UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Hi guys!
Let me tell you something new, I'm going to try and update faster because I have too many stories on hold (see my profile for the upcoming stories list), and they're all complicated and filling my brain with ideas. I'm a bit concerned that if I work too slowly on this story, then I'll forget about those. On the other hand, if I write those stories first, I'll wind up forgetting to write this story. And that's baaaad when Rose forgets stuff.
I've got some great news, too: I finished the rough draft of Love in Concert G! Wooohoo! Altogether, there are ten chapters (though the tenth is really more like an epilogue), so let's get cracking!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Duh.
"Johan? Johan? Are you okay?"
The bluenette's eyes fluttered open to see his worried siblings standing over him. "Huh? Guys? What happened?"
Lukas helped him stand. "You hit your head on the ground when the crowd pushed into you trying to get out of the concert hall. We managed to grab you and pull you out before they all trampled you."
Johan dusted himself off, shaking his head to clear his vision. "Th-thanks for that, guys." He looked around. "Uh..." The question lingered on his lips, but he didn't really want to ask-
"Yes Johan, Juudai Yuuki already left." Sonya sighed. "We tried to look for him, but we didn't see him."
Johan mimicked his sister's sigh. "Oh well. He'll still be in Chicago though, right? Before he leaves for New York?"
"Yeah." Lukas nodded. "Maybe you can send him some flowers or something."
Johan blushed.
Juudai had managed to worm his way away from the crowd to a back door, where Derek had a second limo waiting for him, just in case something like this happened.
Sliding across the leather seats, Juudai caught the stern blue gaze of his manager. He gave Derek a lopsided grin. "Well...that was fun, wasn't it?"
Derek grabbed Juudai by the lapels of his coat. "'Fun'? You could've gotten yourself hurt in that crowd! What possessed you to do that?"
"A person," Juudai explained. "With the brightest blue hair I have ever seen."
He said no more after that as the car sped through the rain-slicked streets of Chicago.
It was the day after the concert, and Derek had some work to do in the later hours of the morning. Since Juudai was still asleep, Derek decided to leave the violinist be.
Juudai awoke, he was alone. The sun was shining throught the rain-splattered windows, casting long rays on his bed. Wearily, he sat up and stretched. He rather preferred to be alone after tiresome concerts. He had a certain ritual that he went through the morning after concerts.
For starters, Juudai would order room-service for breakfast, getting chocolate chip Belgian waffles (his favorite since childhood), and settled down in bed to watch TV.
After his breakfast and some remote button-bashing, Juudai drew himself a bath.
It was his favorite part of his after-concert routine, this bath. Juudai could relax as much as he wanted to without fear of being barged in upon. But still, Juudai closed and locked the door and put on a pair of swim shorts-as a precaution.
As he slid into the warm water, Juudai gave a pleased sigh. The bathroom was spacious, but not too much, and was decorated with blue and white tiles. A vase full of white lillies sat on the counter, and a small radio was adjacent to the bathtub itself. Raising an eyebrow, Juudai leaned over, turned on the radio, and fiddled with the dials for a bit.
"Ah!" He gave an exclamation of surprise and joy as he stopped on a station that was playing the Queen of the Night's second Aria from Mozart's famed opera, The Magic Flute.(1) It was one of Juudai's favorites, and he sank down with a happy expression on his face.
This song brought him back to when he first started playing, and to one of the greatest inspirations of his life-Mia Carmen, an opera soprano known the world over. She had sang at Aida, with twelve-year-old Juudai as second-chair violinist in the orchestra. Mia was one of the most energetic people that Juudai had had the pleasure of meeting, and her bold attitude and determination was a constant source of hope for him.
Juudai frowned as he delved deeper into his memories. A laughing, smiling man that entered his life fewer than five times before leaving the Earth came to his mind: his father. Not much was known about Franz Yuuki, the son of an Austrian schoolteacher and a Japanese writer. Juudai's mother, Patricia Yuuki, was distraught by his death, and even more worried when their life savings dwindled to almost nothing. When Juudai expressed an interest in music-more specifically, the violin-Patricia became angry. She denied Juudai his musical talent and took up drinking. Juudai's aunt, Olivia Fudo, became worried about her sister's actions, and insisted that Juudai move in with her and her family.
Juudai was raised with the Fudo family for most of his life. They had the money to pay for his musical education, and eventually Juudai's talents became lucrative. It was around this time that Patricia made her reappearance in Juudai's life, now with a sudden interest in his career as a violinist. But it was clear to everyone-even Juudai-that she was interested only in the money that he was making by it. This was a source for most of Juudai and Patricia's arguments.
'And it still is,' Juudai sighed thoughtfully, dragging his hand through the water. Unfortunately, as his legal guardian, Patricia held most of the control over Juudai's life. Currently known as the Countess of the Lyric, she resided in one of many of Chicago's high-rise penthouses (Juudai didn't care where she lived or how). Most of the time Juudai lived with his friends and family up in New York, supervised by Derek.
"Juudai!" Speaking of his constantly-harrassed manager...
"What?" Juudai called to the other side of the door, raising his voice above the vengeful star-flaming queen's Aria.
"I need to talk with you about something! Please come outside and turn off the radio!"
Juudai rolled his eyes. With a sigh, he switched off the music and climbed out of the tub.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, no Juudai, I am not."
Juudai stood in the middle of the hotel room, dressed in a fluffy white robe over a pair of boxers. Arms crossed over his chest, he gave Derek and the other two men in the room his best Angry Juudai Glare. The others flinched at the harshness in his gaze. Derek, used to the full onslaught of Juudai's rage and the many forms that it came in, remained stoic.
"Not only am I to stay in Chicago, but I am to play for the two biggest operas of the season? Absolutely not." Juudai tossed his hair back with a flick of his head.
"It's only for The Magic Flute and Tales of Hoffman, sir," One of the men spluttered out. Juudai smirked. He loved it when people called him "sir". It made him feel important.
"And I don't have any say in this? Hm?" Juudai raised an accusing eyebrow.
"Your mother is giving this idea her whole support." Derek chimed in.
"Tough cheese. I'm not doing it," Juudai huffed. "Tell them to find someone else."
"B-but sir! We've already promised that you'd make an appearance!" The second man exclaimed.
Juudai's angry glare turned livid. Eyes flashing brightly, he slammed his fist onto the table. "You did WHAT?"
The two men jumped back, while Derek strode forward and grabbed Juudai's arm.
"Juudai," Derek hissed sharply. "You are still a minor, therefore you don't have a say as to where and when you will or will not perform. That power lies solely with your mother."
The violinist groaned as Derek let him go. "Very well." He faced the two men with more mellow eyes. "I want to make sure that last night's fiasco doesn't happen at either of the operas; it's bad enough getting out of the Lyric Opera House after a performance as it is. (2) I request more security, no signings, and I play at as many or as few performances as I like." A sudden thought came to his mind. "If at all possible, try to see if Michael Andersen is available to work as conductor. Is that agreeable, gentlemen?"
Not wanting another outburst from Juudai, the two men nodded.
Juudai let a smirk crawl across his face. "Excellent."
"No no no! Absolutely not!" With their full force, Annalise and Marcus shoved Johan off the piano bench, where he had been caught trying to play a proper scale.
With a squawk of indignance, Johan literally flew off the polished wooden bench, landing with a dull "thump" on the carpet. His weary emerald eyes gazed up at his cousins, who glared down at him.
"Just stop trying, Johan. You're a disgrace to the family name," Annalise sneered. She was stretched out on the piano bench, Marcus standing next to the elegant instrument.
Slowly, Johan picked himself up off the floor, making his way upstairs. Annalise's words about their family didn't hurt his heart as much as what they stood for. Johan would never feel the passionate rumble of an instrument at his lips or his arm, never hear the notes resonating in his ears as beautifully or wonderfully as they did. Johan's desire for music didn't come from his family, but from the wish of simply being able to play.
With a dejected groan, Johan flopped down onto his bed and closed his eyes.
A knock came at his door. "It's open," He muttered.
Sonya and Maria poked their heads into Johan's room. "Hey, Johan," Maria spoke first. "We're sorry about what happened at the concert."
Johan turned his head towards his sisters. "It's not your fault. If anything, I should be thanking you for pulling me away from that mob."
The girls exchanged glances. "We're still sorry that you didn't get to meet Juudai Yuuki...so we did some research to find his fanmail address," Sonya spoke quickly.
Johan sat up. "Yeah?"
"He doesn't have one," Maria deadpanned. "But the president of his Chicago-based fanclub, Rei Saotome, collects the letters that fans send through the club, and she bundles them up and sends them to Juudai at the end of every week." Her eyes became excited. "And since apparently Juudai and Rei know each other, he reads every letter that she sends him!"
"Really?" Johan's emerald eyes sparkled. "Do you think she'd send him one of my letters?"
"Of course!" The girls chorused. Sonya handed him a piece of paper and a pencil. "Go for it!"
Johan hugged both his sisters before sitting back on his bed. Now that he knew that he could get in contact with Juudai, what should he write? Something casual, so as not to weird him out? No, that wouldn't work. Johan shook his head and banished that thought immediately. Juudai meant a lot to Johan in terms of how he inspired the bluenette. Johan bit his lip. The letter had to be glowing and written in an almost loving way, but also respectful, almost careful and full of awe.
Johan smiled as his pencil bit into the paper. Dear Juudai Yuuki...
There you have it! Chapter four of Love in Concert G!
A few notes that I just want to add here before I sign off on the fourth chappie...
1: In Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute, a prince named Tamino is sent to rescue Pamina, who is the Queen of the Night's daughter. Pamina has been kidnapped by Sarastro, the high priest of a temple formed by light and peace. It is revealed that the Queen of the Night is the one who is evil, and Sarastro took Pamina away to save her. Throughout the whole opera, the queen makes only three appearances, and two of them are Arias, or epic solos.
2: That's totally true. My parents bought passes to this season's operas, and it's an absolute hassle leaving the opera house and getting to the car. Smart move, Juudai.
Um...not much left to say here, really. Ahahaha. Please review! Thanks for reading!
-Rose