Blackmalice's notes: Kyo's gonna be so pissed at me for torturing him in this one ^_~
Thx to Sandy again ^3^ And don't ask me about the name Taira, it was just taken from Beck


Chapter 9: Stalking and Figuring Out


*Riiiiiing*

"...Moshiiii-moshiii..."

"Kyo?"

"What the fuck, Kaoru? The practice won't even start until 2 more hours. Don't tell me you only want to wake me up earlier now, when you've practically worked me to death by a non-stop practicing."

"No... I just..."

"What?"

"Umm..."

"You'd better fuckin' tell me now OR."

"...How's Toshiya?"

"Huh?!!"

"What's he doing now?"

"..."

"Kyo?"

"Fuck off." *BRAKK*

************

*Riiiiiing*

"Moshi-moshi."

"Kyo?"

"What, Kaoru?"

"Um... Has Toshiya taken his meal?"

"I'M NOT YOUR FUCKIN' ASSISTANT IN YOUR FUCKIN' STALKING ACTIVITIES." *BRAKK*

************

*Riiiiiing*

"...Who?"

"Kyo?"

*BRAKK!!!*

************

Kyo woke up to see his cell phone ringing. He glanced at the screen to see Kaoru's damn name flashing. Cutting off his apartment's telephone line was certainly not enough to stop Kaoru from terrorizing the vocalist.

He was irritated as hell.

He grabbed his cell phone and stomped to the window that faced Toshiya's. He opened the curtain and the window for the first time and saw the younger man idly watching the television.

"Toshiya!!!" He called out in the spirit of revenge.

The said man turned his head to Kyo and widened his eyes. He rushed to open the window, "Morning, Kyo! It's the first time we talk through these windows—Ah!" Toshiya blinked his eyes when he saw the cell phone that Kyo had thrown to him. He intended to ask the meaning of this, but he noticed that Kyo had already gone from the sight. He inspected the ringing thing again, seeing Kaoru's name on the screen. He hesitantly pressed the green button and answered, "Umm, moshi-moshi?"

"Kyo—" Kaoru's voice arouse, but then cut off abruptly.

Silence then followed for a while before Toshiya initiated, "...Kaoru?"

"To-Toshiya...? Why are you...?"

"I don't know, Kyo suddenly called me through the window and throw his cell phone at me. I saw your name on the screen, so I answered." Toshiya scratched his head, "Do you know why Kyo did that?"

Another silence passed by, then Kaoru let out a nervous laugh, "Ahaha... I wonder."

"So... do you want to leave a message for Kyo? Or do you want me to give the phone back to Kyo now?"

"Uh, no, you don't have to. It's nothing important."

"Okay," Toshiya muttered. He didn't know what else to say.

"Ah, Toshiya," Kaoru suddenly talked, breaking the silence, "Tomorrow you'll come, right?"

"Of course! I've told you before."

"Can... can I have your cell phone number? I mean, so we could meet each other easier at the place— you know it's gonna be crowded and stuffy, it's not easy to find someone without cell phone. And we're not sure what time we'll be there, and maybe you'll tire yourself out by searching. I mean—"

"Okay, okay, I get your point," Toshiya giggled. "Here's my number..."

************

"You're kidding me."

"Served him right."

"Kyo! You genius! Join me to the world of eternal prank!"

"If only I could see his face when he realized I gave my cell phone to Toshiya..."

"Well, well, you seemed pretty pissed at our leader..."

"How am I not supposed to after days of morning terror of Kaoru asking me what Toshiya is doing???" Kyo pulled his own hair in desperation, "That man was absolutely horrible when he got lovesick!! I mean, what's the use of asking all those things?? He's meeting Toshiya every single night anyway!! I bet you a thousand yen that Kaoru's gonna walk in embarrassed and infuriated—"

Right then, Kaoru walked in... and in a happy mood, much to Kyo's displeasure. Kaoru was actually humming.

"Ohayo," Kaoru greeted gleefully. "Nice day for practice, eh?"

Kyo's vein popped.

"Nice day my ass!!" He jumped up and stomped. "You ruined my sleep since last week!!"

"Aww, come on, Kyo. What's wrong with waking up earlier to enjoy the morning sun?" Kaoru smiled, a little bit too widely. Then he opened his guitar case and hummed again.

Die wanna laugh, but Kyo glared at him. The vocalist was totally not pleased by this sudden change of mood. Kaoru was supposed to yell at him for giving the phone to Toshiya, dammit! Not humming in a kissy-happy-mood!!

"Ah, Kyo, have you got your cell phone back?"

Kyo was unprepared to be asked with that question in that cheerful tone, "H-hai. Toshiya came to my place—."

"Gosh! I've told him to wait until you yourself get it back on your own!" Kaoru furrowed his eyebrows a little, "You were troubling him, Kyo!"

Troubling Toshiya, not Kaoru. Kyo was supposed to trouble Kaoru. Kaoru was supposed to be troubled, DAMMIT!! And Kaoru was slightly mad because he was troubling Toshiya, not because he gave the phone to him!! This motherfuckersonofa—

"So what happened?" Die asked amusedly, "You seemed pretty lively, Kaoru."

"Well, I called Kyo this morning and he gave the phone to Toshiya..." Kyo noticed with irritation that Kaoru actually had the tendency to blush. There was not even a hint of anger in the older man's face. "...So we talked and I finally got his cell phone number."

Die laughed, "What? You mean you haven't?? After all these time?"

"Hey!" Kaoru crossed his arms, "I just don't wanna be seen as an aggressive person! I might scare him again!"

You mean you don't want Toshiya to know how much of a stalker talent you have. Kyo thought angrily. He was still so annoyed that he couldn't speak a word.

"Oh well, what's my first e-mail will be about? What should I write to him?" Kaoru nearly sang to himself. Kyo practically fell over the couch. Die tried very hard to hold his laughter back.

"I'll go buy some cigarette while thinking of it..." Kaoru nearly bounced his way out.

Then Shinya walked in, his expression was a mix of confusion and amusement. "Kaoru seemed so cheery... Something happened?"

Kyo flopped down the couch. "Kill me."

Die wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder, chuckling evilly. "Not until you pay me a thousand yen, Kyo-chan."

************

"Toshiya!" The long-haired man turned to see one of his band mates waving at him. He waved back and made his way to him.

"Taira!" Toshiya hopped in on the seat beside the man. "I thought you have to go back to Nagano for your friend's wedding!"

Taira laughed, "I misread the date! Luckily a friend called me and talked about it, or else I would be coming all the way there to see an empty wedding-hall." He then lightened his cigarette, "So whatcha doin' here?"

"I wanna watch a band called La:Sadies."

"La:Sadies?" Taira smiled, "That band's awesome. They're quite famous, you know."

"Really?" Toshiya blinked. He was usually too busy with part-time jobs and band practices, barely had time to socialize.

"You mean you didn't know?" Taira stared at him with disbelief. Toshiya shook his head, Taira sighed in return. "Anyhow, I heard there was a conflict within the band."

Toshiya widened his eyes. So the news had spread.

"Kisaki, the bassist, wanted to stay indie. The others were apparently aiming towards major." Taira heaved a long smoke, "I agree with the bassist actually. I mean, music is all about expressing yourself, right? Major labels meddles in too much."

Toshiya stayed silent and averted his eyes. Thankfully, Taira didn't realize his sudden change of attitude. "Too bad for them... that kind of conflict usually leads either to disband or a member quitting."

A sound signing an e-mail came in saved Toshiya from the unwanted conversation. He excused himself and checked his cell phone.

From: Kaoru
Subject: Where are you?

Hi, Toshiya! \^0^/
I hope you've arrived already. Our band's gonna be on stage VERY soon. We're kinda nervous playing in this place, but we're gonna do our best. q^-^p
Enjoy the show =)

Toshiya smiled to himself.

No, Toshiya didn't wanna seem so full of himself, but he was not stupid.

It was obvious that Kaoru had something for him.

That man used to came to the sushi bar on his working nights. He acted polite and awkward. Oh the awkwardness! Kaoru was too funny when he was embarrassed, especially when his friends teased him!

It wasn't like Toshiya didn't enjoy the attention. Kaoru was such a nice guy. He was kind and caring, never force his way into him. And not to mention good-looking... Toshiya giggled.

He was about to press the reply button when the current band went down from the stage. Toshiya wondered if that was the time for La:Sadies to come up when a lot of people rushed from all over the live house to get their place in front of the stage. They were shouting the band's name, so Toshiya quickly followed them. Not long after that, a person made his way on the stage, making the crowd cheered in anticipation.

Wait... it was not just a random person.

It was Shinya.

Toshiya blinked his eyes, couldn't believe that the man could get this pretty. Of course, Shinya without make-up was feminine enough, but—

Is that Die??

Toshiya widened his eyes in shock. The man's looked scary with his get-up, not at all like the cheerful person he knew. A person he wasn't familiar with followed Die and started to strummed up his bass. That should be Kisaki, then?

Another person came up, and Toshiya finally recognized him as Kaoru. It was hard because Die's frightening appearance was nothing compared to his. Kaoru's gaze roamed around; Toshiya didn't put much hope on being sighted, for the crowd was crazy and too excited. But then he saw Kaoru's eyes fixed at him and he waved a bit. He squealed inwardly when he saw Kaoru smiled towards him. Then more craziness from the crowd pushed him to the side and Kaoru lost track of him.

Eh?

What was a kid doing on the stage? Moreover, he wore no less scary make-up and costumes—

"HOOOOOOY!!" The 'kid' growled, "WE'RE LA:SADIES!!"

Oh my God!! It was Kyo!! Was it just him or Kyo do looked shorter on stage?!

************

"KAORUU!!"

Toshiya looked to his side to see a young boy around 16 years old screaming with all his breath not far from him. The boy waved and jumped, following Kyo singing those songs along with the other fans. He called out for Kaoru occasionally, and went slightly hysterical when Kaoru played his solo.

A huge fan of Kaoru, hm? Toshiya giggled. He certainly had to tease Kaoru later on.

As if realizing being looked at, the boy turned to him. And widened his eyes. Toshiya blinked. The boy looked like he was seeing a ghost, and Toshiya blinked again. He looked around, but everyone else's attention was fixed at the stage.

Toshiya looked back to the boy and nearly jumped when he noticed the boy was making his way towards the tall man. Toshiya didn't know what he should do, so he just blinked and waited—

Suddenly, the people around him moved frantically while screaming from the top of their lungs. Toshiya tried hard to look above the crowd's heads. It appeared that the band had finished their performance, and at that time they were giving their guitar picks and drum sticks to their fans. Someone elbowed Toshiya on the nose and he shrieked in pain. He intended to protest, but he realized that he didn’t even know who did it.

To prevent further damage, Toshiya finally decided to get out from the chaos. It was not easy, but he managed. The tall man looked down to see his clothes all wrinkled.

Crazy fans of a crazy band.

************

Miyabi strolled down the narrow hallway while humming lightly. La:Sadies' performance was great! Kaoru was so great! There was only one thing bugged him...

But what he thought he saw earlier might only just his imagination...

He finally arrived in front of a door with La:Sadies and some other band names written on it. He could hear some excited voice and laughter from inside. Ah, there's Kaoru's voice! The boy opened the door and saw his lover laughing with his band mates.

"Kaoruuu!" he called out to get some attention and rushed to hug the older man, "You were so cool!"

"Miyabi" Kaoru yelled in surprise, "What are you doing here?!"

"Of course I'm here to see your live!" He giggled.

"But how do you know...?" The man blinked, his face was in an utter confusion... and bother, which Miyabi tried hard to ignore.

"Well I am your lover, Kaoru, of course I know—." Kaoru put a hand around his mouth to stop his talk, then dragged him outside. He protested in a muffled voice, his eyes wandered around to see the reason of why Kaoru acted so weird...

...then Miyabi saw him.

The tall, long-haired, pretty man whom he thought was only his imagination.

The door was shut.

Kaoru released his grip, but Miyabi already stopped his protests. He merely stared at the direction of the closed door.

"Miyabi..."

He didn't answer. His mind was so jumbled with things. Suspicions. Blames.

That man was there. The man in the photo.

Did Shinya lied to him back then?

"Miyabi, you should go home—."

"Why is that man here?"

Kaoru fell silent. "...who?"

"That man!!" Miyabi yelled and pointed to the band's changing room. "That's Toshiya!! Don't lie to me!!"

Kaoru fell silent again for some time. His eyes stared straight into Miyabi's, but the young boy couldn't read anything out of those deep orbs.

"He came to see our live."

Miyabi felt tears leaking out from the corner of his eyes. He felt tricked, cheated, being lied.

What's the meaning of his whole understanding?

"Shinya said Toshiya was already dead!!!"

Miyabi shrieked when he felt strong hands slammed him to the wall and hold him there. He quivered in fear as he looked at the used to be emotionless eyes of his lover. It was now filled with rage, frustration... and the urge to hurt him. Miyabi couldn't even cry anymore, he was too scared to make any move.

Kaoru uneven breathing finally calmed down along with the fire in his eyes. He closed them, then opened them again after a while. He released Miyabi and turned around, his back facing Miyabi.

"That was not the same Toshiya, okay." His voice was raspy and pained.

"What?"

"I won't say it twice. That's the truth."

What was the meaning of all this? What happened? How could that happened? What did that man mean to Kaoru?

Instead of asking all those questions, Miyabi ran straight to the changing room. Kaoru called him out, but he ignored it. He opened the door and overlooked the worried expressions of Kaoru's band mates. He only saw that face again, who was currently in a mixed expression.

Too similar to be true.

And that wasn't the same Toshiya?

Kaoru obviously didn't like to think about that fact, though.

"Hi, Toshiya," Miyabi shoved his hand into the other's. "My name's Miyabi, Kaoru's lover."

The shocked tint in Toshiya's face grew bigger. Miyabi smirked inwardly.

"H-hi... I'm Toshiya..."

"Miyabi!" Kaoru finally caught up with him and watched the whole scene in distaste.

"Well, see you, Toshiya!" No, Miyabi didn't intend to stay any longer. Kaoru would shoved him out anyway. Miyabi only wanted to show a little intimidation towards the sickeningly pretty man.

He then hopped to the side of Kaoru and leaned up, placing a kiss on his lips. Kaoru widened his eyes and jerked backward instantly, but even a little peck was demonstrative enough.

"I'll wait for you at home, Kaoru."

Then he left.

Kaoru was his. No matter what.

************
Tbc~
Comments makes me happy :)

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