Chapter 2: Misery loves Company

The two looked at each other from across the stage in disbelief, yet surprise.

Isn't that the guy I saved from being mugged in Nagoya?

Ichiro was just as unsure, The other young man's voice was pretty unrecognizable, since it was about three or four octaves higher than when they first met. His personality also seemed different too, like some dark prince like character from an anime he'd seen or something. You'd think he actually wasn't some timid and weak young adult in real life.

Jyushi was just standing there in shock for a moment as well, no one in the audience besides Ichiro noticing. But he quickly brushed it off and ignored it as the band's song began to play. He closed his eyes as he began to sing near the mic. Ichiro was quickly beginning to become captivated as the song played, mainly by Jyushi's voice. His vocals was slightly shaky, brisk, yet very passionate as the singer harmonized with the song's melody. For someone whose voice sounded like he hasn't quite hit puberty and feminine, he put his heart and soul into his voice as he sung, but that was mainly because he was trying to show off for the oldest Yamada brother, even if he didn't know if he was watching or not.

But the whole time, Ichiro was watching in awe and wonder, almost like the world had nearly froze and come to a stop just for this moment as the goth belted out his vocals. He was almost sure for one moment that Jyushi looked at him the whole time when another one of their songs played. It was almost like he actually was hypnotized for a moment. Nothing for sure could snap him out of reality for this.

"OI! Get the fuck back here you little Brat!"

"Make me, Jiro!"

Ah. There it is.

As usual, Jiro and Saburo were fighting each other, only this time it was in a crowd, and they seemed to have fought their way through the Mosh pit. "Oi! Stop it, you two!" Ichiro said as he jumped into the Mosh pit, but the two younger brothers appeared to have fought their way up to the stage, putting the show to a halt.

Jyushi was startled as he stopped singing abruptly as the two younger Yamadas fought and chased each other through the stage. "I'm gonna punt you good, ya little shit!" Jiro shouted as he tackled Saburo, the two being unaware that they're knocking over some stage equipment. "Ha! I bet your dumb ass can't even reach me from down here!" Saburo snapped back at Jiro.

"Yo, check it out! These two teens are wrestling!" An audience member shouted their friends.

"Alright, Fight! Fight!" a member shouted as they pulled out their phone to film it.

"Who's children are these?!" A band member shouted, pointing to the two fighting brothers. Jyushi didn't know what to do and just stood panicking at the whole scene before him. "U-um…"

"Oi! Jiro! Saburo! Quit it!" Ichiro shouted as he climbed onto the stage to put a stop to this. He grabbed both of them, which made them stop. "Good grief, I thought I told you guys to behave." Ichiro said, shaking his head. Apparently someone must've called security to handle the situation, Since there were angry security guards standing there behind him.

"Shit."

All three of the brothers were kicked out of the venue (quite literally) after all that commotion. Ichiro was quite embarrassed, to say the least.

Good grief...This is gonna leave a bad image…

"Nice going Saburo! You got us kicked out!" Jiro sneered.

"Me? You're the one who decided to start making a scene!" Saburo talked back.

"Stop this, you two. Both of you made a scene tonight and possibly cost us money!" Ichiro scolded his younger brothers. "Ah! W-we're sorry, Ichi-Nii…" "Yeah…" Jiro and Saburo said, both bowing their heads. "Now, I'm gonna have a talk with the lead singer of the band about this and apologize. You too just wait here and think about what you did." Ichiro said. "Yes…" the younger brothers said. Ichiro walked away to the back to look for where the band dressing room backstage. Whatever his brothers were fighting over tonight didn't matter right now, but he had to set things right.

All of a sudden, the backstage door opened for Ichiro to find Jyushi outside as well. "Oh, uhh...sorry I was just here to say sorry about tonight and stuff, hehe." Ichiro laughed awkwardly. "Um, were you looking for me?" Jyushi asked, surprised that Ichiro came back. "Uh, Yeah I guess." Ichiro said rubbing the back of his head. "Anyways, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about tonight. You know how siblings are and stuff, but they're not always like this, I swear!" Ichiro said. Jyushi stood there, hesitating for a !moment. He was an only child, so he really didn't know much about siblings to understand the situation (well, unless you count Kuko).

"I...sort of understand." Jyushi said. "Why are you out here, anyways?" Ichiro asked. "Oh! um...I was just taking a little walk to clear my head, but then you came out here, No offense!" Jyushi said in his usual nervous tone. "No it's fine. Anyways is there any way I can pay for the damages? I have a family business but I don't exactly make much so-" Ichiro said. "I'm not sure but like about 47930 in yen, probably, I don't know." Jyushi said. "Oh damn…" Ichiro said. "You wanna talk about this inside? I know I'm not supposed to go backstage unless I have a pass but I underst-"

"No no! I-don't mind, I insist!" Jyushi said. With that, the two took a walk backstage together, the hallway being covered with posters of past bands that performed here. "So uh...thanks again for saving me when you were in Nagoya…" Jyushi said, bringing up the time Ichiro was in Nagoya. "Oh, it's nothing. There's pieces of shit like that in Ikebukuro." Ichiro said. "Jyushi, right?" "Mmhm. You did tell me your name was Ichiro, right?" Jyushi asked. "Yeah, I remember you asking me." Ichiro replied.

"Here's my dressing room." Jyushi said, opening the door, Ichiro walking into the room, it was basically just like any dressing room, but it was decorated with pretty gothic decor with some slightly dim lighting. He then noticed a certain pig plushie sitting on one of the dressing room vanity chairs.

"So is this like you guys' Mascot or something?" Ichiro asked as he picked up the stuffed pig, examining it carefully. "Ah! Uh…" Jyushi stammered a bit, embarrassed. He loves bringing his stuffed pig to his concerts whenever his band went on tour, and having it watch him from backstage during shows, So he was afraid someone will make fun of him for if they discovered that he was still carrying a plush pig with him. "Um...Her name is Amanda…" Jyushi answered.

"Oh Cool! Where'd ya get her from? I like the clown design on this thing!" Jyushi hesitated again. The last time he introduced someone to his little friend, It...did not go very well, let's just say. "M-my grandmother gave her to me when I was elementary school…" "Oh really? Haha, that's pretty neat!" Ichiro said, amused now he heard that information. "You're not gonna make fun of me? For having a stuffed pig as a friend?" Jyushi asked, surprised. "Nah. I collect plushies like this all the time! No shame in that!" Ichiro smiled as he handed Amanda to Jyushi. Jyushi was astonished that someone was actually nice to him for once. Well, besides Hitoya, of course. He smiled back and blushed, giggling a bit.

"So what made you want to get into Visual Kei exactly?" Jyushi asked Ichiro as they both sat down on the couch. "Oh uh...well, I actually don't listen to much of it, and I never went to any concerts until tonight, Plus it was my brother's idea. But...well, I was actually surprised. I had no idea it was even you. It was like...I dunno...you were a completely different person. The voice, everything. I was impressed. I don't know how you did it but, it was so cool. It was kinda like that one Anime I've seen, but the manga to it's better, in my opinion, I-I mean-!" Ichiro said, blushing a bit, he didn't know what else to say. "I-I'm glad you liked it…" Jyushi said as he also blushed. "I actually meant the genre but thanks. I've never really watched or read that stuff though…" "Oh it's awesome! I'm surprised you haven't heard much about it. So like…"

The two exchanged and talked about their interests for the next few minutes, little giggles from each other here and there as they were recommending a few titles and albums to each other. Then they just smiled at each other even if it was a little awkward.

"Yo Jyushi! Where you at? We're gonna leave in about an hour!" A band member shouted in the other room. Oh shit. It seems like an hour had passed already. "Oh! I gotta go! I hope we talk like this again when I see you!" Jyushi said. "Actually, How about we exchange numbers?" Ichiro said as he offered two pieces of paper. "Ok!" Jyushi said. They both wrote their phone numbers down, and with that, Ichiro gets up to leave, parting way with the Goth Musician. And also because he didn't want to be caught after what happened earlier. "I'll see ya when I have time, alright, Jyushi?" Ichiro said as he waved to him. "Ok! Bye!" Jyushi waved back. Ichiro closed the door with a sigh, either of happiness or relief. He couldn't decide.

"Man, what's taking Ichi Nii so long?" Jiro pouted as he and Saburo waited for what seemed like seemed like forever. "I dunno. Usually he'd have it taken care of in a few minutes." Saburo replied. It wasn't long until Ichiro finally showed up, albeit in a much different mood than earlier.

"Ichi-Nii! Well? Do we have to do anything for them?" Saburo asked.

Ichiro was suddenly brought back to reality once again. "Um, yeah sure. We'll pay them back. And you too will have to apologize next time you see the band, alright?" Ichiro said. "Ok." the two brothers said. "Alright. We better get going. It's late." The Payment will have to wait. The brothers got into the car and drove off. As they drove off, Ichiro...happier than he usually is now that he met Jyushi again.

He's actually kinda cute. I'll admit.

Ichiro thought, laughing a bit to himself.

As ArgoξOrchestra's tour bus drove off into the night, almost leaving Ikebukuro, Jyushi looked out the window into the night sky, lost in thought. He actually made a real friend! Wait, but, for some reason, it actually felt like...more than that. He was the happiest he's ever been whenever he was with Ichiro, And he probably felt the same about Jyushi. He was a bit bubbly and awkward when they spent time together, something that he supposedly doesn't usually expect from someone like Ichiro. Sure, their interests were different, but something about them had each other's interests in them piqued.

Still, they both wondered…

If they actually will see each other again.

At least for the time being.