Finally, as easy as cutting his hair, his enemy was destroyed. SONY
kicked him out of the band. Hyde took it the worst of all, it was really like
losing someone who would protect you from spider, run with a leash
with you and your best friend. He felt alone and naked without sakura. I
mean he was so used to having someone around him and now, the
person was gone. Now, the band was going nowhere and its future was
bleak. SONY gave them a break for the time being. So, tetsu suggested
a holiday for the band. They went on their separate ways. Tetsu wanted
so badly to comfort hyde but it had been so many years that he had
always swallowed his own feelings and now, given the chance, he still
would not do it. He wondered how much tears hyde had been shedding
for sakura. Hyde changed a lot or he tried to change a lot and look
different.
After 2 months, they were notified by SONY to resume their work.
yukihiro filled in the vacancy as a guest drummer. It was their first
meeting after the long break. Ken was raving about this girl he had met
in his new apartment; tetsu was yukihiro were discussing about the
band and briefing him on some of the history and making him feel
comfortable. While talking to yukihiro, tetsu eyes were fixed on the
forlorn figure sitting alone lazily at the couch, he was smoking and tetsu
was shocked to see his hair getting shorter and dyed black. For
remembrance sake? Their ex-drummer had got black hair. He looked
thinner and his fringe covered almost more than half of his face.
Everyone was appalled at hyde's new image but no one asked. The
production crew was speculating among themselves. They gathered at
the table and showed one another their new works. Ken was the most
productive and he jokingly commented that each piece of work signified
each sexy babe he met. Tetsu noticed that hyde's works were abstract
and very alternative sounding and yet there was a healing quality in
them. As he looked through, he saw a completed piece with lyrics on.
The score was crumpled and the writings were hard and someone had
written them out of frustration. Some wordings were smudged and
sharp tetsu recognized that these were dried up tears. His suspicion was
confirmed when he read through the lyrics. The title of this song
was `THE GHOST IN MY ROOM'. Tetsu gasped and placed his hand on
his chest. He felt something cold, it was even colder than the lyrics of
this song. The necklace he had been wearing for so long and nearly
forgotten since it had became part of him.
Their activities resumed as usual. Hyde stopped trimming his eyebrows
and resisted wearing faked eyelashes and even despised anything pink
and female colors. he shed his beaded necklaces and bracelets and was
replaced by a barbwire metal necklace and a huge pentagon ring. The
name of their first concert after the break suited hyde
perfectly, `REINCARNATION.' This was a totally different hyde. In
interviews, he no longer shy and agreed to what other said, instead, he
voiced out his opinions without any fear. His interviews got more hentai.
Tetsu felt that it was time to discard the old times away and the little
boy standing in next to him was the new hyde. A different one, just
reincarnated.
In concerts, they got more serious and professional. Gone were the long
MCs coupling with jokes, playful stunts and fan services. Each member
performed their role effectively and accordingly and they seldom interact
and left their designation position. The band was heading towards a
more mainstream scene. This left many fans really heartbroken because
they still prefer the old times where it was so much more homely and it
was like a happy family. Now, the line between the band and the fans
were distinctive, well, the artiste and fans. They became unstoppable
and attracted even more fans internationally and soon their schedule
was hectic and packed. No time for rest and personal matters. Every
single was a hit and it was unlikely not to top the oricon charts. They
were so successful.
They adorned the covers of all magazines and the magazine would get
out of stock very soon. Hyde began to take an interest in the opposite
sex and talked about girls unrestrictively on interviews. Aware of his sex
appeal, he attended the gym frequently to tone himself up, tanned
himself and started wearing tanks and he even stripped topless for RRN.
Barely 3 months ago, hyde would never flash even a tiny strip of his
flesh. He was always in long sleeves and wrapped himself all up. Tetsu
secretly bought that issue of RRN. Every inch of hyde's body looked
unfamiliar from the one he had seen during indies but they still tugged
at this heart.
Tetsu almost died when hyde revealed that he had admired Ooishi
Megumi for a long time. Even ken was shocked to hear that and he
thought that he had drank too much the night before. For the soft-
spoken and agreeable yukihiro, he even could not believe his ears. They
all had the same unfathomable question in their mind. Why would hyde
like Megumi. She was a weathergirl and she had made the headlines
recently for her broken engagement with a baseballer. During a TV
interview, she wept copiously as if she was the victim and everyone
thought that she was rather faked. She was a notorious woman and
there were rumors of her unknown to the outside entertainment scene
that she did everything for money. Her rise to stardom was also some
kind of indecent proposal on her part. Many people were wise to stay
away from such kind of woman. No one expected hyde to provoke her
open on TV.
To get more viewership, the TV show utaban set Megumi and hyde up
and arranged their first meeting. The rest of Larc just played along with
the idea no matter how unwilling they were. Ken suspected that it was
Megumi herself who proposed the idea to Utaban. She looked genki and
did not look like she just got dumped recently. She was not at all shy
and demure and rather hyde looked nervous and he did not know what
to do but just smiled stupidly and stammered.
`slut!' tetsu thought.
Tetsu jumped when ken looked at him in the eye and whispered, `I
agreed with you!' tetsu was shocked that he had said, `slut' aloud. Even
yukihiro heard it and he also nodded. Luckily, they were far from the
stage and no one except the 3 of them heard it.
`hyde was acting like a small kid who had not been in love before.' Ken
commented and he chuckled at hyde's silly behavior when he kept
turning his head towards him as if asking for advice.
Soon, the ordeal was over. During the cartrip back, hyde kept himself
busying by flipping through the photobook Megumi had presented him.
`nee! Look!! It is signed!' hyde exclaimed to the rest of Larc.
Tetsu nodded and kept quiet.
`Yeah. Her autograph looked as skinny as her.' Ken commented
distastefully. Megumi was certainly far from the type of women he liked.
He preferred sexy ones with curves. He could not find a part in Megumi
that was attractive to him.
Looking at hyde's slightly disappointed face, ken continued, `It is certainly
nice to you since you like a pack of bones on bed.'
Yukihiro burst out into laughter uncontrollably. He shared the same
sentiments with ken. No wondered he was a fan of Arisa. Arisa was a
bimboish looking girl who got no talents but she got a great body and
danced seductively.
Hyde just pouted and continued admiring the photoshots.
They carried on their work as usual. Tetsu was relieved that that
Megumibitch's episode was over. Hyde recently sported a shorter crop
and platinum blonde hair for their 2 new releases in Winter. Everyone
liked hyde's new hairstyle and the management crew at SONY agreed
that hyde looked like a cute blonde gaijin boy. He looked 10 years
younger. They playfully liked to mess up his hair. Many mothers fell in
love with hyde and fought with their daughterfans.
The 2 songs, `snowdrop' and `forbidden lover' were certainly be chart
toppers. The people at SONY were pleased with the amount of profit
coming in from sales. The PVs were filmed with huge budget and high
quality. The director was very pleased with hyde's performance during
the making of `forbidden lover' PV since he could not find any fault to
shout, `cut!' for hyde's part. Hyde seemed to be able to exhibit the kind
of sorrow, anguish, despair, hurt and agony that the director was
looking for. The rest of Larc were cooperative and since they did not
have much individual parts, the filming was a success. The director was
especially impressed with hyde's total participation in the PV.
The manager walked into the filming set and asked, `How is it?'
The director flashed him a bright smile and said, `It is just great! Hyde
sings as if he is the forbidden lover himself.'
The manager smiled since he thought he knew why—sakura. But he was
wrong.
X X X X X
The `Light My Fire- ki wo tsukeru' tour was a huge success. It could be
recorded in History and all schoolchildren had to study this as a case
study. They toured all around Japan even to those not-so-developed
areas or rural areas and Larc was always welcomed warmly. The
concert tickets sold out within a shockingly short period of time and
some people even resorted to illegal means. This called for a
celebration after their last concert for the tour.
At the party, ken was busy flirting with the waitresses, bartenders and
fellow female artistes from SONY and he was clever enough to seize this
opportunity since his wife was not attending this party. hyde, tetsu and
yukihiro were chatting with the crew and shaking hands with people
from SONY who turned up to congratulate on the tour success.
Yukihiro suddenly patted on tetsu's arm when he saw Megumi walking
towards their direction.
`Why is she doing here?' tetsu knew that it was a stupid question.
Megumi was also under the label of SONY and of course, she was
invited to the party.
Both tetsu and yukihiro forced a smile when Megumi shook hyde's hand.
Hyde turned red. Next hyde was pulled away by her and spent talking,
drinking and dancing with her throughout the party and oblivious to what
was happening around him. They were like an item and the centre of
attraction as well as the talking point for all in the party.
`hyde got such bad taste. Fancy finds that bony girl attractive.' Ken
commented scornfully.
`I am sure many fans will be disappointed.' Someone from the crowd
commented.
Others just laughed.
Tetsu turned worried. ` Do you think this will affect our band?'
`Since there are no reporters here, I dun think the fans will ever know
this. Just tell hyde to keep it discrete.' Yukihiro suggested thoughtfully.
`I bet that slut would go around telling everyone in the world. She may
even have the news posted on her webpage. Still remember that time
when she got dumped? She acted as if she wanted the whole Japan to
know.' Ken added.
`We should talk to hyde after this party.' tetsu decided and everyone
agreed.
They lost their chance to talk to hyde after the party because hyde
offered to drive Megumi home after that.
`Must be that bitch asking hyde to drive her home.' Tetsu thought bitterly.
`Never mind, we can discuss this matter tomorrow. I will call hyde
tonight to tell him about our meeting.' Tetsu told yukihiro and ken.
Ken had already made a date with one of the bartender the next day but
for the matter in front of him was of greater importance and he
cancelled the appointment with her.
X X X X X
`Are you serious going with her?'
He nodded.
`Do you really like her?'
He nodded with his eyes looking down.
`Hey!! Hyde!! You cannot be serious? What do you see in that bony
pack?' ken chipped in.
He kept quiet.
`Alright. Casting all personal affairs aside, this is for the sake of our
band. Are you planning to disclose your relationship?'
`I am not going to but if the media found out, I will not deny either.'
Hyde answered blandly.
`How do think that our fans can take this?'
`Yeah! You should know that many fans love the band because of your
looks and now, you will leave them heartbroken.'
`It is none of my concern.'
`How can you say that!? Hyde??!! What is wrong with you?' tetsu got
sorted of agitated.
`Don't you remember that you once said that the fans are your most
valuable poccession and it was the fans who gave you confidence and
makes you stand where you are now?'tetsu raised his voice a little.
Yukihiro opened his mouth and he had never seen tetsu raising his voice
like that. He believed that tetsu must have been hurt so deep that he
was acting in an untetsuly manner.
Hyde just kept quiet. `He remembered.' and pretended to look
indifferent.
Sensing the increasing tension, ken added, `Hyde. We are all concern
about the band. Tetsu is the leader and he had the right to know your
decision and see whether if it really affect the future of the band. Please
don't keep quiet. Tell us what you really think.'
Hyde did not budge.
`Ok! Hyde. I got a little work up just now and I am sorry about it. So can
you suggest how we can go about it.'
`You want me to tell you? Ok. I had long forgotten what I had ever say
and the incidents that had taken place in the past. I am living my life
now and my private life is no concern of the fans.' Hyde said spitefully.
`For goodness sake! We are not the Johnny's!' hyde added on
sarcastically.
`Hey! Hyde got a point there. We are a band and we are selling music,
not ourselves. Only the fans who truly love our music are the real fans
and we don't need fans who are only interested in our looks and the
clothes we wear, right? Tet-chan? yukkie?'
yukihiro nodded. Tetsu was expressionless.
`We are not restricted by the stupid contracts like the Johnny's that we
cannot have a love relationship. See? I am married and no one
complains and the band is still going strong. I am sure that for hyde's
case, the fans are sensible to understand.'
`I think fans will be supportive of hyde. Hyde is also human and they dun
expect him to stay single forever right?' yukihiro, trying to pacify the
situation.
Tetsu nodded. He looked at hyde and said sternly, `I hope you know how
to handle it.'
`Yes. I will.' He ended the sentence with the word `tet-chan' but let it
frail off silently.
He got up and left the meeting room with tears streaming down his face.
X X X X X
