Read and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~INCOGNITO~~~~~~

I think both Tykki and I didn't realize that time what we actually had done. Two days after our triumph against the gay society in our town, we read in the local newspaper about the tragedy of a young man in his twenties, who had been assaulted by two unknown youngsters right under the Asian Bridge. The police was looking for two boys, probably under 20-years, one of them is probably of Western-european origins, as the victim stated. There were no details about why the victim was near the bridge, but he stated that before the attack he was supposed to meet a man, who might be a part of the assault. I clearly remember the day when Tykki gave me the newspaper. His face was really displeased. After reading the thorough description of one of the attackers, I could feel a single drop of cold sweat running along my face.

"I'm fucked..." He commented and we decided to discuss it on the rooftop, without any witnesses. I could only pray that our society was too illiterate and didn't care about reading some dumb paper. "I'm seriously fucked."

"Dude, chill out. It's not like you're the only foreign-looking guy in our town. We have a lot more immigrants here." I tried to calm him down, though in my head I was strongly agreeing with him. From us both, the gay blond was able to see Tykki's face.

"That doesn't matter... The police isn't that dumb these days. They might trace my conversations!"

"But you haven't talked with him from your computer, have you?" He froze for a moment, definitely looking for a good answer. That silence got me very anxious. "...Tykki, have you?" He brought up a cigarette to his mouth and deeply inhaled cancerous smoke. "Oh my God..."

"I can't recall, I might have chatted with him once in my house."

"Tykki!"

"Does it even matter!?" He was furious. "I have deleted my account right after that evening, but I know this can easily be returned for this investigation."

"Oh God..." I didn't know what to say or what to do. Right after we decided to go with my plan, we set some rules. Or primary rule was not to use our home internet connection during conversations with all gays. It wasn't any problem for me, as I have cracked my neighbor's password to his wi-fi, so I was always using it instead of mine. But to know that Tykki used his own connection, I felt my legs giving up. No, I couldn't just stand there quietly. We were in pinch and we had to decide for our future. "Wouldn't it be wiser to just ditch this idea?"

"No, the idea is fine, we just have to be more careful now. Let's just stay quiet for now and hope the police wouldn't find out about us..." I was very surprised by his statement. Our heads were on the chopping block and yet he didn't want to give up. "We still have your account, so we can make another jump..."

"Yeah..." I agreed. "Though in my case it won't be as easy, you know."

"This guy still isn't revealing himself?"

"No, he's really cautious. The only thing I know is that he's attending University of Arts and his name is Neah."

"Hmm... My uncle is working there, so I might try to ask him about this Neah guy. You also said that he's just a kid, 15 years old?"

"Yeah, but be careful. If you decide to show up too much, you might become very suspicious..."

"I know, I won't do anything for now. Besides, he's out on business trip, I won't be able to talk to him until next month. " Just after that the bell rang, so the break was over. I know that after beating the crap out of Mr. Bak my life has reached some sort of turning point. I can't tell for now if it was a good point, but let's just say – things were a lot different. I was more scared of being caught than disgusted by my own behavior. I was actually still proud of myself that we were able to make an impact and maybe if some gay guys read today's newspaper, they started to fear for themselves. Right now Tykki and I had to play it low. I still had a chance to repeat our victory, but firstly I had to crack Musician open...

A month passed after the attack. First signs of spring came up and I felt more horny than usual. I decided to take one of cheerleaders, Sachiko, as my new girl. She was very cute with her long, brown hair and innocent kawaii look. She was alright for the time being and I knew that this relationship wouldn't last long.

However, my conversations with Neah became more and more deep on personal level. Or at least I know I tried to know his inner side – there was no way to get him out of this stupid virtual reality. I never wanted to talk about myself too much, I was afraid of revealing myself. One time I might have pushed my luck a little too much, because his replies started to scare me.

#Musician: Why do you keep asking me out?

#LionRabbit: Isn't it obvious? I'm having lots of fun talking with you, I think we could go to the next level ;)

#Musician: Sorry, but I'm not interested...

#LionRabbit: Owie, that hurt ;(

#Musician: Life's a bitch :P

#LionRabbit: But why?

#Musician: Let's just say I'm a person that likes to separate my companions from virtual reality and real life. I advise you doing the same.

This got me thinking.

#LionRabbit: But aren't you like the same person in both reality and the Internet? I mean – it's better to be honest to each other, right? :)

#Musician: ...Deak, do you think I'm an idiot or are you really that naïve? You are an intelligent person, so the second option is out.

I moved out of my desk. My heart started to pound painfully, I haven't been this freaked out for a long time. I suddenly had so many doubts about Musician. Is he really the person he described? I was feeling... betrayed. He really made a fool out of me. At this point my possibility of meeting Musician was at risk. I didn't know what to reply, so I wrote the best expression of silence.

#LionRabbit: …

#Musician: ...Touche?

#LionRabbit: You're definitely not an idiot...

#Musician: Thank you :) Glad that I've made my point.

#LionRabbit: I probably should be more careful in the future.

#Musician: Everyone has their secrets, Deak. I respect you're not revealing yourself, so please respect my privacy as well ;) I'd rather keep our friendship on the level as it is now.

#LionRabbit: Aww, but that disables our relationship progress :(

#Musician: We can still make progress. It only depends on you.

Not so long ago I've asked him about that conversation. Of course, he knew I wasn't the real me back then. He told me that because I wasn't too honest, he decided to share his information to absolute minimum. But ok, it's not the time to talk about the present!

'It only depends on you.' It took a lot of time for me to realize what he really meant by that. When I read it the first time I was really defensive. How did it depend on me? I was trying to see him in reality, goddammit! However, I wasn't only angry. I was... intrigued. At that time I behaved like know-it-all, nothing was too interesting for me, life was just about having fun in the crowd of dumb people. But this statement, this guy... I wanted to lure him out to teach him some repentance for being gay, but this guy started to touch some of my insides... Most of days I was thinking how to speak to him, what my next reply would be. Even Sachiko noticed that I was most of the time away with my thoughts. In the end, she broke up with me, we lasted only two weeks. That was a shame, normally it was me to dump girls first.

I had a good friend from my childhood. His name was Kanda Yuu and he was some sort of grumpy Japanese samurai. At the beginning of High School he got a proposal from Martial Arts School in Japan and got an impressive scholarship. Of course, he took the offer. He was a very good friend of mine. Come to think of it, my personality must have spoiled right after his departure. He was always looking after me and hitting my head really hard when I even thought of something stupid. Our contact became less close, we occasionally sent mails, though Kanda never liked writing. His replies were always one-sentence long. But then he mailed me that he had some holidays and came back to our town. I was pretty exited and offered him going to this small cafe that just opened near the main market. He agreed.

The cafe was called "Exorcist", pretty dumb name, if you ask me. However, it was pretty cozy – brick walls with some old movie posters gave a rough décor, which I really liked and instead of chairs everyone could chill out on bean bags. There were many bookshelves and customers were welcome to read all magazines and books. Whole place was finished with centralized stage at the back of the cafe, with the piano on it. From time to time someone played live music, like niche bands or star-wannabes. If somebody knew how to play piano, he could try out. Otherwise, you had to bring your own instruments.

So we went there one evening and were really lucky to get a table. We sat right next to the stage and ordered one root beer and one Sencha tea.

"You haven't changed at all, Yuu~!" I knew how Kanda's first name annoyed him. Yet, I really loved making him angry.

"Shut it, baka usagi!" He called me that Japanese nickname too many times, so I know the meaning already.

"That's cold, Yuu... But what about me? Have I changed anything?"

"You're just as annoying as ever..." He shot me icy glare. "Or even worse..." I pouted. What else I could hear from him? But at the same time I was glad. Kanda gave me this feeling of nostalgia I've missed for a long time. I was wondering – why have I forgotten that? "I've talked to Leenalee."

"Oh..."

Lenalee Lee was our common friend. When we were children, we made pretty strong trio and Kanda's departure kind of saddened us. I hadn't spoken to her since I started hanging out with Tykki and Noahs. Lenalee was like a motherly-figure, she always was overprotective of me and Kanda and worried herself sick over nothing. After Kanda left, she became really annoying to me and we parted ways after one argument. Or should I say – I decided to ignore her after her claim that Noahs are very bad influence. Because Kanda mentioned her name, I had to participate in this stupid conversation.

"How is she?" I carelessly asked, sipping on my beer.

"Her dance team was the first to win Nationals, so she'll be going to Paris and participate in Internationals."

"Good for her, then."

"...You two stopped talking." That was a statement, not a question. I knew Kanda for a long time and, well, if he said something like that to me three years ago, I would probably start talking like and idiot, defending myself and all. But that time? I actually didn't want to catch this bait. I didn't say anything for a moment, so he decided to carry on. "You're distancing yourself."

"I'm-!" I bit my tongue. What I wanted to prove to him? I though to myself 'I don't have to explain myself', so I took a deep breath and shrugged. This probably annoyed him even more. "Don't give me the stink eye, Yuu. People change, I've changed."

"People should improve, not become dumber, idiot." Kanda stated the obvious. I was dumber and if I could turn back time, I would change myself. Back then I thought of it as an insult to me, but decided not to care. "How is High school?"

"Usually boring."

"And your new companions?"

"Noahs are alright."

"That's what I'm afraid of..."

"What do you mean?"

But the reply never came, Yuu liked being cryptic. We were sitting in rather awkward silence, when someone entered the stage. It was a guy, rather young looking guy. He looked to me rather... off. The boy was dressed in old-fashioned vest, white shirt and red bowtie. With his white hair, he looked like an old geezer. But his face was very teenage and so pleasant looking. Once he noticed he caught everyone's attention, he bowed to the audience and started playing the piano. I recognized the melody from Yann Tiersen's work - Comptine d'un autre été ... The melody itself wasn't very complicated, it can't be compared to more complex compositions like those of Chopin, Beethoven, Bach... But that kid was very good. His fingers were creating art, visible to my eyes of imagination and pleasurable to my eardrums. I wasn't a big fan of modern music myself, but I listened to it, because everybody does. I used to listen to all classics, they helped me in my studies and it was more pleasant to listen to while reading my favorite books. Once I entered High school, I forgot the beauty of these melodies...

"Moyashi got some talen-" Kanda tried to make a comment, but I shushed him. The boy stopped playing, it lasted maybe 5 minutes, but for me it was like seconds. It was too good, so it had to end fast. Unusually of me, I started clapping first. The white-haired guy noticed me and smiled warmly at my applause. Of course, the rest of the cafe started cheering as well.

"Thank you!" He finally spoke and bowed to the public. "Thank you very much!"

"Play something more!" Somebody shouted from the crowd. I hoped that this guy would agree. The kid smiled and sat back, thinking what else should he present. It took him some time.

"Um... Would anyone propose what else should I play?"

"Me me me!" Kanda was shocked by my eagerness. I raised my hand as if it was classroom and I was the only student to know the answer. "Can you do covers?"

"Hmm... It depends." The kid smiled at me. He looked so kind, he got me very curious. I didn't want the next song to be sappy. I really wanted to give him challenge...

"Major Lazer – Light it up!" I could hear some whispers and gasps at my suggestion. I've picked pop-dance music. The kid blinked at me a few times and started musing over my request.

"Rabbit, what the hell is that?" Kanda whispered to me. I wondered if he asked 'Why the hell you picked that song?' or was it more 'What is this song?', Yuu never had any interest in pop music. But before I could answer, the white-haired kid shot me a smug look and stretched out his fingers. First notes... My jaw dropped. Leitmotif was almost flawless... Once he started the first verse, everyone in the cafe roared in amusement, some of them started singing along the melody. People were moving their upper bodies in clumsy dance. The place changed from cafe to some sort of alternative disco party. Even though I heard some notes off in this play, they didn't matter too much to me, I actually had fun! Right after the kid finished his 'Light it up' interpretation, some people shouted other requests. The next one was from Sia – 'Cheap Thrills'. The kid smiled brightly and in no time started playing. This time he was more confident in his performance, so I assumed he knew that one and practiced it earlier. Another party, this time one man decided to take his lovely girlfriend right next to the stage and everyone could witness their slow dance. Two girls stood up and started singing loudly. Actually, their voices weren't half bad. I glanced at Yuu and I noticed soft move to the beat.

"Yuu, you're actually enjoying this~!" Kanda's face became red. As expected, he was ashamed that he liked it.

"I will murder you, baka..."

"No worries, I won't tell anyone that you have feelings~!" I winked at him and laughed. The song also came to an end. This time, the pianist stood up and thanked everyone, leaving the stage and leaving the cafe with a bright smile on his face.

Well, I always had a knack in finding interesting people. Or at least that was until I entered High school – since that time my friend quality remained stagnant, limiting itself to Noahs only and occasionally to Kanda. During almost three years of school, stormy adolescence, I haven't taken interest in any person, I thought of myself highly and everybody else was just an episode, a sheer moment that was bound to end, so I wasn't attaching myself to it. But that evening, when Kanda came back and when that boy played – the way he moved crowds with just simple action. Maybe some people talked about hardships of life or were sitting alone, waiting for something to happen. That guy delivered them a short trip out of mundane reality. I know that my reality for a moment was different and... I somehow missed it - this cheerful oblivion. Moreover, I was really aware of the change of my state. I couldn't even recognize myself. Seeing that the boy picked up his coat from the bartender, while Kanda and I were leaving the cafe, I decided to ask the old lady from behind the counter.

"Who, that kid?" The old lady laughed. "He comes here every now and then, plays around 2-3 songs and leaves."

"Every now and then?"

"Well, he's definitely here every Thursday and Saturday. But he sometimes comes more than twice a week." I thanked for the info and we left the cafe.

"You're interested in that moyashi?" Kanda asked.

"What's 'moyashi'?"

"Are you or not?"

"Well... He did give a good show today and I always appreciate good stuff. Maybe we can come here on Saturday, Yuu?"

"Stop calling me that or you won't survive until Saturday, baka-usagi..." Yuu was his grumpy self, as always. "I will go with you on one condition."

"What?"

"Leenale will go, too."

"WHAT?"

"What your problem is between her and you – it's your business. You don't have to breathe a word out whole evening, for all I care."

"But Yuu-!"

"That's my demand. Take it or go by yourself."

"..." I was wondering if I could speak normally to Lenalee after what happened. Sure, I could just care less about Kanda's request, but at the same time... I didn't know, I was probably seeking some other company. Was it because I felt really uneasy with Tykki, after what we had done? It was possible. Or because of that turning point, I was slowly changing my careless attitude and looked for other ways of living?

There was also a possibility that I was utterly bored...

AG-RO-TAG's note!

Hiya guys! There will be some changes in my account management, as somebody else will take over it :) There is a person that liked my stories a lot and she gave me lots of ideas. Now that I stopped writing, she has sent me some of her alternative continuations to my stories and I decided to give this account to her ;)

However, I'm unfortunately old enough to leave my page. It was fun re-reading some of my stories tough :)
I've decided to write something from me for Incognito, as I thought "wow, I really had some potention in this story, so why did I leave it? Stupid me :("

Hope you liked it! Leave a review if you want :)