"We're the Band"
Chapter 25: Overture
Friday Morning – Katsuragi Household
Shinji was carrying a small travel bag and his cello case to the door under the watchful gaze of three sets of eyes clustered around the kitchen table. One set was thoughtful about far Shinji had come since the first time he had arrived in the apartment. The other two sets watched with varying degrees of annoyance and desire to go along.
"I think I'm all set to go," announced Shinji as he took his customary seat next to Asuka.
"I still don't understand why we all can't go, too," added Asuka to which Rei nodded her solidarity with wanting to go.
With a sigh, Misato put down her cup of tea. "We've been through this. He's going to be back tomorrow night. You, Rei, and I don't even have tickets to the performance. We've been to the other concerts, and we can miss one."
Asuka glanced at Shinji. One of his hands was trapped between both of hers. The other held the remainder of his toast. His face was obviously conflicted. He had already told her that he didn't want to go by himself, but he was excited about the concert. It was a paid performance for the Philharmonic and the pieces that had been selected were exciting. For Asuka, it was a small comfort that he wanted her to be there and wasn't looking forward to time away from her. In fact, when the trip had first come up, their conversation had revealed that neither of them wanted to spend extended time apart.
Asuka knew when she had to just cut her losses. She had backed Misato into a corner and pushing any further would just trigger an argument, and she just didn't have the emotional energy this morning to carry that through. To Misato's relief, Asuka just nodded and leaned over onto Shinji. The sudden feeling of lethargy was almost too much.
They were on the landing outside the door saying goodbye. Rei and Misato had gone back inside to get ready for the day leaving Asuka stroking Shinji's hair as he buried his face in her hair. She had a warm smile on her face as he continued to mumble that he didn't want to leave her.
"Silly baka. It's not that long. Just call me this afternoon, okay?"
"You always were tougher . . . "
Asuka gently pulled his face to hers for a small kiss. As the kiss broke, she felt him lean his forehead against hers. "We were always tough enough. You should get going or you'll be late. Now, go before I change my mind and revoke your permission slip."
Shinji chuckled and stole one last kiss before he stooped to retrieve the cello and his bag.
Asuka watched him turn the corner and waved back to him as he paused before he passed out of sight. With a deep, cleansing breath, she too went inside to get ready for the day.
Osaka Concert Hall – Afternoon
Shinji was closing his cello case after what turned out to be a particularly grueling rehearsal in the venue. Everyone seemed a little out of sorts after the train ride. As they packed up, Shinji realized that it was a stroke of luck that their bags had been sent on ahead and that everyone had been checked into their rooms by the administrative staff. It was just one less thing to worry about.
Just as he closed the latches on his case, he noticed a pair of black flats appear in front of him. Standing, Shinji found himself face to face with Hisako, the section's principle cellist.
"Shinji, we're all planning on dinner as a section. We're going to meet in the lobby of the hotel about half an hour after we get in."
Shinji did some rapid calculus regarding time, the volatility of a certain red head, and the no nonsense principle cellist in front of him. "Um, okay."
"Good," with that, Hisako moved on to the next target.
Shinji was then engulfed in the chaos of an entire orchestra packing instruments on trucks and boarding buses to the hotel while trying to make sure that the truly important things – his wallet and mobile phone – stayed on his person and did not end up in some sort of Sea of Dirac associated with their equipment people.
The whirlwind of activity ended with him checked into his room, bag dropped on his bed, and sitting in the lobby awaiting the rest of the section. Deciding it was an opportune time to check in with the mother ship, he called Asuka. It was several rings before she picked up, and Shinji could just imagine her fumbling in her purse trying to retrieve her phone.
When she did pick up, he could tell that she was happy and more than a little relieved. "Hi Shinji-kun. How's the trip going so far?"
"Hi Asuka-chan. It's been pretty hectic. Rehearsal was brutal. We're all just not used to travelling," replied Shinji in a tired voice. His eyes, which had been watching the elevators for the rest of the section, unfocused as he started to relax and the two of them entered their own private space. "It's been less than a day, and I miss you."
"Baka, that's almost pathetic . . . but I miss you, too. Oh, Kensuke ran the stats from the band's website. We're over a hundred thousand hits, and the video has been downloaded more than seven hundred times. He's running some analysis software to try and find out who is doing the most downloading. Oddly enough, the majority of the addresses don't come from our school but seem to be from other high schools and junior highs in the area. And, class was pathetic. Rei and I wanted to throw ourselves out the window it was so boring."
Hearing something in her voice, Shinji frowned slightly. "Are you ok? Did something happen at school?"
"Hmm? No, why?"
"You just sound . . . I don't know . . . distracted?"
He heard her sigh softly over the noise on the line.
"You know me so well. That's not really fair. Women are supposed to be mysterious," replied Asuka. Shinji could see her small smile in his mind's eye. Versions of this exact conversation had played out many times before, but this was the first one over the telephone.
"And?"
". . . I got a phone call just before you called. It was Mama and Papa from Germany. They want all of us to visit soon."
"That sounds like fun. Why don't you sound excited about it?"
The line was quiet. Shinji's imagination called up images of Asuka twirling her hair around a finger as she contemplated her answer. It was something he had seen her do many times while on the phone with Hikari gossiping about whatever it was that girls gossip about that takes hours on the telephone.
"Well, you remember that Mama and I haven't been on the best of terms."
"But, you said that was getting better."
"It is, but it's still not great. I also think they really want to meet you and every girl dreads their parents meeting the boyfriend, and there's a paranoid part of me that thinks they'll make me stay in Germany once I'm there. Papa wasn't all that thrilled about letting me stay in Japan, originally."
"Asuka . . . "
"Ikari-kun!" interrupted Hisako as she and a few other section members appeared in front of Shinji.
"uhh . . . H-Hisako-sempai?" responded a surprised Shinji.
"Give me the phone."
"You want my phone?"
"Yes. I want to speak to Asuka-chan," demanded Hisako in a no-nonsense tone.
"um . . . ok," replied a now confused Shinji as he handed over his cell phone.
"Asuka-chan? It's Hisako. Are you well? Good," and Hisako half-turned away from Shinji, and he lost track of the conversation. Shinji sat in the chair more than a little confused. Asuka had met nearly everyone in the section in the intervening time since Shinji had joined and had really hit it off with Hisako of all people. To Shinji, it was probably because Hisako had a personality very much like Hikari's. They were both strong, take charge, and over-achieve but down to earth without the arrogance that sometimes came with authority.
Shinji was broken out of his reverie with the sudden appearance of his phone centimeters from his nose.
"Ikari-kun, tell Asuka-chan that you love her and let's go to dinner."
Shinji inwardly cringed at first at how loud he thought Hisako was being, but ended up smiling at how much she really sounded like Hikari at the moment.
Taking the phone, Shinji decided to play his role. "Honey? I love you," created understanding smiles and giggles from the ladies of the section and sympathetic looks from the men.
Laughing, Asuka was a little slow to reply. "I love you to Baka. Go have dinner and call me later."
"Sure will."
As they completed their good-byes and Shinji closed his phone, he was unceremoniously hauled to his feet by the section as they trooped off to dinner.
Karaoke – Later That Evening
Dinner had gone well. It had gone so well that the entire cello section and Machida were at a karaoke bar. Beer and soda was flowing prodigiously and most of the section had lived up to the stereotype of instrumentalists not being able to sing well. But, the caring factor had slid to what Shinji assumed to be an all-time low based on the amount of beer that had been consumed and how good a time everyone was having.
Hisako had kicked off the evening with a J-Pop tune that was surprisingly good, or surprisingly not bad depending on point of view, and had then proceeded to harangue everyone into doing a tune starting with Machida. Shinji had remained outside the line of fire up until one of the younger members of the section mentioned to Hisako that Shinji was lead singer in a rock band. Machida then piled on with comments that he had gone to the coffee shop concert and was impressed. This all resulted in the entire group chanting for a performance. It was at this point that Machida also brought up the video from the band's website on the large screen. A thoroughly embarrassed Shinji watched his section mates hoot and holler at Kensuke and Yuki's master piece.
Hisako dragged Shinji to the microphone, and the two of them did a raucous duet once Shinji got past the initial stanza. The peer pressure and the performance adrenaline then kept him on stage for three more tunes. Unbeknownst to Shinji, halfway through his duet, Machida got a speculative look in his eyes and replayed some of the band's video on his phone. A quick nod of his head and some text messages began to flow out of the room. The last bit of the last message had just left the phone as Hisako's hand snapped the phone shut and ripped it from Machida's hand.
"We're here to have fun, not to work!" she declared with a joyful, beeriness. Tossing the phone into her bag, she declared "Two song and one round of drinks penalty for inappropriate work during the party!"
"PENALTY!" roared the section as Machida waived his hands in acquiescence to the crowd.
Train – Saturday Afternoon
Shinji sat on the train buried deep into the music from his headphones. He was grateful that Asuka had bought the more expensive, noise-cancelling variety that helped blot out the various conversations around him. Shinji was exhausted. The group had been out late the night before, and he'd had trouble sleeping once he did get back to the room.
It hadn't been obvious the night before why he could not seem to get comfortable and fall asleep, but it was readily apparent sitting on the train getting closer to home. Asuka wasn't there. He had a hard time feeling comfortable without her. He had fun with everyone, and it was a good time overall. But, there wasn't the same completeness. Shinji was having a hard time conceptualizing his feelings or the different feelings when Asuka wasn't that nearly constant presence in his life.
In his mind's eye, he could picture her down to the smallest detail – happy, sad, confused, whatever situation he could think of. The images became so strong that he could almost feel her presence. Coupled with the fact that every passing moment and each little bump of the train on the tracks brought him closer to her, it was enough to allow him to finally fall asleep.
Train Station – Saturday Evening
Rei, Misato, and Asuka stood next to the infamous blue Alpine waiting for a certain teenager to exit the station. There had been a brief flurry of phone calls as Shinji updated them on his progress returning from the concert. Misato was on the phone arranging a night out with the gang from NERV and mostly oblivious to the activity around her. Asuka was on the phone with Hikari discussing the frustrations associated with dealing with the Stooge Nation. Interestingly enough, Rei was people watching.
She had almost a savant's ability to acquire, categorize, and store information. But, thanks mainly to Asuka, Shinji, and Hikari, she could now interpret and speculate about that information. Her attention had just passed from a small group of 5th grade girls who, to Rei, were obviously talking about boys. There was a lot of giggling and blushing. Some rather loud denials of crushes had also erupted into fits of laughter and pouting. Rei's new observation target was a group of salary men. They appeared to be headed to dinner after a Saturday spent rescuing their company from some calamity. She noted the lull in their conversation as they watched a group of office ladies heading in the opposite direction and the resumption of the conversation as they left the field of view. A little "harrumph" escaped Rei's lips as she captured the typical male behavior.
"Annoying isn't it that their hentai behavior never truly goes away?" pondered Asuka.
Broken out of her observations, Rei glanced at Asuka and merely gave a small nod. It had bothered her at first that all boys seemed to constantly be aware of the girls they thought were pretty. After the long, girl-talk sessions, Rei had come to an understanding about that behavior – not acceptance, but maybe something closer to détente. At least it didn't infuriate her as it had in the past. Of course, neither of them spoke of the similar boy-watching activity they and their classmates continually participated in. That sort of paradox had already been rationalized away because of the fact that boys were just perverted unlike girls.
At roughly the same moment, Shinji was collecting his cello and bag from luggage racks near the doors of the train and was then stepping onto the platform. Luckily, the train was not very full and the platform not crowded. He quickly scanned the signs and got his bearings and then headed towards the correct platform exit. As he exited the station, he quickly began to scan the area. The visual clues of blue hair, red hair, and red jacket quickly registered, and he reset the shoulder strap of his cello case and headed towards his family.
Rei was the first to see him. He saw her wave and call out "Onii-chan!" Shinji saw Asuka's face turn and it blossomed from happy to joyously beautiful. The artist in him felt as if a window onto the sun had just opened and bathed him in warmth.
At his return wave, she immediately raced over to give him a quick hug and welcome home. Asuka and Misato were following along in Rei's wake and arrived just as Rei released Shinji.
"Welcome back Shinji. Did you have a good time?" queried Misato.
"It was fun, but I'm glad to be back, Mom."
"Let's get going. Your sister convinced me to take us all to dinner instead of cooking you a surprise, 'welcome home' dinner."
Misato had already turned away and missed the grateful look Shinji passed to Rei at being spared a meal prepared by an out-of-practice Misato.
As Rei turned to follow Misato, Asuka and Shinji slipped into a quiet hug and quiet "I missed you's". For the first time, Asuka and Shinji created a quiet, alone bubble of space-time in the center of a crowded, public space. People, noise, and general chaos flowed around the little bubble like water around a stone. The breathless passion of romance novels and videos was absent from this small scene of tranquility. It was in this tranquility that the two of them soothed the small hurts of being apart. Neither of them realized that this was the first time they had been able to do this in public, nor that they would become skilled at having these little private moments in public to protect their relationship.
The young couple joined hands and headed towards the car at a brisk pace to catch up with Rei and Misato.
"Asuka, what else did we hear about the website?"
"Nothing really. Hikari, Rei, Yuki, and I are going to get together to talk about how we take this data and drive a marketing campaign. We might even be able to get some web ad revenue. Yuki and Hikari are doing some research. Hikari did say that her dad suggested that we incorporate and formalize the business deals. I did a bunch of research and have the documents ready for us to review and sign. Misato said that she'd have the lawyers at work help us pro bono, and we have the petty cash to pay for the filing fees."
"Wow . . . you have really been busy in the last couple of days."
"Well, it was pretty interesting, and I needed something to do while you were off gallivanting around the country with Hisako-san," smiled Asuka as she squeezed his hand in both of hers. Lowering her voice, Asuka continued, "By the way, Rei finally dumped Hideyoshi. She's mostly over it, but hasn't decided to talk about it. If you want my advice, let her come to you and then just listen. There's nothing for you to fix as her big brother. She just needs someone to listen."
Shinji's response and the rest of their conversation was cut off as they started to load Shinji's duffel bag and cello into the car. Rei had immediately screamed "Shotgun!" the moment the hatch closed on the luggage and scrambled to the passenger seat leaving a confused Shinji to stare at Asuka.
"We watched an American movie last night and, apparently, if you want to be the one to ride in the passenger seat, you have to be the first one to 'call it' by yelling 'Shotgun!'"
"I . . . see . . . "
"You do realize that this works out for the best, right?"
It took less than two-tenths of a second for the previously random synapse firings in Shinji's brain to coalesce into the crystalline knowledge that he got to squeeze into the backseat with Asuka if Rei was in the passenger seat. A heartwarming smile formed in the next moment as he nodded his agreement.
"Good. Now, be a good Baka and open the door so we can go get dinner."
Later That Evening
Rei, Asuka, and Shinji were crowded around Asuka's desk going over the various pieces of research that Asuka had compiled around forming companies and the notes she had taken. Rei had filled four pages of various figures running financial scenarios. It was an amazing amount of work for what was essentially an evening and a morning's worth of activity.
Asuka had found some websites that showed step by step instructions for incorporating and had also done research into the market. She had also linked back to her old college's business department to get some interesting material on "competitive advantage" and "market segmentation". It was obvious that Rei had taken some scenarios that Asuka had written out and done a financial projection. As they explained it to him, Shinji realized that the financial projections were simple arithmetic with the most advanced thing being the "geometric infinite series" that they had studied at the beginning of the year and that they mostly hinged on only letting one variable change at a time in the scenario along with some guesswork. What Shinji found really amazing was that Asuka's business research and scenarios felt more like their sortie planning meetings and Misato's battle plan briefings than reading the business section of the paper.
"If I understand this, and I'm not sure that I do," started Shinji as he leaned back in his chair, "we shouldn't be in the music business but in the online advertising business?"
"That's what Rei's financial analysis points to. We haven't really done any original stuff, so we'd have to pay royalties on nearly everything we do musically which would practically destroy what little margin we could squeeze out also because we'd have to get real lawyers to negotiate with the people who own the rights. That would take forever. We should trade on the popularity of the band right now and make money from the number of people coming onto the site."
"That's . . . that's just . . . amazing! It's like hitting them in the flank after feinting the frontal assault."
"You may bask in my brilliance to your heart's content," laughed Asuka.
"Shinji, you just have to realize that Asuka has applied her training from Misato to our current situation. If you'll notice on this page here," continued Rei as she pulled a sample organization chart out of the pile of paper. "She's even made initial assignments based on the relative strengths and weaknesses of everyone involved. When we went over it this morning, it all seemed very straightforward."
"I think that's what I think is so amazing about this. None of the pieces of this by themselves are significant stretches or particularly visionary. It's the whole picture of those mostly ordinary pieces that's so fantastic! It's like making gold out of lead."
"You have been reading too many of those old Full Metal Alchemist manga again," declared Asuka as Shinji leaned over and gave her a big, sloppy kiss.
"Maybe. Did you guys think about Machida's proposal that the three of us be models for the program for the next concert?"
"Sort of. What kind of concert is it supposed to be? By the way, I can't take you seriously if you keep slobbering on your girlfriend like that."
"Yeah, it was just a bit too sloppy," came Asuka reply as she reached for the tissue box.
"Ok, ok. Anyways, Machida told me that it's a pops concert, so that means more modern music. Don't forget that 'modern' to him means composers that lived within the last 100 years."
Putting on her CEO game face, Asuka's response was practically their negotiating blue print. "We can certainly have the discussion. Since he's essentially leveraging our popularity to bring in a younger demographic, we should be able to get buy in for things like putting our website on the program along with some additional paid links by the Philharmonic."
Rei and Shinji just quietly stared at Asuka noticing that her gaze had turned inwards as she started on the tactical problem of dealing with Machida.
"I think we probably won't ask for money, but for tickets, space in the program, and other items in trade since we may not be incorporated by then." As Asuka's gaze refocused on Shinji and Rei, confusion and annoyance crossed her face. "What?"
"It's a little spooky when she does that, isn't it?" commented Shinji.
"She'syour girlfriend."
"Sarcasm? From you? What happened to sticking together as a family?"
"She uses big words, too. Did they confuse you? Kensuke and Toji are still plowing through the dictionary to figure out what 'demographic' means. I'm pretty sure that their efforts have run into trouble because they can't spell it."
"You will NOT talk about me like I'm not here!" roared Asuka, effectively silencing both brother and sister, who incidentally stuck her tongue out at her older brother.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Asuka focused on Shinji. "Your answer is obviously 'yes' we have thought about it since the text messages came in last night, but we're all going to need to sit down and talk about it before any real decisions can be made. Misato hasn't even decided if she'll let us do this. You know how she really wants us to keep a lower profile. We're not that far removed from the big argument we had about the website."
That brought them all back to the reality that their lives weren't completely their own and that they would never really have normal lives. The argument around the website had been fairly heated. The memories of the various groups all wanting a piece of their fame or their pound of flesh were still very vivid. The website had not seemed to inflame any of that, but the Magi still closely monitored the traffic on the site and Section 2 used it as an investigative starting point for some things that the Children really weren't supposed to know about. In fact, that was only reason Misato had finally agreed to the web site – Section 2 could use it as a method for smoking out people who were too interested in the Children.
Shinji's yawn triggered sympathy yawns from both Asuka and Rei.
As the apartment darkened and quiet had descended, Asuka quietly assumed her accustomed spot snuggled against Shinji. Her sleepy voice was hushed and nearly lost in the soft noises of the city.
"It's much nicer when you're here."
"I was thinking the same thing."
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Author's Parting Shots: As most of you can tell, we're starting to approach the conclusion of this little soiree. I have some ideas on follow up stories, but haven't finalized how many chapters it's really going to take for me to tie this off.