Blackmalice’s notes: unbeta-ed AGAIN >.< sorry. People barely went online these days.


Chapter 13: After the ‘crime’

It was a grave danger ahead of him. An absolute wrath. A dangerous fury. He might or might not wake up and see tomorrow.

“You guys,” Kaoru plastered a panicked grin on his face, “are my best friend.”

Alas, his lame attempt to ease the situation went smashed. Kyo’s unchanged raged expression proved it, so did the strangling hands around the leader’s neck.

“His goddamn wacky bandmates INSISTED to call the police when they couldn’t contact Toshiya by his cellphone, which I’m SURE was your doing!! You MUST’VE snatched the damn cellphone from Toshiya’s hand and rejected the call!!” Kyo yelled right into his face. For once, the role of the scolder and the one being scolded was switched.

“Oh, you knew me very well.” Kaoru laughed nervously. The grip on his neck tightened, making him gasped.

“And what more, we couldn’t contact you too!! The cellphone’s there to be used, not to be ignored –that was what you ALWAYS told me every single time I came late to practice!! Do you know what hell we went through to hold Toshiya’s bandmates down?!!” Kyo tightened his grip once more before finally letting Kaoru go, satisfied from hearing the coughs from the older man, “Damn you Kaoru! I’ll never, EVER, cover your ass again!!”

“You practically kidnapped Toshiya this morning.” Shinya spoke, staring straight at Kaoru from his place. They were sitting around a table on a tatami inside Toshiya’s apartment, with the homeowner in the bedroom making a call to his bandmates.

Following the unexpected occurrence not so many hours ago, they gathered at Toshiya’s apartment after Kaoru finally called them –ignoring the yells and curses from his certain blonde vocalist— and said he would take Toshiya home before meeting them. However, Die, Shinya, and Kyo decided not to wait and just went straight ahead to wait in front of Toshiya’s place.

Therefore, that was how all of them ended up together.

“Really, how the hell did the idea get into your head?” Die shook his head, feeling slightly amused by all the commotions.

“I just… did it.” Kaoru coughed again and took a seat away from Kyo, or he might be attacked again, “I felt that I’ll never be able to have a real talk with him if we weren’t left alone.”

“So you two had a talk, then. If you dare to say no, I’ll kick you.” Kyo growled.

“Yes, we had a talk.” Kaoru nodded. His glance fled to the direction of the bedroom.

Kyo kicked Kaoru on the shin, “Are you going to tell us or are you just gonna stick your eyes to Toshiya, even when you’re obviously unable to see him?”

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“Yes, I’m sorry I’ve made you guys worried,” Toshiya muttered.

“Why are you asking forgiveness for those people?!” On the other side of the phone, Taira asked infuriated.

“Sorr—.”

“Stop saying sorry! Who the hell are they anyway?!”

“Well, umm…” Toshiya heaved a long sigh, “They’re some sort of my acquaintances.”

“Who—,” Taira’s words were cut off when someone else talked to him. “Oi, were they La:sadies? The loony guy who took off with you was the leader, right?”

“…yeah.”

“…Okay. And why the hell did they show up and grabbed you away like that?”

“It’s a long story…”

“I’m all ears.”

“Taira, it’s…” Toshiya rubbed the space between his eyebrows. What should he tell his bandmates?

That another band was trying to steal their bassist?

That the bassist himself was actually started thinking to just be stolen?

“Look, I… I might catch up with you guys in two days.”

A silence followed, then the obviously not amused voice of Taira rose again, “What do you mean might?”

“I… I don’t know. Just… don’t worry about me now. I’ll call you again in two days.” Click.

Toshiya flopped himself on the bed. He glanced at the direction of the door. If he went pass it, he should face what might be his future. But he wasn’t ready to decide. Not yet. He was tempted, but the decision to be made was huge. What lies beyond was something he wasn’t familiar with.

Of course, those people were nice, seemed fun to be with, but that didn’t change the fact that he barely knew them, and they barely knew him. If they decided to form a band and something went wrong later on… Toshiya might not have another place to go.

And Kaoru… Gah.

It was neither a bad nor a good ‘gah’. It was a confused one.

What the hell was he supposed to do with Kaoru?

Yes, he was interested in that man. Yes, Kaoru broke up with his lover.

He recalled the look on the boy named Miyabi. It was an utter defeat, betrayed, hurt, anger, disbelief.

Crushed.

Broken.

Miyabi just fell down and cried on the floor, unmoving when Kaoru talked to him, unmoving when Kaoru grabbed Toshiya’s hand and left.

Is it okay for him to feel happy over someone else’s suffering?

After they took off from Miyabi’s place, Kaoru asked him whether he think of Kaoru as a jerk, for breaking up with his lover because he was in love with another person.

How could Toshiya answer yes, if what Kaoru had done was for his sake?

But how would he feel if he was in Miyabi’s place?

The bassist groaned and stood, pushing all the thoughts. He couldn’t hide in his bedroom forever, might as well face what’s in front of him now. He might be able to get it over with as soon as possible.

He stepped towards the door. Just as he opened it a bit, some loud, shocked shouts reached his ears.

“YOU WHAT?!!”

From behind the slightly opened door, Toshiya could peek to his living room, where three of the people there suddenly lunged forward to Kaoru, eyes popped out.

“Ssh!” The center of attention shushed them, worried that they would disturb Toshiya, and opened his mouth to spoke with a low voice, “I broke up with Miyabi in front of Toshiya.”

Kyo, Die, and Shinya continued to stare shocked at their leader. Then, one by one, they flopped back on their seats, staring at each other, “Oh.”

They kept quiet for a while, before Kyo sniggered a little and shook his head, “You finally broke up with him, huh?”

“Well, I should say that I saw that coming.” Die nodded, “Though not including the fact that you did it in front of Toshiya.”

“Aren’t you being mean to Miyabi?”

A sudden silence filled the room as Shinya spoke his words. The man stared straight at Kaoru who widened his eyes. Die and Kyo glanced at each other. Toshiya silently tightened his grip to the door he was holding.

“You asked him to go out because he looked like Toshiya in the first place.”

Die knew this was not going to be good. Something inside Shinya flickered on, and he wouldn’t stop unless someone stop him, “Shin—.”

“Then another man that looked exactly like Toshiya and have the same name appeared, so you ditched Miyabi away.” Shinya finished his words, just as Die touched his shoulder.

“Shinya.” A firm touch, to remind Shinya of everything.

The auburn-haired man looked at Die, something unreadable gleaming in his eyes. Die hugged him, forcing his head to look away from Kaoru. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Shinya’s body shook slightly. He whispered in a very low, soft voice, that no one could hear it but Die, though Shinya didn’t even mean for Die to hear it.

“…what did I just say…?”

Die shushed him, calming Shinya down. He mouthed to Kaoru, saying silently that it was all right.

On the other hand, Toshiya clamped his hands on his mouth. What the hell had he just heard?

Wait, of course he remembered that Kaoru said he looked like his friend. An important friend, seeing how… desperate Kaoru was. And if Toshiya recall again, Miyabi does somewhat looked like himself.

So…

Kaoru… was just chasing that Toshiya’s shadow?

But Kaoru looked so truthful and honest and sincere, when he said that he loved him…

Then again, what proof did he have that Kaoru didn’t do the same thing towards Miyabi?

“I know.” Kaoru’s voice suddenly arose, shaking Toshiya out from his thoughts, “I’m a jerk.” Toshiya peeked again, trying to get a better look of Kaoru. The man’s face was filled with regret. His face showed that he knew what he had done was wrong, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I lied to Miyabi, to myself, to everyone. But,”

Kaoru took a deep breath, closing his eyes before opening them again. He glanced at the direction of Toshiya’s bedroom, making Toshiya instantly pulled away from the door.

“I couldn’t stop myself from loving this Toshiya.”

A voice so soft, gentle. Genuine.

Toshiya’s face reddened. Deep inside, his heart fluttered by those words. But with the circumstances, he wanted to cry from feeling lost, not knowing what to believe. Not knowing what to do. What the hell had he done, to be trapped inside these… whole peculiarity?

“Are you sure it’s this Toshiya?” Shinya asked with a voice filled with disbelief, moving away from Die. The red head released him, but still holding Shinya’s hand.

“Yes.” Kaoru said firmly. Then they heard the door being opened and the homeowner walked out from the bedroom he was in. Kaoru’s expression softened, with only a little smile on his face, though his face visibly brightened and his eyes shone. “Hi, Toshiya.”

The tall man nodded awkwardly and took the empty spot beside Kaoru, “Sorry, it’s so cramped. I wasn’t used to have many guests, and the apartment was not made to do so.”

“We’re the ones who should say sorry for bugging you. How was it going with your bandmates?”

“I just said that I might catch up with them in two days.” He shrugged.

“In two days?” Kyo widened his eyes and grinned, “You mean after we have our last live with Kisaki?? You mean Kaoru had managed to talk you into joining our band?!” He laughed and gave a hard pat on Kaoru’s back, completely forgotten that he was mad at their leader for acting like a lunatic earlier, “Nice job, Kaoru!”

“Hey! I didn’t say that! I said I might catch up with my bandmates, which means I might not join your band!”

“We have a bassist! We have a bassist!”

“Hey!!”

“Allright, that’s enough, Kyo.” Kaoru finally said to calm the over-excited Kyo, “Actually, we agreed that he would consider joining our band after seeing that last live.”

“Oh, come on!” Kyo rolled his eyes, “What’s stopping you, really?”

“A lot.”

“A lot of important or unimportant things?”

“Geez, I said I’ll consider joining! Isn’t that enough?”

“If you’re that unwilling to join, maybe you shouldn’t.” Shinya spoke out of the blue, “It would only end up like Kisaki.”

The room went silent for a while; each of them had their own surprised state and thoughts. Shinya wasn’t a person of such cold words. Die’s hold on the man’s hand tightened a little, not to scold but to calm him down. He knew what had occurred within Shinya’s mind, but he decided to talk about it later, when the two of them are alone.

Kyo blinked his eyes.

Kaoru stared worryingly at Toshiya, he intended to say something to warm up the situation, but—.

“That’s why, okay.” Toshiya’s tired reply came out faster. “I’m afraid that it would only end up like Kisaki.”

“Toshiya…”

“I mean, how did you know that I’m the right person?”

“Your bass skills are way more than enough for me.” Kyo tried to answer.

“I’m not just talking about my bass skills. I mean, I’m glad you think that way, but…” Toshiya bit his lips, trying to find the right words, “Me and you guys, barely even knew each other.”

I knew very well that you’re the right person. Kaoru said inwardly, because if he said it aloud, Toshiya might think again that he was mixing work and personal feelings, telling him that he was being unprofessional and whatsoever. Although in his eyes, a band is a mix of work and personal feelings. You can’t work with a person you hate. Kisaki and Kyo was the perfect example.

But if he said so, he knew Toshiya would point out in one way or another that it was a different thing, because in that example, the feeling of love was not involved.

“We trust you. And all we ask is for you to trust us.” Kaoru answered.

Toshiya glanced at him before looking down. The older man’s stare was so intense that he couldn’t stand it. “And where did the trust came from?” He muttered, “You can’t say that you just trust me out of nowhere.”

“I think that you’re the one who couldn’t— I mean haven’t, trust us.”

Toshiya blinked, taken aback by those words. Now that he think about it, it was right on the spot.

He was the one who feel afraid, and he was somewhat intimidated by the fact that these people didn’t feel the same.

He knew he liked these people, but…

“We wouldn’t disappoint you. Trust me, the band won’t do if it’s not Kyo on vocal, Shinya on drums, Die and me on guitar,” Kaoru stated, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder to make him look his way, “And you on bass.”

Toshiya could see the faith, the determination in Kaoru’s eyes. He meant his every word. The blue haired man glanced around to the other guys. Shinya just stared at him, Die smiled, and Kyo nodded.

“We need you, Toshiya.” Die said.

“We will rock.” Kyo chuckled.

Kaoru patted Toshiya, “You know you have the time to think about it. We’ll give you our best performance on the next live, then you can decide whether to trust your future in the band or not.”

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Hmm, yeah, another short chapter
But comment please? ^^;

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