Us From Now On
Chapter 5.
Summary: Why is it that we realize the importance of someone after they are gone? For it is hypocrisy and the human nature that blinds us to what matters the most.
AN: Sorry. The first week back has been hell. I have to work hard to keep up with the weekly updates. I'm stressed, and thus, this monster was born.
Disclaimer is on page one.
-"Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart and the joy in a heart."
The trip to Tokyo was generally uninteresting so far to say the least. Other than giggling at Yui and Mugi mess around with Azusa along the ride, Mio didn't really have anything to do. The bassist was very tired since last night's thinking caused her to fell asleep at 4 while they have to leave at 9.15 for the 2nd Shinkansen heading to Tokyo.
Mio was tired, confused and was very cranky, thanks to the brat who kept kicking the back of her seat obnoxiously. A cranky Mio wasn't a really nice Mio, that's why she preferred to stay quiet in case her emotion gets the best of her. Her grey eyes strayed over to her right where the green scenery flashed by as their train zoomed towards Japan's number one metropolitan city. The scenery was a bit different from when they were going to Kyoto in that school trip during High School. The way to Kyoto was filled with endless green meadows, and old temples adorning here and there. Now, towards Tokyo, all that were seen were buildings, trees, and more buildings.
Watching outside the window gets boring very quickly at this rate.
Letting out a sigh, the raven haired bassist took out the concert tickets Shingo had gave them 3 days ago. Speaking of Shingo, he took off for Tokyo a day early since he had some work to do there. The girls were going to call him once they arrived in Tokyo, though Mugi had said that she wouldn't mind calling a driver from her aunt's uh…mansion to pick them up.
Again, the HTT had to impose on their keyboardist's kindness, though the blonde herself doesn't mind. Mugi said her aunt had lent them her mansion to spend the week in for this trip, since she was currently out of the country, travelling. Mio felt really bad about using Mugi every time they went on a trip with the band.
"Mio-chan?"
"Can you read minds?" Mio asked with a laugh as she turned to the blonde. This wasn't the first time Mugi had spoken when the bassist was thinking of speaking to her.
The blonde laughed along as she gets the joke "again huh?" Mio nods with a chuckle as Yui forced Azusa to wear a tiger striped neko-mimi for the entire ride across their seats "well…I can't read minds, but I can see when someone's having negative thoughts."
"Can you?"
"Yes. You, especially, since you start frowning like this when you're thinking dark and serious stuff," Mugi gave a comical frown and glared at the window, prompting the raven haired bassist to laugh as she imagined herself caught by her friend countless of times while looking this absurd.
Laughing feels good in a while, though Mio couldn't honestly say that she was laughing sincerely.
"Seriously Mio-chan," the blonde continued, looking a bit worried as she peered on her friend's baggy grey eyes "you should try to relax a bit more. You're looking a bit pale."
Grey eyes blinked tiredly as its owner shrugs "I know…but it's hard to relax. Every time I tried to relax, it felt like something wasn't right and I'm back to thinking about Rit- unwanted stuff again…"almost a slip, though the bassist knew her friend too well for her to miss this. Mugi was the most perceptive person she knew. It's hard hiding stuff from her…while the blonde herself seems really mysterious at times.
The keyboardist was silent, only giving out a gentle smile at her friend's problem. That what Mio like from Mugi. Mugi doesn't give people empty words of comfort or fake understanding…especially on the bassist's situation. The graceful Ojou-sama just gave a comforting nod, a gentle smile and Mio knows that she, along with Yui and Azusa, would always there for her.
"So, um, about this concert…what was it called again?" grateful for the change of subject provided by her friend, Mio quickly scans the ticket for the concert name.
"It's called 'Hell Fest'," the raven haired girl gave a slight shiver as she remembered Sawa-chan and her Death Devil "don't tell me…we're going to a death metal concert?" just thinking about it makes her want to return to her corner of woes, block out her ears and filled her mind with fluffy stuff in order to escape the dark music world of screams and bangings.
Mugi could only let out a sympathetic laugh "No, I don't think so," she heard a relieved sigh from her right "I think it's a rock concert…but Shingo-san didn't really tell me anything about it."
Mio nodded to that, remembering that only Yui and Azusa were informed of what this concert was "ne, Yui, Azusa, what do you thi-" she stops as she caught sight of the two guitarists fell blissfully asleep with the younger's head leaning on the brunette's left shoulder. The two of them made such a cute sight.
The bassist blinked. No wonder it had gotten so quiet.
The blonde on Mio's left side exploded into a giggle fit which managed to crack a small smile on the bassist's fair visage. HTT's guitarists sure get along very well, no matter how vehemently Azusa tried to deny it.
"It seems like they're only available for questioning once we reached Tokyo, Mio-chan," Mugi chuckles as she leaned back on her comfy seat, took out her camera and took aim at the cutely sleeping girls "but, we're not far now, right?"
The black haired bassist nods as she mirrored her friend and leaned back on her seat, trying to be comfortable enough for the ride ahead. Looking at Mugi, Mio remembered about the thoughts she had last night and the memory of the blonde arguing with Ritsu on graduation day resurfaced. She made up her mind.
"Ne…Mugi?"
"Hmm?" seeing that Mio's tone dropped a notch, as though she was going to talk about something serious, the blonde keyboardist sat up straighter in her seat and listen with her out most attention "what is it Mio-chan?"
The raven haired bassist fidgeted under the attention and wondered how should she brought up the topic "um…well, it's about graduation day," she stopped and after seeing a nod from Mugi, continued "well, did you- no, what did you talk about that day? Do you remember? With Ri-" the rest of her words were drowned as announcement sounded from the loud speaker then, saying that they will arrive in Tōkaidō Shinkansen Shinagawa Station , Tokyo, in another 10 minutes.
Yui and Azusa woke up with a start, rubbing their eyes, stretching and yawning as Mio frowned at the announcement.
"That's our stop, right?"The bassist asked her blonde friend distractedly, afraid that somehow they had taken the wrong train and ended up somewhere else. Her heart calmed down when the blonde nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, we'll get off in Shinagawa Station," blue eyes glanced at the 2 sleepy girls across from her before returning to grey pair of irises "what were you saying, Mio-chan?"
Mio flinched. Oh, God. The first time trying to talk about it was awkward enough, maybe now's not the right time to talk about it after all "ah, umm…nothing. I'll-maybe later," please, please let it go! She prayed as she saw a thoughtful look flashed across Mugi's face.
"Okay…" she doesn't sound too sure! Mio thought with a grimace "anyway, let's get ready now, Yui-chan, Azusa-chan, it's our stop," the keyboardist turned to their other friends as the train slowed down to prepare for its stop. At this, the bassist sighed in relief, hoping that Mugi will forget this awkward conversation with time.
(_ _)
"Oh. My. GOD."
Three pairs of jaws dropped at the sight that greeted them. When she said Mansion, Mugi wasn't really kidding.
The band ended up getting a ride in the Kotobuki Limousine since Shingo, their designated driver + tour guide, couldn't make it until around lunch. The ride in the limousine was filled with awkward silence, staring and several free cakes courtesy of Mugi which helped melted the tension. Yui had fun in playing with the buttons and almost had her head stuck in the glass divider that was between their seats and the driver's.
And now, several minutes later, they have arrived and personally witnessed the wealth of the Kotobuki family in Tokyo. Mugi's Aunt's Mansion had security posts stationed at the gates, which according to the blonde, there were 2 of them; the back gates and the front gates. A long, very long driveway from the front gates later, the HTT was greeted with the sight of a 2 stories western-styled building that looks very much like an ancient cathedral. As the limo slowed down, the girls could see Greek statues and several ceramic birdbaths decorated the green shrubs at the sides of the mansion. Rows of expressionless maids and butlers lined up outside the main entrance, all bowing in sync as the band got out of the car albeit a bit awkwardly.
Seeing the luxurious scarlet red carpet adorning the front steps for them, Yui, Mio and Azusa looked at each other rather uneasily. This…was a bit too much, right? But none of them had the heart to say it to their blonde friend who was looking at them with nervous expectation. They couldn't say it even more when they realized that each maids and butlers holds a small basket full of…flower petals?
Yui, Azusa and Mio could only stare blankly at the welcome reception, especially when the maids and butlers started throwing flowers at them.
Several seconds passed in silence.
Tsumugi-Ojou-sama fidgeted nervously when her friends stayed silent, unmoving "i-is this not enough? I can um, well-" she should've checked up with her Aunt about this beforehand!
"This is very enough, thank you." the others cut her off quickly.
Mio felt slightly overwhelmed with all the grandiose treatments she received, and swore to herself she'd make it up to Mugi for this later, no matter how.
"Um…" the blonde keyboardists still looked a bit uncomfortable, wondering if these were too much "shall we go in?"
The girls blinked out of their stupor, and nervously nodded as they went inside the building. The butlers and maids were too kind to them. Yui had to wrestle Gitaah out of a butler's hold, insisting that she can carry 'him' by herself.
(_ _)
Kannagi Shingo tapped his feet impatiently as he waited on the driveway of the Kotobuki Mansion. He was supposed to pick up the HTT girls earlier, but couldn't come since something came up in his schedule. To make up for it, he came to the Kotobuki Mansion an hour after their arrival in Tokyo to give the girls a Tokyo tour on his prized Volkswagen Touran MPV.
The music studio clerk bowed his head awkwardly as a group of maid passed him, each of them carrying plastic bags as though they were back from the market. Shingo knew that Mugi was loaded, but he didn't know that she was this loaded and owned a mansion that's probably the size of a quarter of the city of the freakin' Tokyo itself!
A loud creaking of doors alerted him and he turned around to see the Azusa, Yui, Mugi and Mio came out from the front door, accompanied by the horde of Kotobuki maids and butlers.
"Have a nice trip, Ojou-sama," the eldest of the butlers bowed at Mugi which then was followed by the other maids and butlers. Even though they lack a bit of emotion in their words, it was clear that they meant it in their gestures. He could see the blonde keyboardist looked a bit uncomfortable with the display and gave a hurried 'thank you' before pulling her friends towards the him who was waiting on the driveway.
"Sorry about that," the keyboardist apologized for the several time, a bit red from embarrassment "I already told them not to do that, but…"
"That's fine, Mugi-senpai," Azusa said quickly, feeling a bit awkward every time this subject was brought up "that's their job after all..."and it's not very nice to refuse what the household offered, especially when you'll be staying and imposing on them for a whole week.
The long haired clerk waved at the girls in hello from his place by his lime-green colored van as Yui ran up at him "Shin-chan!" the brunette exclaimed as she high-fived the only guy in the group, who grinned back at her "so, did you find the place easily?"
Shingo gave a laugh and nods as he turned to Mugi "I did, thanks to Mugi-chan's detailed instruction. And thanks for telling the security guards outside that I'm a friend, they won't let me in otherwise!"
When Shingo had arrived outside the Kotobuki Mansion's gates half an hour earlier, he tried to enter the premises, insisting that he knew Mugi. The security didn't believe him and almost dragged him off to the Police Station for trespassing if not for the blonde Ojou-sama who happened to call Shingo's cell phone at that exact moment and talked to the guards about him. That was a close one, and the poor guy was still having cold sweat from that experience.
Shingo noticed that the band's bassist was a bit quiet, rubbing her eyes tiredly, and looking quite a bit out of place amongst the cheerful girls "You okay, Mio-chan?" he worriedly asked. The raven haired bassist looked up at the call of her name and gave a tired smile.
"I'm fine, just lacking a bit in the sleep department," a nonchalant wave of her hand which signaled the end to that question. The guy nodded, afraid of butting in into personal territories again like last time. Yui heard the exchange and grabbed Mio's arm and clung like a leech.
"Hang on, Mio-chan! We'll be touring around Tokyo now," she said excitedly and it's hard for the bassist to resist her cheerfulness. Yui's cheeriness was contagious "you can go to sleep all you want after we're done, kay?"
Mugi gave a cheer as she and Azusa climbed on the backseat of the van. Yui clapped Mio's back in a reassuring manner before following Azu-nyan, who yelped when her senpai glomped her after they sat down. The raven haired girl fought off a small grin as her mood lifted and the day began to look brighter. Bless that girl, she thought with a small laugh.
Seeing that there's no option left but to seat shotgun, the bassist climbed aboard the vehicle as gracefully as she can without flashing anyone (she was wearing a skirt and the Van was a bit high) before closing the car door with a definite snap as Shingo clicked his seatbelt in place on her right. She mirrored him out of habit, safety first right?
"Ready, everyone?" the clerk asked with a cheery voice, to which was answered with a cheer from the backseat, one was rather hesitant "then, let the tour begin!"
(_ _)
Tokyo, being one of the busiest cities in the world, was obviously packed with people. Mio knew all these and yet, she was still taken aback at how many people were crossing the street when the red light came before the lime-green van they were riding in.
She heard a soft cuss escaped the person seated on her right and she marveled at how sharp her hearing was, hearing something like that beneath the loud chatter from the backseat. Must be because of those time playing music and straining her ears to listen to the low notes of the bass.
Mio gave a small smile at the driver "frustrated?" it was an attempt in starting a conversation; she mostly kept to herself throughout the ride.
The clerk looked surprised at the question and gave a humorless laugh "no kidding," he waved a hand at the sea of people crossing the street " I love Tokyo and all, but I can never get used to the sight of a quarter of Tokyo's population crosses the street every time I hit a red light. The small roads are not helping when you drive a car around and it's frustrating whenever you have to go somewhere quick and you get lost because you don't know the area well to drive around without GPS," the light turns green, and Shingo stepped on the pedal with a relieved sigh "finally!" the car moved into a decent pace, slow enough for the girls to look around but not slow enough to get them honked on from behind.
Mio's eyes glanced upon rows and rows of musical stores that were practically located all over the street. During their quick lunch after leaving the mansion, Shingo had asked what kind of tour does the girls wanted and he received a unanimous agreement to embark on a musical tour. To be short, the guy showed them around the musical part of Tokyo, stopping on old CD stores to get some old CDs, an old music collector store for the girls to spoil their inner fan girls, and he even stopped at outdoor venues for them to watch bands playing a street live, some kind of a rare sight from where the girls came from, even though looking for an empty parking spot was plain hell.
Now, 5 hours after the tour had started, the bassist was burdened by 3 paper bags filled with old magazines, CDs, bass picks and whatnots, her sling bag was filled with small memorabilias from the collector store, and another bag filled with half empty snacks and canned drinks sat on her feet. Mio glanced behind at the girls on the backseat who shopped as much as she did as they indulge in this blissful trip. Even Yui, who was a newbie in the musical world, was screeching like a banshee when she saw a worn out Japanese Magazine fully dedicated itself in all about Jeff Beck shelved on one of the old sections in the collector's store. A sure sign that Azusa's sense of music has been rubbing off on her in a good way.
Her wandering grey eyes were met with amused blue as she awkwardly smiled back. The conversation that took place at the train came to her and Mio idly wondered if Mugi had forgotten about it. Probably not.
"So, " Shingo's voice broke her from her musing and she looked up at the driver as the others stopped their chat and tuned in, in interest "we are currently at Meida Dori Avenue in Ochanomizu. This whole area is filled with shops that dedicated themselves to satisfy the hunger of all musicians by selling the best musical instrument out there," a dramatic pause now that he realized he had his guests' full attention "anyone want to stop over?" That was a teasing question.
Complains filled the car immediately.
"Mou, I don't want to buy anything anymore!" Yui clutched her purse tightly in defiance, afraid that the pink object would fly out of her grip any moment and start prancing out to one of the stores. Azusa seems to agree with her, as the pig tailed girl morosely eyed her purse, where she had splurged on the money more than she had intended today. Mio's feet nudged the many bags under her seat and felt guilty about spending so much money already, and they just arrived this afternoon!. Mugi was smiling as serenely as ever until one thing caught her attention outside the window.
"Ah!" she exclaimed softly which garnered the others' attentions "that's my father's store…" The van literally shook as all tried to shift themselves to the left side to catch a glimpse of said store.
A large board with the word 'Kotobuki' in bright yellow romaji stood up above a 3 storied building wedged between rows of similar looking stores. It's a bit like the one they had back in their hometown, only larger and more…Tokyo-ish? They were too immersed in ogling at the stores and the van almost swerved if Shingo didn't grab a hold of the steering wheel.
"Sorry," he apologized as they slowed down as they hit the red light once again "I'm also a tourist here."
The girls looked shocked at this "but you have a car?" yes Yui, like that answered the question, Mio's sarcastic mind said to her. The clerk only gave a nod as he stepped on the gas once again, bringing the car into a comfortable pace as it hit larger roads now that they've left the busier part of Tokyo.
"I bought this car so I could drive myself around whenever I come to visit my sister," he explained, glancing at the backseat from the rear view mirror "I'm from Osaka, but my older sister worked and lived here, so I thought why not buy a car and leave it here so my sister can use it to go to work and I can use it whenever I come by? And here we are with this Volkswagen, though I don't come by that much, only on holidays." He added to some questioning looks.
"What a nice little brother," Mugi teased with that tilt in her voice that would never fail to make anyone blush, Mio was one of the unfortunate ones to be at the other end of the teasing remark. As on cue, Shingo blushed and the girls giggled at the sight. With a smile, the raven haired girl turned to the window on her left, watching silently as they drove further and further away from Ginza, her mind once more wandered off thanks to fatigue and lack of sleep.
It was a simple, random thing, really. A mention of 'little brother' and wham!, her mind returned to her. Three guesses who.
Mio was in Tokyo, the city that held that one place she really wanted to go and visit with that person. The one place where they had been aiming for since years ago. It's a bit saddening that she finally came here, it was without Ritsu. Her eyes glazed over as she caught a blur of greenish-grey along the road, her fingers played with her short locks idly out of boredom.
Perhaps Azusa sensed the melancholic mood coming out in waves from her senpai on the passenger seat, or perhaps not. The pigtailed girl elbowed her brown haired senpai to get her attention, who pouted in retaliation yet leaned in once her junior looked like she wanted to say something private. After getting the attention she wanted, Azusa whispered a few words, loud enough to reach Mugi who joined them in interest.
After the youngest of the group stopped talking, Yui's face beamed enough to rival neon lights in the middle of the night and the blonde let out an excited 'ah!' and nodded excitedly in agreement.
"Shin-chan," the brown haired guitarist called out, earning Mio's attention as well since she broke a tranquil silence "before we call it a day, we have just one more place to visit."
The note of confidence Yui had in her words interested Shingo, who grinned back as he accelerated "where to, ladies?"
(_ _)
The month of March indicated spring, and with spring blooms the Sakura. The vivid contrast of pink amongst lush green of the leaves and the grey that dominated the building's surrounding was beautiful. The sight took Mio's breath away as she basked in the glory of a very cool evening and the blossoming flowers, momentarily forgetting of her woes.
The car finally stopped in an empty lot and the people inside it piled out, with awestruck looks on their faces. Even Shingo, their tour guide for this trip, looked overwhelmed with the sight. The Houkago Teatime girls, Mio stole a glance at them as they stood gaping in front of the building, were all speechless.
It came as a confusing request from Yui, who asked Shingo to drive them to 2-3 Kitanomarukōen, Chiyoda, before they call it a day. The bassist had frowned at the strange request, though the address seemed to ring a bell in her head. The music studio clerk was frowning as well, but as he saw Mugi brandishing a blue-yellow flyer like a flag on the rear view mirror, understanding dawned upon him. Mio still frowned since she missed the kanji on the front of the flyer before the blonde had put it back inside her purse with a cheeky grin.
Eyes lighting up, Shingo told his guests to brace themselves as he made a u turn and headed to that one particular place.
And here they were, fifteen minutes later, standing with slack jaws as they looked up at the majestic building of the Nippon Budoukan, lost in thoughts. Yes, Budoukan, the very place of their dreams.
Seeing the place from up close made the hair on the back of Mio's neck stood up in anticipation. Ever since she had known about music, she always wondered what it would felt like to stand before a stadium, with an adrenaline rush, preparing for a night of concert. Watching concert DVDs more than once do that to you.
Sure, she might not be here for a concert tonight, but just seeing with her own two eyes, the actual place that held record-breaking concerts and was visited by famous people ever since she was even born…that was enough to get her pumped up. She felt a strange rush of determination washed over her, a feeling that made her feel like she had to do something… a feeling that she had not felt in quite a while.
She raised one shaking, sweaty palm at the direction of the stadium and closed it into a tight fist.
"Ne, Ritsu?"Her quiet voice traveled through the evening air, loud enough to reach for her ears only "I'm in front of Budoukan right now, I'm facing the destination of our dream. Our precious dream," a pause as she gathered her breath, and Mio tried not to think that she looked stupid for talking to empty air "and you know what? I wanted to make that dream a reality, just like what you-no, we, had always wanted. I don't want to let it die, forgotten."
The hand lowered and fell into place by her side.
"Ritsu…what would you say if you were here?"Grey eyes closed as memories washed over her. Instead of the upsetting, depressing memories, a faint smile appeared on the fair visage of the bassist as something else came to her mind. Probably the first true smile she had in a while
Not all memories were bad, and the one she was remembering right now one was one of them.
'You're right' the bassist thought with a smile 'we won't let that dream die! We'll get this damn stadium to sell our tickets and play our music to our hearts' content if it's the last thing we do!' Mio could even hear Ritsu's familiar booming, confident laugh, rang in her head as those words passed her mind.
Suddenly, the cold night air wasn't so cold anymore. Her heart felt lighter than she ever remembered and the raven haired girl felt like a huge burden had been taken off of her shoulders. Too long have she immersed herself in sorrow following of her best friend's disappearance. She had lost sight of the dream the two of them had since childhood, the dream that kept them together throughout the years.
Mio understood, that even though Ritsu wasn't physically with her, the brunette will always be with her in heart and spirit. Their love of music will keep them connected, and no matter where the drummer was, as long as she still has the dream to reach Budoukan, Mio knew that their paths will cross once again someday. Maybe tomorrow, next week, 3 years from now…but definitely, they will meet again.
That's why she had to raise her head up high, and keep on practicing. Houkago Teatime had to be ready for their drummer's return, and time flies by quickly right?
Noticing that her friends were waving at her by their ride as a sign to go, Mio gave a nod before giving the Budoukan one last glance.
A grateful smile and the girl walked away. Not for the last time, no.
This trip was starting to look up, after all.
She'll come by again. Definitely.
A/N: This story is taking a turn to somewhere I did not expect. I have never been to Tokyo before, so forgive me if I made a mistake in the locations.
An emotional scene at the end if I don't butcher it. I always felt like that before sport matches. Augh. As usual favs and alerts are appreciated. But reviews will keep me going. Take care!