WARNINGS: drunk behaviour

Kai couldn't look away from the hopeful faces of the girls as they sat staring at him; their eyes seemed glassy, like any moment if he said no they'd start crying. Even the other guys were staring at him, which wasn't helping the situation, and it really made him feel out-numbered no matter what he did or said. Finally he sighed and slouched in his chair in defeat – clearly he had to be the one to go and speak to their manager.

"Alright, fine … I'll go and see if I can find him".

He then pushed back the chair and forced himself out of it before walking away into the crowd of people to try and find the bands manager. The rest of the guys smiled to the girls, who returned the smile to them – also crossing their fingers under the table just for extra luck. Suddenly Ruki noticed a quick, bright flash coming from somewhere and a funny clicking sound. He glanced around wondering what it was but couldn't see anything. Uruha wondered what he was doing.

"Hey, what are you looking for? Kai's already gone to see our manager".

"Hmm … no, it's not that … oh, nothing …"

He turned around to smile briefly at Uruha before directing his attention back to the girls – no one else seemed to have noticed the flash and the sound so he disregarded it.

"Well, if all goes well, it shouldn't be a problem to let you watch us practice … but I warn you, sometimes the practices can get a bit boring. It's much less energetic, there's hardly any stage lighting and we stop and start a lot … especially when something doesn't sound right".

"Oh yeah, we have you to thank for that!"

Aoi butt in, nodding in Ruki's direction but before Ruki could retaliate, Reita started up again.

"Yataa! Let's have a party! Who cares if there's no fancy bloody lights or banners up on the walls? We're the GazettE; we can turn any boring hall into a party zone!"

Suddenly he appeared to notice something behind the girls and he abruptly stood up, almost sending his chair flying. The girls were once more giggling at him.

"Ne, they're bringing in some sweets! I don't like many sweets but I see some cake with my name on it! Does anyone want anything?"

"Oh, me, me, me! I want something! A large Manju bun with roast pork in the middle! But if they don't have any then just a slice of sponge cake with cream. Your not the only one who can see cake over there!"

"Hey, I called the cake first!"

Uruha, Ruki and Aoi laughed at Reita – you couldn't deny he was definitely enjoying the after party. Give him a few beers and he was the life of the party; Uruha would have been too if he hadn't become so interested in talking to the girls now. And it was also clear, as the girls kept laughing at Reita too, that they had loosened up a fair bit since they first arrived – they were truly enjoying themselves. While Mika was laughing, Ruki watched her face as her eyes shone with joy – he'd never noticed this about anyone else before and it really made him feel light-hearted. He was determined to know more about her because he knew that night wasn't going to be enough time. For the moment though he just wanted to let her feel comfortable around him simply by being near him. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard everyone giving their requests to Reita.

"Ah, can you get me a piece of chocolate cheesecake? Oh, and with a big scoop of mint ice cream on top. And I mean big!"

Aoi ordered and just as Reita was walking past him to head for the dessert trolley he lifted up one foot to push Reita's backside. Ruki and Uruha laughed to themselves at the little stunt Aoi pulled on Reita; he certainly wasn't hiding his character from the girls. But you had a right to say you have to act your age all the time? Even Ai laughed at him because she liked him more when he was being silly. Aoi then looked at Ai.

"Quick, you'd better order something before he forgets. If you like chocolate go for the cheesecake!"

Ai scrunched up her nose in thought while looking at the different trays of sweets, trying to decide what to have. Finally she just gave up and decided to have the same as Aoi.

"Reita-san, I'll have what Aoi-san is having, onegai!"

While Reita was now sifting through the desserts only feet away from their table, Uruha quickly half stood up and angled his head to see what there was to eat.

"Hoi, hoi, don't forget me! Get me a couple of Purin shots! The brandy caramel ones with the thin layer of cream on the top!"

Uruha raised his voice enough so hopefully Reita was paying attention. Ai smiled at Uruha.

"Wow, you certainly seem to be an Alcohol Connoisseur, Uruha-san. I've never heard of Brandy Purin. You must have had them before?"

Ai said this with real interest, remembering back to him on the bonus footage for the Nameless Liberty Tour, when he was talking about his 'Sake Corner'. But Kikyo thought that Ai was making fun of him; she said Ai's name sharply under her breath, staring at her to say 'shut up'. Ai just looked back at Kikyo and mouthed 'what?' – she couldn't understand how Kikyo could be upset; she was only asking. Uruha laughed shortly.

"Oh, not really a 'Connoisseur', as you say … I just know the Brandy Purin by name because I have had them before, hai".

He then looked back at Reita and frowned suddenly.

"No, not those, the liqueur ones! With the brandy in it! Geez … next time he goes to get us some sweets, we're not letting him drink first …"

"Ah let him go, he's having fun".

Came a familiar voice, followed by a slight laugh. Everyone looked up to see Kai just coming back to their table, where he sat back down in his seat, taking a sip from his drink before continuing.

"We've just had a major concert before our next big tour, so he's obviously making up for not being able to drink hard for the next three months".

Aoi, Ruki and Uruha laughed shortly – he had a point. The girls sat up straight and waited to hear what Kai had to say after seeing their manager – fingers were still tightly crossed and hoping for the best.

"So … I've been to see our manager. Turns out he was in the middle of talking to some of the organisers for our Decomp Tour, so that's why he hasn't turned up to the party. Anyway, I told him the situation … oh, that reminds me, Ruki … he said that you should be more tactful when trying to invite fans backstage …"

Aoi and Uruha snickered to themselves and Ruki rolled his eyes, making a face as if to say 'yeah whatever'. The girls laughed as well – they had to admit Ruki had done a risky thing to invite them to the party, especially when it was without their manager's permission. But then the smiles faded and they looked at each other anxiously – did that mean they had to leave? Kai laughed and then looked at the girls.

"But that's not to say he's angry you're here, so don't worry. And he's agreed that you can watch us practice next week – the practice will be held here at Yoshiatsu. He's going to have some access passes made for you now, so make sure you don't leave without getting them. Once you have those, you'll be fine".

Uruha, Ruki and Aoi smiled at the good news and the girls thanked Kai in appreciation for talking to their manager. At least now the guys could now look forward to an interesting practice session with their first mini-audience, and the girls would see for themselves that not much went on during a practice. Uruha was actually hoping to let Kikyo watch him close-up while he played his acoustic guitar pieces – Kikyo was thinking the same thing because she'd see first-hand how they were played. Ruki just wanted to see Mika again no matter what. Mika was excited to be seeing Ruki again, but she was most interested in how he looked without the fancy costumes and make-up. Kai had a feeling the girls would laugh while watching him bang on random drums to see if they sounded right … the staff always did anyway, despite being used to seeing him do it.

Megumi was interested in seeing how Kai practiced because she was curious to learn how he created drum beats for songs – it looked hard! Aoi thought how strange it was going to be to have staff watching, but some fans as well, and Ai thought it would be just as strange to be the only fans to see them practice in person. And Reita? Well they all knew he was just interested in having a party, although the practice wouldn't be a party exactly. Nevertheless he was likely to have forgotten the party idea by next morning when he'd be sober again. Despite also liking the party idea, Kira of course knew there wouldn't be one, but she was still excited to know that they were all allowed to at least watch. However before the group became too excited over talking about the practice, Megumi spoke up, mainly talking to Kai.

"Oh, wait, I almost forgot! Is the practice next weekend? And on that note, what time would we have to be here? I doubt we should be here too early because you guys will need to get organised first, ne?"

Kikyo nodded and looked from Megumi to the guys.

"Ah that's right, we don't want to distract you while your setting up. And seeing a couple of us aren't good at getting up in the morning we'd better allow for those people …"

She glanced at Ai and Kira in particular. Both of them blushed as Kikyo continued.

"And how do we get in? From the side or the back entrance maybe? Last thing we want to do is get lost on the day …"

The guys laughed when Kikyo pointed out that Ai and Kira weren't morning-people and again when she expressed her concern about being lost. Then Kai sat forward to answer their questions.

"Well, in reply to your question Megumi-chan, it is on next Saturday. And while we are all going to be here fairly early, possibly nine, that doesn't mean you have to be here then too. You can come a bit later, but if you're interested in seeing the set-up that's not a problem either. And as far as getting in, just go to the back entrance, it's hard to miss because all of our equipment vans will be there".

The girls nodded in understand and smiled at each other. Then Mika looked left and right at Kikyo and Megumi, a slight smile on her face.

"You two worry too much! It's not like we're going under-cover or something. As Kai-kun just said, all we need are the access passes. I'm sure we can work out how to get in on the day. If anything I'm more worried about being spotted by fans …"

Aoi, Ruki and Uruha smiled down at the table and Kai laughed.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about fans wandering around the venue, Mika-chan, because they wouldn't know that we're here. It'll be perfectly safe".

The girls felt much better now that he'd reassured them there was nothing to worry about – all they were concerned about now was having to wait a full week for the following Saturday. Mika looked at Ruki and smiled happily because now it was all organised. Once again he smiled faintly and gave her another discrete wink. Mika blushed and looked down at the table to try and hide it. Suddenly a loud familiar voice came out of nowhere, making the group jump in surprise.

"Hey, did I just hear that you could all come to see us next weekend? All right, that's what I wanted to hear!"

Everyone looked up to see Reita just coming back to the table, where he stood at the end holding a tray of sweets. The girl's hearts were pounding a million beats a second because he had startled them but they laughed at him anyway and nodded in confirmation. Reita grinned widely and held the tray up.

"Awesome! Okay, I've got sweets all over the place here, so do me a favour and find what's yours … I'm not sure how much longer I can stay standing".

Everyone was laughing at him again – even when holding a tray of sweets he still managed to entertain everyone, though he was only goofing around with the whole 'I'm about to fall over' thing. He bent down slightly to allow those who's asked for something to take it; Aoi took his and Ai's plate of chocolate cheesecake, both with mint ice-cream as they'd ordered. Aoi looked at Reita as he gave one plate to Ai.

"Hey, thanks for this! But I think you should sit down now, your starting to sway a bit. We'll end up wearing our dessert if you don't".

Ai giggled and nodded thanks at receiving her plate before looking at Reita.

"Yeah, I don't think I want to wear anyone's food. Good food shouldn't be wasted, especially if it's dessert".

Then Uruha stood up to take the two Brandy Purin shots.

"Ah, it's been ages since I had one of these … Ai-chan, see the dark swirl around the edge of the glass that surrounds the caramel?"

He showed Ai one of the shot glasses and she leaned forward to have a better look. The other girls did too.

"That's the Brandy part of it. It's not really an alcoholic sweet; the Brandy is just for flavouring. But the cream on top adds a nice velvety taste".

Ai nodded in understanding, fascinated by how it was made.

"Ah I see, I thought the caramel part was Brandy flavoured. That's really smart just adding the swirl. I will have to try one some time".

Kikyo nodded in agreement with Ai.

"Me too, I've never tried a Brandy Purin. I've only ever had the plain flavoured ones. But those that you have look really sweet, and the cream looks tasty too, Uruha-san!"

Uruha laughed and made a greedy little smile at the shot glass he was holding up before throwing his head back to spill the whole lot into his mouth. Aoi laughed as Uruha made an expression like he was in sheer bliss; he obviously liked them that much. The girls laughed at him too. The Kai obliged in taking Kira's plate with the large Manju bun she'd asked for, then reached over to gently set it down for her. Kira blinked in surprise at the size of the bun – it was slightly bigger than her clenched fist. She smiled brightly at Kai and Reita before quickly cutting it open with a knife. Finally Reita slumped into his seat and set his plate of cake down on the table before setting the tray down in the middle of the table. Ai and Aoi were right into eating their chocolate cheesecake as they occasionally smiled at each other. Uruha was taking a moment to let the first Brandy Purin go down because it was that sweet. Reita made short work of his cake, finishing it in only five or six mouthfuls, much to everyone's dismay. And Kira was proclaiming her love for her roast-pork bun.

"Ooo this is the best Manju bun I've ever had! The pork is really sweet and tender; the bun is soft and fluffy! I love the person who made this! Reita-san, hontou arigatou! I wasn't expecting any to be there, but you've just made me the happiest girl in the world!"

Reita laughed shortly and nodded to say 'that's okay'. The other girls were giggling so hard at Kira, yet she just didn't noticed because she was so into eating her roast-pork bun. And though the guys smiled in amusement, they could understand she loved Manju buns very much, and probably hadn't had one for a long time. Mika leaned closer to Kira to smell the pork before pinching a small piece to nibble on.

"Wow Kira, I'm guessing you haven't had one for a while the way your acting. You are fawning over that thing so much we'd think you were talking about a new pet or something. Well whoever made these must be a really good cook, the pork is really yummy!"

Mika finished off the last little bit of pork and made a satisfied sound to accentuate how nice it tasted. Ruki smiled discretely to himself at how cute Mika was in little things she did. Then Megumi and Kikyo leaned closer and pretended to try and pick pieces of pork from Kira's bun, and Kira responded by slapping their hands away or cowering with the half bun to her chest to protect it. The other guys laughed briefly at how they acted and Ai just shook her head when Aoi looked at her – 'I don't know them' was basically what she said. While the group sat and quietly chatted, and others ate their desserts, another staff member came up behind Kai to get his attention. The girls, except Kira, looked up to when they saw the guy talking softly to Kai. But despite the man talking quietly, they could overhear what he was saying – he mentioned that the staff was about to starting packing up. Kai nodded and turned back to the group as the guy left.

"Saa … it seems the party is almost over, I was just informed that everyone is packing up now. That went much quicker than I would have thought, but perhaps the staff went to get home. It is almost midnight …"

Kai pulled his sleeve up a little to look at his watch – it did in fact show twenty to twelve. It was now that Kira tuned in and realised what Kai just said. She and the others looked crestfallen at each other – they didn't want to leave yet, it felt too early. But as Kai just said the staff probably wanted to go home and sleep so it was understandable. Then Kai looked up at the girls and smiled.

"But don't rush off just yet. They're not going to pack up straight away, so you can hang around for a little bit longer if you like".

"Ooooh … that sucks we have to leave already! I feel like we've only just sat down …"

Reita mumbled, leaning on the table with one elbow and poking absentmindedly at the crumbs left behind on his plate as he stared at it. Uruha and Ruki nodded and Megumi smiled at the guys.

"It is a shame we have to leave, but we all have had so much fun tonight. I mean, we thought just seeing you performing was plenty, but we got to meet you in person too. That is more than any of us could have asked for … then you invite us to see you practice. We really don't know how to thankyou now, honestly!"

The guys laughed together, also feeling rather humbled by what Megumi said – they hadn't expected the girls to be so friendly and appreciative of being invited to a party and a practice, so they were quite taken aback. But even though the whole group would be seeing each other again the following weekend, the girls were still sad to know they'd be going home soon. Then Aoi spoke up to try and cheer everyone up.

"Well, if it makes anyone feel any better, it was actually really nice to talk to fans rather than interviewers for a change. I mean … we made some new friends, ne?"

Kikyo and Mika couldn't help but say 'aww' at how sweet that sounded, and Kikyo made sure he knew that.

"Aww that was a really nice thing to say! You think of us as friends, Aoi-san? I don't think my friends and I could feel more honoured to know all of you as friends. It's kind of cool actually".

The girls all nodded in agreement. Their luck was just through the roof that night and nothing could spoil how happy they were right then. Even Aoi smiled as he leaned forward in his chair to take another mouthful of cake. It sounded weird to him after saying it, but it did sound nice – they'd made new friends? Could it be possible for the girls as fans to be friends with the guys as a major band? There was nothing in the rule book that said the guys couldn't make friends while they were involved with music … it just so happened that they are a group of five pretty and very friendly girls. Fans could quite possibly be jealous if and when they ever found out but that was no reason for the band not to have female friends if they wanted to. If Ruki had anything to do with it, he was determined to see Mika again, whatever it took, to find out why he couldn't look away from her. And not to say that anything would happen between his band mates and the other girls, but if anything did, that could possibly turn out for the better too.

--

The staff had set to packing up gradually, with things like food trays, plates, drink bottles and cups being the majority of it … so all that was left was to wait for the band to finish entertaining their guests. Now the staff just leisurely stood around and continued to chat quietly among themselves – the crowd had dwindled down a bit from a few drunk people leaving earlier. Aoi, Ai, Reita and Kira had had their dessert plates taken away on the tray that Reita had brought them back to the table with. But Uruha hadn't finished his second Brandy Purin because he'd obliged to let Kikyo try it. She couldn't help but blush a little when he insisted she try it, and surely just a thin swirl of Brandy around the edge of the glass wouldn't waver her driving ability. He gestured for her to lean closer, holding the shot glass out for her to drink it.

She did so, allowing Uruha to carefully pour the thick liquid into her mouth – he was right; it was really sweet! The guys had been teasing Ruki about flirting with Mika all night, so what was Uruha doing? The exact same thing with Kikyo. Even the other girls couldn't help but notice what the other guys had noticed … it looked like Ruki wasn't the only one filling to flirt a little bit. It was now the girls thought it would be a good idea to organise their things to be ready to leave, so they pushed back their chairs slightly to reach their bags under the chairs. The guys could see each of them had tote bags full of merchandise and were surprised just because they'd never been this close to seeing what fans actually bought at their Live gigs. Finally when the guys thought the staff was almost ready to tell them to hurry it along, the group began to stand up one-by-one, the girls with bags in hand, and Ruki addressing the girls first.

"Well, this has been a really fun night. I'm glad all of you liked the concert and that you came back to the party. Not bad for our first backstage invitation to fans".

Ruki flicked a strand of hair from his face in a kind of nervous twitch and the guys laughed shortly. The girls laughed lightly and nodded to show they did indeed have a lot of fun.

"And Ai-san, before I forget, this gives me the chance to say thank-you for not giving Aoi away when he walked into the store this afternoon …"

Ai looked from Ruki to Aoi and back when he thanked her for not outing him.

"Oh it's no problem, really! Megumi and Kira didn't know it was him but they were adamant that he looked like 'Aoi of the GazettE', and even I took a moment to realise it really was him. I think the lip-ring was a give away …"

Ruki gave a side-glance at Aoi, who promptly shut his mouth, as he was about to say something in his defence. He just looked away and puffed out his cheeks – there they go, ganging up on me again, he thought. Then Megumi butt in, hands on her hips and with raised eyebrows.

"Ai, I knew it was him! From the moment he walked in I kept saying how much he looked like 'Aoi', yet you kept telling me to shut-up! You even told me I couldn't take a photo of him on my cell-phone to show Kikyo and Mika!"

Then it was Kira's turn, as she leaned over to see around Megumi.

"Sure you did, Meg … I bet you only thought it was him. Once I saw the gig t-shirt I totally knew who he was! Oh no wait … first I thought he was part of the staff, then I realised it was Aoi-san".

The girls just shook their heads or looked at Kira as if to say 'Shut-up, you're talking too much'. She bit her bottom lip and blushed before straitening up shrugging cutely. Uruha, Ruki and Reita chuckled to themselves while Kai pat Aoi lightly on the shoulder.

"Hai … we kind of saw the whole thing from our van and Ruki thought he had blown his cover when Aoi's jacket fell open".

Uruha and Reita again chuckled at Aoi and Ruki smirked down at the table. Kai went on.

"Anyway it was great to meet each of you and we really hope to see all of you back here next Saturday. It'll be an interesting experience, I'm sure".

The girls smiled at each other eagerly – to see the band again in only a week was very exciting! Mika giggled and nodded enthusiastically.

"It's going to be so much fun! We can't wait to see you practice because we've never seen one before. And like we said before, it was already an honour just to be invited to this party. Arigatou gozaimashita ne!"

Mika bowed low but not enough so he head was on the table. Ai and Megumi bowed too, and then Kira and Kikyo followed. As they stood up straight again Reita clapped his hands together with enthusiasm.

"Hai, hai, it'll be great fun, ne? And if you're really lucky you may even get to meet our manager. He's a little scary sometimes but a real softy".

Reita leaned forward and whispered the last part, while Kai and Ruki both held onto him so he didn't fall flat on the table. The girls were amused that Reita had to be held up by his fellow band mates, which showed just how liquored up his was. And when Reita said they might get to meet their manager, they looked at each other nervously – they'd already gotten Ruki into semi-trouble just for inviting them to the party, so they didn't want to push their luck. Suddenly Reita stood upright, almost throwing Kai and Ruki off balance, as he suddenly appeared to think of a great idea.

"Hey! I have an idea! Megumi-chan, you said you wanted to take a photo of Aoi back at the store, ne? Before you go home, why don't we have a group photo together! You'll have a souvenir!"

Kai, Aoi, Ruki and Uruha were trying so hard not to laugh at Reita's behaviour; they all stood hunched over each other with hands over their mouths and trying to hold it in. Poor Reita looked around him in confusion – what was so funny? But despite the girls laughing at him too, they did very much like his idea – a group photo was the perfect thing to let them go home with. Then Aoi pulled himself together and nodded.

"That actually sounds like a good idea. For once me makes sense while drunk. We shouldn't let the girls go home without some kind of proof that we all got to meet. I'm sure the last thing they want is to wake up in the morning and think it was all a dream".

Uruha laughed and nodded as well – he honestly didn't want the girls to go home empty-handed either.

"True … and we haven't exactly got any special gifts lying around here, so if they at least get a group photo each, then it's better than nothing. I'll see if I can find one of our photographers, chotto …"

Uruha stepped out from the table and briskly walked away to find who he was looking for. Kikyo felt butterflies in her stomach and goose bumps on her arm when Uruha walked so close past her – whatever cologne he was wearing smelled really good! The group didn't have enough time to chat while they waited because within a few moments Uruha was back with a guy in a thick, black jacket and glasses … and a very large, expensive-looking professional camera around his neck. While the photographer fiddled with the camera settings, the guys filed out from their side of the table and grouped together with the girls.

Uruha stood beside Kikyo and rested a hand on her opposite shoulder with a peace sign. Kikyo smiled to herself as Uruha placed his hand on her shoulder before angling her head slightly towards him and holding a peace sign too. Kai stood beside Megumi and held a thumb out to the camera. Megumi smiled and kept her hands behind her back, until she changed her mind and held up a peace sign. Reita stood behind Kira and held out a rock-on sign over her shoulder. Kira laughed and gave the same sign with the opposite hand that he had. Aoi was behind Ai too, holding a clenched fist in the air. Ai smiled brightly and held up a thumb to the camera just like Kai. Ruki decided to be bold and loosely draped his arm around her shoulder, then bending down enough so his face was level beside hers – she was at least two inches shorter than him – and he smirked for the camera. Mika blushed a little at what Ruki did but smiled brightly nonetheless and even reached up to hold onto his arm. The photographer realised they were ready and started taking a couple of photos, just to get the right look for the photo. After probably six or seven shots, he stopped and said 'Hai' to indicate he was done, then looked down at the digital screen and pressed a few buttons here and there. The group relaxed and walked over to the photographer, who lifted the camera up to show Kai first.

"Here you can choose which one you like the best. I will print copies for everyone".

Kai took the job of scanning the photos taken to see which one was the best – they were mostly the same, except for being on a different angle or someone had moved slightly. None of the others could see what the photos looked like because Kai was hogging the camera, so they could only wait. Finally Kai smiled and gave the camera back to the photographer, who nodded and promptly went away to print copies. Kai laughed when he realised the group was staring at him like he's just slapped them all – it appeared they had all wanted to see how the photos looked as well.

"Don't look at me like that, all the photos are practically identical. I just picked the best photo for everyone. It shouldn't take long for them to be printed …"

NOTES:
1) Reita and sweets: A long time ago he claimed that he doesn't like many sweets, but apparently he doesl ike cake
2) Purin shots: Kind of like a jelly shot. And because Uruha loves his alcohol, they are Brandy flavoured
3) Manju bun: Like a meat pie, but the filling can be pretty much anything. Could also be known as 'Nikuman'
4) When Uruha says 'chotto': This basically means 'just a moment'. eg. Chotto matte - Just wait a moment

Please read & review :-)