Just a fic post
A fic I've written a while ago, and wanted to put here, as I won't be able to do this during the weekend ^^; I like it a lot better than the first one.
A bigger entry will get here when I find the time to write it properly~ ^^;
Title: The Beginning
Author: inidhil
Pairing: SakuraxHyde
Fandom: L’Arc~en~Ciel
Theme: #20. The road home.
Rating: G, I think
Disclaimer: I do not own L’Arc~en~Ciel (no matter how much I’d love to), and I surely know nothing about what really happens between the members; therefore, my work is purely fictional.
Notes: Very, very early L’Arc era, before Dune was released.
Warning: Some poor attempts at humour ^^’
Sakura turned on the radio in his car and relaxed. The day has been quite... effective so far, he thought. He smiled to himself, opened the window a bit and took out a cigarette. He was aware of the fact that it was illegal, but he never cared about law too much, anyway. Observing the landscapes running past his car, he drove almost carelessly, his thoughts coming back to the events that led him to the situation he was in now.
~*~
The concert was a huge success. As always, Sakura thought to himself walking off the stage. The audience reacted enthusiastically, and the band he played with this time went through the performance quite well. It wasn’t unexpected, though, as he always chose the best.
He decided to join the afterparty, as the night was just begun, but after approximately five minutes he began to regret it. Someone approached him the moment he came out of the dressing room and into the main room of the club, someone, whose appearance was quite... Misleading, yeah, that was the best word for it Sakura could find at that moment. The person was a man, he judged after a second, and even if he was used to men in make-up and skirts, this one was surely an original. His make-up could be distributed between at least three drag queens and his hair looked as if he dried it in a car wash. Ok., Sakura thought to himself, you can get used to it, but you really can’t do anything about it - they might always surprise you.
‘Excuse me... May we speak for a minute?’ the person stuttered, his voice ensuring Sakura that it was really a man. And that the man quite surely came from Osaka.
‘I’d rather sit down and have a drink’, Sakura answered reluctantly, and sighed, seeing the look in the other man’s eyes. He hated being too nice, but sometimes he couldn’t help it. Especially being in such a good mood. ‘Care to join me?’
The man looked at him in surprise, then nodded and followed him to a free table. Before Sakura could say something, he ordered two beers and looked at the drummer with anxiety clearly visible on his face.
‘Ok., I can see you know who I am’, Sakura stated, ‘but I’d be glad to know who you are.’
‘Oh’, the man stuttered once more. ‘I... My name is... Ogawa Tetsuya, but please call me Tetsu. I wanted to talk to you because...’. He stopped for a moment, took a sip from his glass and went on. ‘My band is looking for a drummer, and I think you’d be perfect.’
Sakura choked.
‘Of course, I don’t want you to decide right now, but we’re really in a hurry. We’ve got huge plans and our drummer left us so suddenly...’
‘Wait a moment’, Sakura interrupted Tetsu’s speech. ‘You what?’
‘We’re looking for a drummer’ Tetsu repeated calmly. ‘You see, our former drummer...’
‘And what makes you think I’d like to be your next?’ Sakura asked coldly.
Tetsu looked at him, his large, liner-rounded eyes widening even more. ‘Why wouldn’t you at least try?’ he asked, smiling naively. Or trying to do so and succeeding, the drummer thought.
‘Um... Well... Because I’m not going to get involved in a band? I’m free and I play when I want to and with who I want.’
‘But... but it’s not a reason! You could just try, it won’t cost you a bit, we’ll even return the travel expenses... ‘Cause you see, we’re from Osaka and...’
‘From where?’
‘From Osaka. As you can probably judge by my accent. But it’s not the case. Here’, Tetsu put a piece of paper on the table ‘is my telephone number and my address. We’ll be waiting for you next Saturday, you’ll hear the songs and talk to us and decide. If you could just give me yours...’, Sakura handed him his card not very aware of what he was doing, ‘Great, then I’ll call you the day before and remind you about it. I’m very happy to be able to meet you and I’m really looking forward to seeing you next Saturday!’
Tetsu stood up and smiled.
‘I can’t wait till you meet the rest. You’re such a nice person, they’ll love you and I’m sure you’ll like them. See you, then!’ he waved and disappeared in the crowd. Sakura stared after him, stunned.
‘And who, the hell, was that?’
~*~
The telephone rang for the fifth time that evening. Sakura sighed and eventually picked it up.
‘Yes?’
‘Oh, I’m glad you’re home! I thought I’d never catch you!’ The drummer cursed himself silently for giving his number to strange, crossdressing males from Osaka. Who had bands with no drummers, he added.
‘I’ve... just returned here’ he lied, sitting on the couch, still holding the receiver next to his ear.
‘That’s ok., I hope you remember about our meeting tomorrow?’, Tetsu’s voice was cheerful despite the time; it was almost midnight.
‘I do... How could I forget? You’ve been calling me everyday since last Saturday.’
‘So, you’ll be there, right?’ Tetsu easly disregarded the remark.
‘Yeah. Why not? I’ve got nothing to lose, right?’ Sakura sighed again.
‘Great! I’ll be seeing you, then. Bye!’
The drummer put down the receiver. He still didn’t remember when or how he had agreed for that, but it was too late now. Well, a drive to Osaka wasn’t that bad, he liked the city and hopefully could have some fun later, before returning home. He turned on the alarm clock and went to sleep, thinking about how awfully nice and obedient he was and how much trouble this could bring him in the future.
~*~
He was a bit late when he knocked on Tetsu’s door, which flew open, bringing him a suspicion that the other man had been waiting just beside them. Tetsu was looking just as he was that night in the club, only his make-up seeming a bit heavier in daylight than it was then. He smiled widely and moved aside to let Sakura in.
‘I thought that you’d like to meet the band first, before going to the rehearsal. We’ll show you our demo, it was recorded not so long ago, and we’ll play a song or two, just to let you hear how we sound live,’ he said, leading Sakura inside to a not-so-spacious living room. Two other people were sitting there... Well, sitting on the floor, actually, playing video games.
‘Ken! How could you! It was my turn to win!’
‘Hey, it’s not my fault you’re a loser, Hyde!’
‘I’m no loser, you’re cheating, that’s all!’
‘Nah. Loser!’
‘Let’s play again, I’ll show you who’s the loser here!’
It was a strange feeling. Sakura could hear two masculine voices with an awful Osaka-ben, but he could see a thin man in a lipstick and tight clothes, and a pretty, longhaired girl, dressed in a white dress. He was confused, until the truth hit him right in the eye.
‘Ken! Hyde! How many times I have to tell you you’re not to play games when we have guests!’
‘But Tetsu...’ the “girl” replied, looking at him pleadingly. As Sakura observed, it was hard to decline people from Osaka. Especially this person, he added in his mind.
‘No. Not this time. Guys, this is Sakura, our new drummer.’
Sakura opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn’t really able to, first because of the shock which came after hearing Tetsu’s statement, the second reason being the “girl”… jumping on him and hugging him.
‘Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m sure you’ll love it!’
‘But I haven’t decided yet...’ his voice was muffled and he felt like losing his balance, even if the other person wasn’t exactly big or heavy.
‘Hyde, let go of him, you’ll strangle him!’ Tetsu shouted and Hyde loosened his grip.
‘Sorry’, he said quietly, but in his eyes Sakura could see a glimpse of mischievousness. He was also very, ver pretty, the drummer thought. Especially for a man. And he was still hugging Sakura, his face very close to the other’s.
‘Hyde, I said let go of him!’
‘Ok., ok...’ Hyde stepped aside and smiled.
‘So, you seem to have met our vocalist, Hideto...’
‘Hyde! Call me: Hyde, Tetsu, or we’ll have to talk about certain things, dear.’ Hyde’s voice was cold, but he seemed to be joking.
‘Alright, alright, Doiha-chan.’ Tetsu deftly avoided a pillow sent in his general direction. ‘It’s Haido backwards’, he smiled at Sakura.
‘I prefer Haido.’ Hyde added. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Pleased to meet you, too’ Sakura smiled lightly and suddenly couldn’t turn his face away from Hyde’s. The vocalist’s eyes seemed to be almost glowing, and the time has stopped for a second… or hasn’t it? Anyway, Sakura barely heard Tetsu’s voice.
‘That’s our guitarist, Ken.’
The other man smiled and Sakura shook his hand, noticing how the orange lipstick did not go with the man’s clothes. Or general appearance.
‘And I’m the bassist’, Tetsu added.
Sakura once again started to wonder how on Earth he ended up being in that kind of a situation.
~*~
Surprisingly, they got along quite well. As Sakura could judge after such a short time, only about two hours before they went to the place they had rehearsals, the things were quite simple.
Tetsu was the band’s frontman. Well, officially. Unofficially, he was the band’s mother. Always cheerful and joking, he really was bonding the band, and it was all because of him that the meeting went so well. Despite the whole cross-dressing thing he was really a nice person and Sakura couldn’t help it, but started to like him. There was only one thing that struck the drummer, and it was Tetsu’s attitude to Hyde. Sakura had no idea why it started bothering him in the first place, but after noticing it, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Tetsu seemed to be... Well, of course, mothering the vocalist, but there was something more in his gazes, in his gestures and words, which Hyde clearly failed to notice. Sakura, however, did notice, and wondered how the band didn’t break up yet because of that. But maybe he was wrong, maybe Tetsu wasn’t the type of person who would favour Hyde. The drummer was curious how this all looks on a normal day.
Ken... He couldn’t say too much about Ken, even if the guitarist wasn’t a quiet or calm person, rather the opposite. Ken appeared to be very self confident, and was really touchy about the subject of his guitar abilities, which led to constant quarrels with Hyde, who tried to deny them every time the subject came up. But the quarrels seemed rather friendly, and the overall atmosphere was welcoming. And Ken’s appearance didn’t really bother him that much, despite of his flaming gay looks and strange lipstick. Sakura could even find some mutual interests with the guitarist and thought that they could get along really well.
And then, there was Hyde. He seemed to be a mystery, one that won’t be easy to be solved. Once acting like a ten-year-old spoiled girl, next like a grown man, and sometimes, Sakura thought, as if he was close to flirting with him. His appearance lured the drummer, but it wasn’t only that - there was something more, deeper, something that led him to the vocalist and forced him to look into those deep brown eyes every time he could. He felt a bit strange about it, he wasn’t attracted to men too often, and surely not as often as to let him get used to it. He couldn’t help it, but he observed Hyde’s face, Hyde’s gestures, the way he played with his hair, the way he walked and talked and found it all so... pretty. And pretty amusing, too.
Hyde surely was a mystery. And Sakura couldn’t wait to hear him singing.
~*~
They eventually reached their destination, the place where the band had rehearsals. It wasn’t a big room, but quite nicely equipped. Sakura examined the drums set closely and smiled.
‘Ok., then, would you rather hear the tapes or should we play something?’ asked Tetsu.
‘I’m interested in the live version’, replied Sakura. ‘You could give me the notes for percussion if you’ve got them, I’ll look at them during the time you play, ‘k?’
‘Sure!’ Tetsu smiled, searched for the notes and handed them to Sakura.
‘I want to sing ‘Taste of love’’, stated Hyde.
‘Eh? Hyde, we weren’t supposed to...’
‘Tetsu, please. I want to sing it now. Can we please play it?’ Hyde’s voice was [proszący] and his eyes shone like diamonds in his face. Tetsu felt helpless and finally agreed.
They tuned up their instruments and got ready. Hyde took his microphone and put it on the stand, stood beside it and smiled to Sakura, who was sitting only a few steps before him.
‘Of course, it’ll sound a bit awkward without the percussion’, Tetsu added, ‘but you can hear the full version on the tape, later.’
Sakura nodded and smiled faintly. He didn’t really expect anything even remotely good, so he relaxed and began listening.
The song begun with a bass solo, accompanied soon by Ken’s guitar. Sakura had to say they were good, they were really good in what they were doing. Hyde stood next to his microphone with his eyes closed, concentrating. When it was time, he started singing, his eyes still closed.
And then he opened them and look straight into Sakura’s.
The drummer was mesmerised, enchanted by both his voice and eyes. Hyde’s moves were so swift, his hands sliding along the length of the stand as if he was caressing it. His voice... Amazing. Not trained, Sakura thought, what a pity. If it had been trained... He’s never heard such a voice before. It seemed to flow right through him. Hyde’s English could’ve been better, but it was no time to think about such trivial things. Hyde was enthralling, Sakura couldn’t decide when more: when he sang or when he just stood there, looking like the most attractive and enticing being on Earth. It was almost impossible to be real.
The song seemed to last an eternity, but it ended all too soon. Hyde smiled at Sakura and - or was it an illusion? - licked his lips in the most sexy way Sakura had ever seen. What the..?
‘So? Did you like it?’ Tetsu asked, bringing him back to reality.
‘Um... Well... Yeah, I must say I did.’ Sakura answered slowly, putting the notes on his lap and reddening a bit.
‘Would you like to hear another?’
‘Of course.’ The drummer smiled and shifted in his seat.
‘’Tsuyoku no jokei’, ne, Tet-chan?’ Hyde moved his microphone a little and moved a hand through his hair.
‘As you wish, Doiha-chan. As you wish.’
The ballad was a lot more tranquil than the first song, beginning with a nice solo on the guitar. And then it flew, swaying back and forth, Hyde’s voice filling the room and yet seeming to fill the whole world. “Amazing” was just one of the words forming in Sakura’s head with every note.
He was still a bit dazed after it, when Tetsu handed him a cassette.
‘It’s the demo I’ve been talking about, Sakura. You can hear it at home, or we can listen to it here...’
‘No, I’d rather wait till I get home.’ Sakura smiled faintly.
‘Are you feeling alright?’ Tetsu seemed worried.
‘Yeah, I’m good. So, I guess I’ll be seeing you guys some time soon?’
‘You... you don’t have to decide now, you know.’
Sakura lifted his eyes on Hyde and saw a light smile on the vocalist’s lips and an emanation that felt almost like divine. Hyde was watching him closely.
‘I know I don’t have to... I’ll call you when I make up my mind, ok.?’
‘Yeah, sure.’ Tetsu smiled and they all led him to the door. Hyde did nothing else but waving him goodbye, but just before Sakura turned around, he noticed the singer sending a kiss in the air. In his direction. And the drummer was sure noone else saw that.
He certainly had lots of things to think about.
~*~
Sakura smiled to himself. The tape was lying safely in his pocket, waiting for its turn, and the road home was a lon one. He finished his cigarette, threw it through the window, but didn’t close it. He felt a cool breeze brushing his ravenblack hair, messing it up a bit.
‘L’Arc~en~Ciel’, he repeated the band’s name (he’s almost forgotten to ask Tetsu about it. The bassist claimed it was after a French movie, and meant ‘rainbow’, as their music represented all the colours of the rainbow. Hyde winced a bit hearing this, and Sakura memorized to ask him why, one day.)
He didn’t actually need the time to think about whether to join the band or not. Really, what did he have to lose?
Besides, he was curious how it all would end.
~*owari*~
Crossposted to sakuhai, 30_kisses and my personal journal.
A bigger entry will get here when I find the time to write it properly~ ^^;
Title: The Beginning
Author: inidhil
Pairing: SakuraxHyde
Fandom: L’Arc~en~Ciel
Theme: #20. The road home.
Rating: G, I think
Disclaimer: I do not own L’Arc~en~Ciel (no matter how much I’d love to), and I surely know nothing about what really happens between the members; therefore, my work is purely fictional.
Notes: Very, very early L’Arc era, before Dune was released.
Warning: Some poor attempts at humour ^^’
Sakura turned on the radio in his car and relaxed. The day has been quite... effective so far, he thought. He smiled to himself, opened the window a bit and took out a cigarette. He was aware of the fact that it was illegal, but he never cared about law too much, anyway. Observing the landscapes running past his car, he drove almost carelessly, his thoughts coming back to the events that led him to the situation he was in now.
~*~
The concert was a huge success. As always, Sakura thought to himself walking off the stage. The audience reacted enthusiastically, and the band he played with this time went through the performance quite well. It wasn’t unexpected, though, as he always chose the best.
He decided to join the afterparty, as the night was just begun, but after approximately five minutes he began to regret it. Someone approached him the moment he came out of the dressing room and into the main room of the club, someone, whose appearance was quite... Misleading, yeah, that was the best word for it Sakura could find at that moment. The person was a man, he judged after a second, and even if he was used to men in make-up and skirts, this one was surely an original. His make-up could be distributed between at least three drag queens and his hair looked as if he dried it in a car wash. Ok., Sakura thought to himself, you can get used to it, but you really can’t do anything about it - they might always surprise you.
‘Excuse me... May we speak for a minute?’ the person stuttered, his voice ensuring Sakura that it was really a man. And that the man quite surely came from Osaka.
‘I’d rather sit down and have a drink’, Sakura answered reluctantly, and sighed, seeing the look in the other man’s eyes. He hated being too nice, but sometimes he couldn’t help it. Especially being in such a good mood. ‘Care to join me?’
The man looked at him in surprise, then nodded and followed him to a free table. Before Sakura could say something, he ordered two beers and looked at the drummer with anxiety clearly visible on his face.
‘Ok., I can see you know who I am’, Sakura stated, ‘but I’d be glad to know who you are.’
‘Oh’, the man stuttered once more. ‘I... My name is... Ogawa Tetsuya, but please call me Tetsu. I wanted to talk to you because...’. He stopped for a moment, took a sip from his glass and went on. ‘My band is looking for a drummer, and I think you’d be perfect.’
Sakura choked.
‘Of course, I don’t want you to decide right now, but we’re really in a hurry. We’ve got huge plans and our drummer left us so suddenly...’
‘Wait a moment’, Sakura interrupted Tetsu’s speech. ‘You what?’
‘We’re looking for a drummer’ Tetsu repeated calmly. ‘You see, our former drummer...’
‘And what makes you think I’d like to be your next?’ Sakura asked coldly.
Tetsu looked at him, his large, liner-rounded eyes widening even more. ‘Why wouldn’t you at least try?’ he asked, smiling naively. Or trying to do so and succeeding, the drummer thought.
‘Um... Well... Because I’m not going to get involved in a band? I’m free and I play when I want to and with who I want.’
‘But... but it’s not a reason! You could just try, it won’t cost you a bit, we’ll even return the travel expenses... ‘Cause you see, we’re from Osaka and...’
‘From where?’
‘From Osaka. As you can probably judge by my accent. But it’s not the case. Here’, Tetsu put a piece of paper on the table ‘is my telephone number and my address. We’ll be waiting for you next Saturday, you’ll hear the songs and talk to us and decide. If you could just give me yours...’, Sakura handed him his card not very aware of what he was doing, ‘Great, then I’ll call you the day before and remind you about it. I’m very happy to be able to meet you and I’m really looking forward to seeing you next Saturday!’
Tetsu stood up and smiled.
‘I can’t wait till you meet the rest. You’re such a nice person, they’ll love you and I’m sure you’ll like them. See you, then!’ he waved and disappeared in the crowd. Sakura stared after him, stunned.
‘And who, the hell, was that?’
~*~
The telephone rang for the fifth time that evening. Sakura sighed and eventually picked it up.
‘Yes?’
‘Oh, I’m glad you’re home! I thought I’d never catch you!’ The drummer cursed himself silently for giving his number to strange, crossdressing males from Osaka. Who had bands with no drummers, he added.
‘I’ve... just returned here’ he lied, sitting on the couch, still holding the receiver next to his ear.
‘That’s ok., I hope you remember about our meeting tomorrow?’, Tetsu’s voice was cheerful despite the time; it was almost midnight.
‘I do... How could I forget? You’ve been calling me everyday since last Saturday.’
‘So, you’ll be there, right?’ Tetsu easly disregarded the remark.
‘Yeah. Why not? I’ve got nothing to lose, right?’ Sakura sighed again.
‘Great! I’ll be seeing you, then. Bye!’
The drummer put down the receiver. He still didn’t remember when or how he had agreed for that, but it was too late now. Well, a drive to Osaka wasn’t that bad, he liked the city and hopefully could have some fun later, before returning home. He turned on the alarm clock and went to sleep, thinking about how awfully nice and obedient he was and how much trouble this could bring him in the future.
~*~
He was a bit late when he knocked on Tetsu’s door, which flew open, bringing him a suspicion that the other man had been waiting just beside them. Tetsu was looking just as he was that night in the club, only his make-up seeming a bit heavier in daylight than it was then. He smiled widely and moved aside to let Sakura in.
‘I thought that you’d like to meet the band first, before going to the rehearsal. We’ll show you our demo, it was recorded not so long ago, and we’ll play a song or two, just to let you hear how we sound live,’ he said, leading Sakura inside to a not-so-spacious living room. Two other people were sitting there... Well, sitting on the floor, actually, playing video games.
‘Ken! How could you! It was my turn to win!’
‘Hey, it’s not my fault you’re a loser, Hyde!’
‘I’m no loser, you’re cheating, that’s all!’
‘Nah. Loser!’
‘Let’s play again, I’ll show you who’s the loser here!’
It was a strange feeling. Sakura could hear two masculine voices with an awful Osaka-ben, but he could see a thin man in a lipstick and tight clothes, and a pretty, longhaired girl, dressed in a white dress. He was confused, until the truth hit him right in the eye.
‘Ken! Hyde! How many times I have to tell you you’re not to play games when we have guests!’
‘But Tetsu...’ the “girl” replied, looking at him pleadingly. As Sakura observed, it was hard to decline people from Osaka. Especially this person, he added in his mind.
‘No. Not this time. Guys, this is Sakura, our new drummer.’
Sakura opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn’t really able to, first because of the shock which came after hearing Tetsu’s statement, the second reason being the “girl”… jumping on him and hugging him.
‘Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m sure you’ll love it!’
‘But I haven’t decided yet...’ his voice was muffled and he felt like losing his balance, even if the other person wasn’t exactly big or heavy.
‘Hyde, let go of him, you’ll strangle him!’ Tetsu shouted and Hyde loosened his grip.
‘Sorry’, he said quietly, but in his eyes Sakura could see a glimpse of mischievousness. He was also very, ver pretty, the drummer thought. Especially for a man. And he was still hugging Sakura, his face very close to the other’s.
‘Hyde, I said let go of him!’
‘Ok., ok...’ Hyde stepped aside and smiled.
‘So, you seem to have met our vocalist, Hideto...’
‘Hyde! Call me: Hyde, Tetsu, or we’ll have to talk about certain things, dear.’ Hyde’s voice was cold, but he seemed to be joking.
‘Alright, alright, Doiha-chan.’ Tetsu deftly avoided a pillow sent in his general direction. ‘It’s Haido backwards’, he smiled at Sakura.
‘I prefer Haido.’ Hyde added. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Pleased to meet you, too’ Sakura smiled lightly and suddenly couldn’t turn his face away from Hyde’s. The vocalist’s eyes seemed to be almost glowing, and the time has stopped for a second… or hasn’t it? Anyway, Sakura barely heard Tetsu’s voice.
‘That’s our guitarist, Ken.’
The other man smiled and Sakura shook his hand, noticing how the orange lipstick did not go with the man’s clothes. Or general appearance.
‘And I’m the bassist’, Tetsu added.
Sakura once again started to wonder how on Earth he ended up being in that kind of a situation.
~*~
Surprisingly, they got along quite well. As Sakura could judge after such a short time, only about two hours before they went to the place they had rehearsals, the things were quite simple.
Tetsu was the band’s frontman. Well, officially. Unofficially, he was the band’s mother. Always cheerful and joking, he really was bonding the band, and it was all because of him that the meeting went so well. Despite the whole cross-dressing thing he was really a nice person and Sakura couldn’t help it, but started to like him. There was only one thing that struck the drummer, and it was Tetsu’s attitude to Hyde. Sakura had no idea why it started bothering him in the first place, but after noticing it, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Tetsu seemed to be... Well, of course, mothering the vocalist, but there was something more in his gazes, in his gestures and words, which Hyde clearly failed to notice. Sakura, however, did notice, and wondered how the band didn’t break up yet because of that. But maybe he was wrong, maybe Tetsu wasn’t the type of person who would favour Hyde. The drummer was curious how this all looks on a normal day.
Ken... He couldn’t say too much about Ken, even if the guitarist wasn’t a quiet or calm person, rather the opposite. Ken appeared to be very self confident, and was really touchy about the subject of his guitar abilities, which led to constant quarrels with Hyde, who tried to deny them every time the subject came up. But the quarrels seemed rather friendly, and the overall atmosphere was welcoming. And Ken’s appearance didn’t really bother him that much, despite of his flaming gay looks and strange lipstick. Sakura could even find some mutual interests with the guitarist and thought that they could get along really well.
And then, there was Hyde. He seemed to be a mystery, one that won’t be easy to be solved. Once acting like a ten-year-old spoiled girl, next like a grown man, and sometimes, Sakura thought, as if he was close to flirting with him. His appearance lured the drummer, but it wasn’t only that - there was something more, deeper, something that led him to the vocalist and forced him to look into those deep brown eyes every time he could. He felt a bit strange about it, he wasn’t attracted to men too often, and surely not as often as to let him get used to it. He couldn’t help it, but he observed Hyde’s face, Hyde’s gestures, the way he played with his hair, the way he walked and talked and found it all so... pretty. And pretty amusing, too.
Hyde surely was a mystery. And Sakura couldn’t wait to hear him singing.
~*~
They eventually reached their destination, the place where the band had rehearsals. It wasn’t a big room, but quite nicely equipped. Sakura examined the drums set closely and smiled.
‘Ok., then, would you rather hear the tapes or should we play something?’ asked Tetsu.
‘I’m interested in the live version’, replied Sakura. ‘You could give me the notes for percussion if you’ve got them, I’ll look at them during the time you play, ‘k?’
‘Sure!’ Tetsu smiled, searched for the notes and handed them to Sakura.
‘I want to sing ‘Taste of love’’, stated Hyde.
‘Eh? Hyde, we weren’t supposed to...’
‘Tetsu, please. I want to sing it now. Can we please play it?’ Hyde’s voice was [proszący] and his eyes shone like diamonds in his face. Tetsu felt helpless and finally agreed.
They tuned up their instruments and got ready. Hyde took his microphone and put it on the stand, stood beside it and smiled to Sakura, who was sitting only a few steps before him.
‘Of course, it’ll sound a bit awkward without the percussion’, Tetsu added, ‘but you can hear the full version on the tape, later.’
Sakura nodded and smiled faintly. He didn’t really expect anything even remotely good, so he relaxed and began listening.
The song begun with a bass solo, accompanied soon by Ken’s guitar. Sakura had to say they were good, they were really good in what they were doing. Hyde stood next to his microphone with his eyes closed, concentrating. When it was time, he started singing, his eyes still closed.
And then he opened them and look straight into Sakura’s.
The drummer was mesmerised, enchanted by both his voice and eyes. Hyde’s moves were so swift, his hands sliding along the length of the stand as if he was caressing it. His voice... Amazing. Not trained, Sakura thought, what a pity. If it had been trained... He’s never heard such a voice before. It seemed to flow right through him. Hyde’s English could’ve been better, but it was no time to think about such trivial things. Hyde was enthralling, Sakura couldn’t decide when more: when he sang or when he just stood there, looking like the most attractive and enticing being on Earth. It was almost impossible to be real.
The song seemed to last an eternity, but it ended all too soon. Hyde smiled at Sakura and - or was it an illusion? - licked his lips in the most sexy way Sakura had ever seen. What the..?
‘So? Did you like it?’ Tetsu asked, bringing him back to reality.
‘Um... Well... Yeah, I must say I did.’ Sakura answered slowly, putting the notes on his lap and reddening a bit.
‘Would you like to hear another?’
‘Of course.’ The drummer smiled and shifted in his seat.
‘’Tsuyoku no jokei’, ne, Tet-chan?’ Hyde moved his microphone a little and moved a hand through his hair.
‘As you wish, Doiha-chan. As you wish.’
The ballad was a lot more tranquil than the first song, beginning with a nice solo on the guitar. And then it flew, swaying back and forth, Hyde’s voice filling the room and yet seeming to fill the whole world. “Amazing” was just one of the words forming in Sakura’s head with every note.
He was still a bit dazed after it, when Tetsu handed him a cassette.
‘It’s the demo I’ve been talking about, Sakura. You can hear it at home, or we can listen to it here...’
‘No, I’d rather wait till I get home.’ Sakura smiled faintly.
‘Are you feeling alright?’ Tetsu seemed worried.
‘Yeah, I’m good. So, I guess I’ll be seeing you guys some time soon?’
‘You... you don’t have to decide now, you know.’
Sakura lifted his eyes on Hyde and saw a light smile on the vocalist’s lips and an emanation that felt almost like divine. Hyde was watching him closely.
‘I know I don’t have to... I’ll call you when I make up my mind, ok.?’
‘Yeah, sure.’ Tetsu smiled and they all led him to the door. Hyde did nothing else but waving him goodbye, but just before Sakura turned around, he noticed the singer sending a kiss in the air. In his direction. And the drummer was sure noone else saw that.
He certainly had lots of things to think about.
~*~
Sakura smiled to himself. The tape was lying safely in his pocket, waiting for its turn, and the road home was a lon one. He finished his cigarette, threw it through the window, but didn’t close it. He felt a cool breeze brushing his ravenblack hair, messing it up a bit.
‘L’Arc~en~Ciel’, he repeated the band’s name (he’s almost forgotten to ask Tetsu about it. The bassist claimed it was after a French movie, and meant ‘rainbow’, as their music represented all the colours of the rainbow. Hyde winced a bit hearing this, and Sakura memorized to ask him why, one day.)
He didn’t actually need the time to think about whether to join the band or not. Really, what did he have to lose?
Besides, he was curious how it all would end.
~*owari*~
Crossposted to sakuhai, 30_kisses and my personal journal.