Hello, dear readers. I'm not sure which chapter is my favorite, this one or the next one =) I've had a pleasant time writing it. Hope you'll like it too. Some Hakuouki game reminiscences are included.
Thanks to ImpracticalDemon for beta reading! I really can't thank you enough for doing this hard work of correcting my errors, providing me with various language-related advices and for the pleasant communication.
Chapter VI. Dope show.
"Hey, Chizuru-chan, over here!" She turned around to notice Hijikata-san waving a hand. A black microbus parked by the roadside was stuffed with people and equipment. Chizuru was the last member to join. She took a seat near Saitou-san, who was spacing out in his headphones.
Hijikata-san introduced Shimada Kai, the band's driver. Then he pointed at a petite guy with spiky hair who was busy with some items at the back of the car.
"Here's Yamazaki Susumu, our sound director. Mess with him and he'll muffle your sound. Just kidding, Yamazaki-kun! Here's Yukimura-san, our fiddler. But we all call her Chi..." Okita elbowed him and made furious eyes. "Aww… Ehm. You'll be in awe when you hear how we remade our songs with Yukimura-san."
"Nice to meet you, Shimada-san, Yamazaki-san," she greeted them, with a smile and a slight bow.
"Looking forward to working with you, Yukimura-san," Yamazaki-san told her, nodding.
The car moved off heading to the Bar Mile. Chizuru started to feel insecure. It was her first concert with them and she carried a burden of expectations. She had to prove herself worthy of the group. Her eyes were anxiously wandering around the car. Shinpachi-san and Heisuke-kun were smiling and confident as if nothing could confuse them. If not for the dry law she could think they'd already had some strong drinks. Harada-san was looking out of the window with a melancholy expression. Saitou-san seemed to be sleeping in his headphones. Okita met her glance and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She gave him a small smile and turned away to notice Yamazaki-san studying her with a blank face.
Always energetic, Hijikata-san's voice broke her daze.
"It was certainly a good idea to pick everyone up in advance to avoid incidents." He spared a glance towards Shinpachi-san and Heisuke-kun. "Now, the instructions. No alcohol, no shrooms, no brawls." Okita rolled his eyes. "No more forgetting your stuff in the dressing room, right, Heisuke? Play the set and then do what you want. We start with a sound-check, then we have several hours to prepare. Shimada-san will drive our garbage back to the headquarters after Toyotomi finish their set. I've called Kosuzu-chan too, she'll help everyone willing with makeup and shit. Any questions?"
"Let's corpse-paint Yamazaki." Okita proposed lazily. Yamazaki made an inarticulate sound of disapproval. It seemed he was another person who had tough relationship with Okita.
...
R-club was a typical alternative club occupying a plain building on the outskirts of the Bar Mile. What a hole, thought Chizuru observing the surroundings. The difference from Philharmonic hall was obvious.
"Too bad for a proud fiddling girl, mm?" Okita murmured into her ear.
"Not at all," she hissed back, twitching away from him. He had a twisted view of personal boundaries. Or perhaps Chizuru constantly failed at setting them.
The pack filled a tiny dressing room without windows in the technical part of the club. It was densely stuffed with motley furniture, which had absorbed the smell of smoke and old leather eons ago. A vintage lighted makeup mirror fascinated Chizuru. Posters of various bands lining the walls glared down at them.
"Sorry, Chizuru-chan, seems that bastards forgot my request to provide you with your own dressing room," frowned Hijikata-san.
"It's okay, we'll manage it somehow." She didn't want to give him any extra worries.
The day before, Chizuru had had a hard time choosing her outfit. She owned a stack of black conservatoire dresses but they were far too modest for the show. She found it funny that black was a uniform for both the classical and alternative worlds. Chizuru had taken scissors and desecrated one of her dresses, turning it into rough rags with a graduated skirt. She had combined a black tank top and a miniskirt with her creation as the top layer and got satisfied.
The guys approved her costume completely. As did Kosuzu-chan. The young stylist studied Chizuru with total attention. Despite her job, her own face had near to no makeup and her long hair was gathered into a simple bun.
"Chizuru-chan, look here… Mmm, you have heterochromia!" Everyone turned to them. "We must make good use of it. How about I paint your grey eye and leave your brown eye bare?" She proposed.
"Fine asymmetry, I guess," smiled Chizuru. "Let's try!"
Kosuzu-chan kicked the guys out of the room and started applying makeup to create a furious smokey eye. She also helped Chizuru with her outfit and hair. When they finished, the pack filled the room again. It was the first time they had prepared for a show with a girl and some awkwardness still remained. Chizuru tried to act casually, but she was worried nonetheless. Her cheeks felt hot.
"You look like a creepy porcelain doll," Heisuke-kun exhaled. "Pretty cool, though." Everyone mumbled approvingly.
"Thank you, Heisuke-kun!" Chizuru was flustered. Her gaze unconsciously drifted to Okita. He was looking at her intently, but turned away when she noticed his glance. As if he barely recognizes me. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
All the guys were wearing casual black except Harada-san. He put on a wide bandage-like obi with handguards of the same material combined with loose jeans. His upper-chest remained bare exposing the muscles. We do not oppose a bit of fanservice, do we? Chizuru thought, feeling glad that it was not Okita's task to undress. That would be too embarrassing. She mentally scolded herself for the distracting thoughts.
…
The sound of a roaring crowd made her heart pound. Chizuru was observing the fan zone and the stage through the staff passage entrance. The dance floor was filled with a dense and very loud group of people. The bar was crowded too. The mezzanine floor above the fanzone stayed dark and empty.
Oni 404 had just started their set. The deep low voice of the vocalist filled with intimidating overtones seemed to mesmerize the public. There were just two of them on the stage, the vocalist and his keyboardist, who looked no less exotic.
"They are so cool! Their sound is something close to tribal!" Chizuru cried into Heisuke-kun's ear as the noise was too loud even in the staff quarters.
"They're sorta rivals for us, but anyway the guys rock!" he cried back.
…
Chizuru felt like a robot when it was finally their turn to perform. Harada-san occupied the front edge of the stage with Saitou-san on his right and Heisuke-kun on his left. She snuck to her place behind Saitou-san. Okita joined his synth behind Heisuke-kun. Shinpachi-san flashed her a reassuring smile and went to the drums.
Bright lights washing the stage cut it off from the rest of the club. From her spot Chizuru could hardly guess what was going on in the fan zone. Harada-san surely had a better location as he cheerfully greeted the audience. She could barely remember the rest of the show as it all blended into one long roaring song. Chizuru felt weightless. Goosebumps. On the verge of tears. The atmosphere was hectic, as if some crazy New Year's celebration had come out of blue. She could feel the crowd's feedback and the feeling was utterly different from all her previous stage experience. It was intoxicating.
After the show, the pack proceeded to their dressing room slightly stunned and silent. Fans' chanting followed them.
"Whoa… Dudes, that was am-mazing!" Heisuke-kun widened his eyes.
"Should do this again sometime!" Laughed Shinpachi-san, slapping his shoulder. Harada-san smirked and everyone returned to their usual mood. Unlike Chizuru, the guys were more accustomed to it.
"Yukimura-san, you fit in perfectly, better than I expected." Hajime-kun gave her a small smile. She smiled back. At least Saitou-san is honest about how he doubted my skills.
"Guys, let's go support Toyotomi!" Heisuke-kun jumped up. "Chizuru-chan, you shouldn't skip their show."
They seemed to be back to normal far faster than her. Chizuru still felt a bit overwhelmed. She promised to catch up with them later and stayed alone in the dressing room to change to her casual jeans and edit her makeup. She was not ready for any extra attention.
When she did go out, she found that the dance floor was really stuffy. It was a short break before the next part and people were drifting from the bar to the stage and vice versa. There were plenty of familiar faces around. She noticed tall Harada-san's frame on the gallery and headed there. The pack was sitting around the table in the corner drinking. Fans were not allowed up to the gallery that day so the bands could rest. An energetic petite girl rushed to her.
"So you are the new member, Chizuru-chan! Cool to finally meet you! I'm Sen of Toyotomi." The girl was glowing with friendliness. Her gentle smile charmed Chizuru immediately.
"Nice to meet you, Sen-chan!" she smiled in response. "I bet I've seen you before in the Conservatoire."
"Ah, good old days!" Sen-chan laughed. "Your performance was incredible. The public is in awe!" The girl winked at her.
"Hey, Sen-hime, what about us? She was not the only one performing, you know!" Shinpachi-san pouted jokingly. He was addressing to Sen-chan with that flamboyant honorific. Princess surely was well-known in the underground. Aside from her light demeanor she had a sort of confident grace.
"She's a real treasure on your brutal background, guys!" Sen-chan clasped her hands in excitement. "Your producer is a genius. Tomorrow's headlines will be all yours! Hey, Chizuru-chan, leave them be, come with us. We'll rock the city together!" The pack was struck dumb, too astonished to react. Their treasure was being enticed away after the very first show.
"Thank you, Sen-chan, but it's out of question." Chizuru was too tired to think of some suitable joke. She smiled reassuringly.
"You know they are not even the best band over here. I'm sure you'll get plenty of other offers soon. Such news spread like wildfire. Is there a special reason you wish to stay that badly? Oh my… One of those gentlemen, perhaps?" She winked to frozen Chizuru and rushed to the stage where her partner was already waiting. Chizuru heard her melodic laughter fading in the distance.
"Gimme a sip," she mumbled to Shinpachi-san falling to the seat beside him. Her face felt hot. Shinpachi-san pushed his glass to her. Okita frowned. Harada-san and Heisuke-kun were trying to keep straight faces. Only Yamazaki-san was sitting with a dreamy expression not paying attention to the surroundings.
"Just got our part of the take," called Hijikata-san, approaching their table. "The dinosaurs still pay in cash!" He raised a stuffed envelope. "What's with your faces?"
They started to chuckle.
"Sen-san tried to convince Yukimura-san to join Toyotomi," responded Saitou-san with a smile.
"Seriously? Only the first show and here they are stealing my musicians! I need a drink." Hijikata-san occupied a chair. He took out a cigarette pack and a phone. "No smoking area, damn it! They are impossible. I've already met that bastard-sama at the executive office and now Sen-hime… My being on good terms with Kimigiku-san doesn't mean..." He continued grumbling.
Chizuru was curious about bastard-sama but the music started, making talking impossible. She stood up and went to the dance floor to watch Toyotomi's show. Sen-hime's partner was a tall elegant woman in a geisha-like outfit. While Sen-hime was extremely energetic behind her laptop and keyboards, Geisha-san stood serenely in the epicenter of the roaring music singing with a high voice. The people around Chizuru were dancing madly. Shinpachi-san's whiskey was working its magic on her empty stomach as she dived into the music.
After several tracks she felt a cold hand touching her shoulder. The touch seemed deliberate. Chizuru turned around to bump into Okita's chest. She looked at him with a wordless question. His eyes were two dark spots and the untied hair made him look different. Okita gave her a lopsided smile and grabbed her shoulders to turn her back to the stage. It was dark on the dancefloor while the stage basked in blue light. They swung along with other people in the rhythm of the music. In the middle of the small stuffy club in some distant city of a distant country. There was no one to recognize them in the crowd. The sudden feeling of warmth and security overwhelmed her. The moment you own it, you better never let it go.
…
"Where have you been? Shimada-san has already gone. He can't wait the whole night! Try calling Souji, he must still be there." Hijikata-san's voice on the phone was tired.
Chizuru wished him a good night and faced the option of walking home on foot. Taxi companies were not willing to serve the Slums. She took her bag and violin case and went up the street towards civilization. The night air was chilly and refreshing. Chizuru passed several blocks thinking hesitantly about Okita, who had disappeared somewhere at the end of Toyotomi's set. The night streets and bars were still crowded but nonetheless she was afraid to stay alone.
She sent a message to Okita. It didn't take long for him to answer.
"I'll head over there when I finish some business so be a good girl and wait for me." The message made her smile unconsciously.
She waited for him for quite some time, observing the colorful crowd, but he didn't show up. Chizuru decided to return to the club.
"Tell me about it! I know your face, jerk! You're Okita of the Shinsengumi!" She heard angry voices and instantly saw Okita surrounded by a bunch of men in front of the club. She rushed to him. Chizuru knew he could stand up for himself but the thought of him possibly being hurt was annoying.
"Am I somehow more famous than I thought?" Okita looked at his opponents with a wolfish smile.
"Shut your trap! You were the one who messed with Miyabe-sensei back then!"
"Just who's that? Another moronic copycat? Man, they're all starting to blend together."
The guys began to move towards smirking Okita. Chizuru had to do something immediately. Something to distract them. Okita was definitely jerkish enough to enrage anyone, even a more patient person. And he didn't hesitate to tease the enemy's superior forces. That could end badly.
She took a deep breath and screamed. "AAAAAH!"
They gang froze for a moment and slowly turned to the source of sound. Rare passers-by started to gather around the spot. Okita used his opening to break the circle. He pushed away the nearest guy and shifted between Chizuru and the men.
"Hey… What the hell are you doing here?!" He muttered to her.
His opponents approached him but the crowd started to resent the uneven odds. Several men came to help Okita slow his foes down. Someone tried to call the police but he was quickly interrupted. The Slums' inhabitants tended to solve the conflicts by themselves. The confrontation ended in an instant. Okita thanked his helpers with a wide smile, took Chizuru's hand and they quickly retired. A tingling sensation floated inside her. Too much of adventures for one night.
He let go of her hand when they had gone several blocks and took her violin case instead.
"So, didn't I tell you to be a good girl and wait for me?" Okita's face was serious but his eyes were laughing.
"Sorry. But you didn't show up for quite a time and I got worried."
"Oh, my…" he sighed. "It looked like I was protecting a pretty girl instead of being stuck with some rats. Really not in my line. Sano would be a better fit than me." Flippant as always. "Well, I guess it's not that bad though. Anyway, thanks for lending a hand!" He was borderline friendly when they were alone.
"Never mind." Chizuru smiled timidly. "What was the ruckus about?"
"I bet I strongly resemble someone who offended their patron," snickered Okita. "By the way, did you call me to walk you out of this mess?" He waved a hand to circle the surroundings. "Quite an inappropriate place for a conservatoire girl, isn't it?"
"I'm not that hopeless, you know," Chizuru muttered desperately. She'd been unfit for her orchestra and now she was too orchestral for the rock band. "But, yeah, I wanted to ask you to do the job that is really not in your line. I'm afraid to be here alone this late." The girl decided to be frank. The obvious fact that she didn't call someone more chivalrous and appropriate like Harada-san was left hanging in the air between them.
"Hmm. Okay, I can walk you to the Crossroad to call you a taxi," Okita said with a light smile. "They do serve the Crossroad area. It's not so far from the headquarters too." Honesty is the best tactic anyway.
"You do know the Slums."
"The Slums are not half as horrible as people consider them to be," he replied, shrugging.
They drifted through the lights of Bar Mile. Okita commented on the notable places they passed and recalled the local fables. The Slums, being diverse and vibrant, strangely suited him, as he considered himself to be out of place almost everywhere. He could be distant at first if not hostile, but gradually he was letting his guard drop a little bit. Chizuru confessed to him that she'd spent plenty of time in several Dark Scene clubs attending concerts, but had never stayed up all night and never partied hard. After all, what was the problem with her having a different background since they still could find some contact points? She felt both comfortable and a little on edge as Okita never missed a chance to add a sarcastic remark. He had a truly triumphant smile at such moments. Chizuru could never have guessed he would have such childlike sweetness about him. Or perhaps it was just a delusion of the crazy night.
One of the restaurants they passed was marked as "Kondou-san's favorite". So the stepfather was mentioned again. However she decided not to ask more, in order to prevent her companion from retreating back into his shell. It was odd to hear Okita calling his father by his last name.
...
While the taxi was taking Chizuru home she couldn't calm down. She decided to ask Harada-san about Okita's family matter. Unfortunately, his answer did not satisfy her curiosity.
"Chizuru-chan, I'm glad that you're interested in our band's background. But I feel wrong talking about Souji's family. You'd better ask him yourself. Sorry!" This message made her blush. What a shame!
…
Chizuru's family was obviously not delighted to meet her in the morning. It was a very early morning, practically dawn, but her parents had even invited her cousin Kaoru for another act of persuasion. Thus they had a tough encounter about her wrong choices. Sweet Yukimura family morning! The burden of the band's expectations was much lighter than that of her family. I've had enough of this shit already, she thought, making the hard decision to break the cycle of mutual helplessness and frustration. Chizuru fervently looked through the rent proposals again (as she did almost every evening), but the prices were all too high and the locations were too distant from their headquarters. She was too nervous to sleep, so she was sitting in her room shuffling the options. The decision came out of the clear blue sky...