haru was behaving like that, and Hiro understood, so he raised his hand to summon another waitress. He then affirmed their order, and after jotting everything down, she strode diligently back to the kitchen. All that's left to do now was to watch the band as they waited for their food.
The tapping of an open microphone was heard, causing everyone to turn to the stage. The band had just finished setting up and was about to play their first song. The stage lights were rather dim, but were arranged in a way that only the band was fully illuminated. The band vocalist, Motoo Fujiwara, smiled at the audience and said, "Good evening to everyone at the Belle. I hope everyone's having a good night so far." He lifted the microphone up so it was at the same level as his mouth. "We want everyone to have a nice drinking and dining experience while they're here, so I hope you guys don't mind if we played nice and slow."
Motoo turned to his bandmates to check if they were ready. After the three nodded back at him, he sat back on his stool and held on to his Fender Dreadnought acoustic guitar. Hideo, the drummer, counted up to four using his drumsticks and the band began playing the intro to the acoustic rendition of one of their most popular singles, which Haru recognized as the song Karma. The arrangement was a bit slower than the original, but they maintained the song's upbeat feel.
Haru glanced over at Sawako, who was smiling as she watched the band performed, mouthing the lyrics. It made him smile, seeing that she was familiar with the band and was having a good time watching them. Alyssa looked like she was enjoying the band too.
Though something hidden behind a curtain on one corner of the stage caught his eye. It was a left-handed Fender Jazz Bass 65, sitting right next to a red Fender Telecaster, which was also left-handed. Haru assumed that since none of the members of the band were left-handed, the instruments must have belonged to Mr. Mash. Haru remembered the old playing a little guitar, and joked a lot about how they were both left-handed.
"Maybe he's going to perform." Haru mumbled to himself. He took a quick sip from his martini until only the olive was left.
Sawako noticed this and put a hand on his lap. "Easy on the cocktail, sweetie."
"Yeah, sorry." He chuckled.
With one final chord, the band finished their second song, earning the applause of everyone dining inside the Belle of the Boulevard, with Hiro clapping his hands a bit louder than the others.
A waitress then came to their table, serving the appetizers which included some Maine lobster salad and some twice-baked upside-down comte cheese soufflé. Sawako looked down at the food; she has never really experienced this before, and now that she was about to, she was just thrilled.
As they prepared to eat, the band also prepared their next song. "Our next song is a cover of Porno Graffiti's Melissa." Motoo announced. Sawako looked up. It was one of her old favorites. "And as requested by the manager of this fine bistro, I'd like to invite a guest performer from the audience to do this with us."
Hiro turned to the others. "I wonder who it's going to be."
Haru just shrugged and tried drinking the little drops of martini left in his glass. "Beats me." He said. "Maybe it's Mr. Mash."
"I'd like to welcome to the stage Mr. Takeharu Sato."
Suddenly, the spotlight overhead swung across the room from Motoo to Haru, causing him to drop his cocktail glass on the table. Thankfully the fall wasn't that high so it didn't break. Haru couldn't believe what he just heard. He then looked over to Mr. Mash, who was standing by the cashier, giving him a wicked smile.
"That son of a…" He muttered.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Haru!" Alyssa said. "You should play!"
Haru resisted slapping himself on the forehead. Oh, you have got to be kidding me. As if he wasn't embarrassed enough. He looked around and saw the other customers at the Belle, who were all already looking at him, and from the looks of it, they were already gossiping about him. It even sent one table full of girls into a giggling frenzy.
Haru laughed and insistently shook his head. "No, I don't really play that well anymore. And I'm a leftie, so I really can't play Mr. Naoi's bass."
Yoshifumi Naoi, the band's bassist, couldn't help but laugh.
"We have a leftie bass on-stage!" Mr. Mash yelled from where he was.
"That settles it, then." Motoo laughed. He then turned to Haru again. "How about it, Takeharu-kun? How about stretching those bass fingers again? You might just enjoy it."
That made Haru actually pause to think about it, but just when he was about to finally decline the offer, Hiro began chanting his little brother's name. "Haru, Haru, Haru!" Soon Alyssa joined the cheer, then Sawako, and before he knew it, Haru's name was already being chanted by the entire restaurant.
He let out a deep sigh and finally stood up, leaving everyone to applaud for him. "Fine." He breathed out.
"Go for it, sweetie." Sawako cheered again.
Motoo threw his hand up. "Let's give Mr. Sato a round of applause!"
Haru just nodded, laughing and rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he made his way to the stage, to be greeted by the members of Bump of Chicken. Motoo was the first to greet him and shake his hand. "Glad you could join us, buddy." He told him.
"Yes, well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this opportunity, Fujiwara-san." Haru confessed. "I'm a huge fan of your band."
Yoshifumi handed him the left-handed bass sitting in the corner. "Here, Haru. Wait, can I call you Haru?"
"Yeah, of course. Call me anything." He laughed. "Thanks." Haru nodded as he flung the strap over his shoulder and plucked the strings rather sloppily for a little sound check after he plugged it into the nearby amplifier. Yoshifumi then left the stage and exited to the back, probably for a quick smoke.
Motoo leaned over to Haru. "You know the song, right?"
Haru nodded. "Yeah, more or less. I used to play it a lot back when I was still in high school." He said. "And it's one of my girlfriend's favorite songs." That was when something suddenly hit Haru, a splendid idea. He then leaned closer to Motoo, saying, "I might just be overdoing it, but I actually have a good idea. Could my girlfriend also play with us? She's an amazing guitarist."
"I guess we could arrange that." Motoo cleared his throat. He then turned to the audience. "Where is she anyway?"
"She was sitting right beside me."
"All right, then." Motoo then grabbed the microphone again and grinned. "I've been informed that Mr. Sato's girlfriend is in the Belle, is that right? Can we have the spotlight on her, please?"
The man in the lighting room as happy to oblige, pointing the spotlight to an embarrassed and flustered Sawako, who was panicking in her seat, trying to hide behind Alyssa.
"Can you come up on stage, please, ma'am?" Motoo urged, staring at her.
Sawako then reluctantly stood up and walked up to the stage, looking over at Haru first, then over to Motoo, who helped her ascend the small set of stairs. "Let's all give this beautiful young lady a round of applause." He called out to the audience, and they all clapped their hands. In return, Sawako just bowed. She couldn't believe she was standing in the same stage as one of the most popular bands in Japan.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Sawako. Sawako Yamanaka."
Hiroaki removed his guitar and handed it over to Sawako with a grin. "Here you go, miss." He said.
Sawako took a step back and blinked as she looked up at the band guitarist, putting a hand over her chest. "Excuse me?"
Mr. Mash watched the scene on the stage with the other waitresses and turned to one of them, whispering, "You know, that girl actually looks familiar. I think I've seen her before." He said. His employees could only nod back.
"Aren't you going to play?" Motoo asked her.
"No, it's… just, well…"
"But your boyfriend here told us you're an amazing guitarist, Yamanaka-san." Motoo said, hoping to convince her with an extra push.
Sawako looked over to Haru, who just grinned up at her from where he sat. A moment later, Hiro began chanting from his seat again, this time, "Sawako, Sawako, Sawako!" And all the other spectators chanted with him again. Sawako flinched as she looked around. The man was quite influential.
"All right, then." Sawako finally stopped resisting and took the guitar as well as the pick. She remembered being forced to play like this back at her batch mate's wedding reception a few months back, but fortunately tonight she didn't have to unleash the inner devil. She's only going to play Melissa, after all. It wasn't even a Death Devil song, so she had nothing to worry about, and there wasn't a part of the song that held the possibility of making her go wild. She sat beside Motoo, on his right, and opposite to Haru, who was sitting on his left.
After seeing that the two of them were ready, Motoo took the microphone again. "All right, let's clap our hands again for this beautiful couple."
And so they did.
Motoo nodded at Hideo, and the drummer tapped his drumsticks again four times. Haru opened the song with its signature bass intro, performing it almost flawlessly, and Sawako started strumming as soon as Motoo sang the opening chorus. The sound they made was so smooth and fluid, almost perfect, prompting the audience to clap their hands for them again.
Hiro nodded to the beat as he listened. He leaned over to Alyssa. "Now that's what I call making beautiful music together." He joked.
"They're just perfect for each other." Alyssa replied.
The two of them kept listening, completely tuning out the drummer and the vocalist and focusing only on Haru and Sawako. Sawako looked like she was having a great time, effortlessly playing the riffs while smiling down at the guitar she was holding. The way she played made handling the guitar look so easy. Haru, on the other hand, looked a little too uptight while he played, which was a rare sight. He was biting his lip, looking only at the neck of the bass and nervously pressing the strings. He didn't sound like he was making any mistakes, though. He just looked really nervous.
Perhaps he really wasn't kidding when he said he didn't play anymore, or maybe it was just because he was performing with his favorite band that it made him wobbly.
After the chorus after the second verse was sung, Haru was given a chance to perform another short solo, ushering in the song's memorable guitar solo that Sawako was just about to play. That moment, all of the lights focused on her as she effortlessly plucked the strings, completely nailing the adlib. It was relatively easy, but everyone in the bistro thought it was just absolutely amazing and cheered again.
It made Motoo grin as he sang, and after the final chorus, they ended the song with a bang, clapping his hands as soon as they strummed the final chords, causing the crowd to give them a generous round of applause.
"Takeharu Sato, everybody!" Motoo cheered over the microphone. "And the lovely and very talented Sawako Yamanaka! Give them a hand, give them a hand!"
Sawako just bowed and laughed bashfully as she handed the guitar back to its owner. Haru also did the same and walked to where Sawako was with a proud grin, kissing her on the forehead for everyone to see.
Eventually the place settled down again when Haru and Sawako went back to their table and were greeted by Alyssa and Hiro, who really couldn't be any more pleased than they already were. Haru pulled the chair for Sawako before he sat down himself, trying to ignore the other two, who were both still staring at them.
Alyssa leaned over to Sawako. "You were simply amazing back there, Sawako!"
"Yeah, the way you played looked totally graceful." Hiro added. "You made Haru here look like such an idiot when he was playing his little bass."
"I told you, I don't play anymore." Haru pouted.
"That was a nice performance, you two." Mr. Mash praised as he returned to their table, laughing as he placed a hand over his belly, leaning with his hand against Haru's chair.
Haru frowned up at him. "You sneaky old man."
"Hey, you owe me big time, kid! I just requested for you to play with your favorite band. You should be thanking me." Mr. Mash joked.
"Yeah, except that totally came out of nowhere." Haru insisted. "You could have at least warned me. And I just told you I don't play anymore."
Mr. Mash just laughed. "You looked like you were having a lot of fun, though." He then turned to Sawako. "And you, little lady. You looked like you were having the most fun back there. That was some sick guitar handling. I've never seen anything like it!"
Sawako was embarrassed, and could only giggle. "It's not that great, sir." She said. "Like Haru, I really don't play that much anymore."
"Oh, well, that's too bad." Said Mr. Mash. "Where'd you learn to shred like that, though?"
"It's a high school thing. It used to be a hobby of mine."
"Well, you two should gather more members and start your own band."
That made Haru laugh rather loudly. His hand flew to his stomach as he did. "That's crazy talk, Mr. Mash. Don't you think we're a little too old for that?"
Mr. Mash just shrugged. "Well, that didn't stop Madonna."
The four of them nodded like-mindedly. Touché, old man. Touché.
"You know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, Takeharu." Hiro added. "The old man might be on to something."
"Hey! Who are you calling old?" Masashi growled.
Haru just chuckled incredulously, as if trying to laugh that crazy idea off might actually make them stop talking about it. "Maybe in a million years, pops." He said with a laugh. Sawako just looked up at him. He was doing that thing again where he was laughing too much. He must really dislike Mr. Mash's suggestion.
Finally feeling defeated, Mr. Mash let out a sigh. "Well, if you ever change your mind, I happen to know a guy. Don't let such talent die out."
Sawako nodded and smiled in response, while Haru grabbed a roll and quickly shoved it into his mouth to give himself an excuse for not talking. All that bass playing made him hungry, but mostly he just didn't want to talk.
She watched as Mr. Masashi went back to tending his restaurant. Perhaps it really wasn't a bad idea. It's just too bad she's over playing and singing.
Or was she?