The Competition - Chapter 7
Title: The Competition
Genre: Drama, comedy, fluff
Pairings: ohmiya, sakuraiba
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Fiction! :)
Summary: What if Arashi members had not gone to Johnny's auditions? This is my take on how fate's helping hand (if you believe in such things) would still have brought them together...
Chapter: 7 (out of 8)
Chapter 7: Waiting rooms, blinding lights, and empty corridors
--------------------One week before the competition--------------------
As Jun had read, merely days before the competition, all registered groups had to go through a private audition in front of a panel of judges. This was very unlike the actual contest, which would be broadcasted live on national television from a studio with a huge audience, in addition to the judges.
The group was ready. Both the audition song and the competition song had been repeated more times than they could remember and now felt incredibly natural to them.
However, the audition was a very strange experience for all of them and happened in a blur. They received a calling time and an address in the centre of the city only the day before. They did not even have time to get nervous and all arrived in the waiting room, slightly confused as to what to expect.
Before their own turn, they heard a few groups perform in the audition room next-door. But what baffled them was that these were always cut short and told to leave in the middle of their song. It was as if the judges were rushing all the groups, in order to hear as many of them in one day as possible.
“It’s a bit rude no?” Aiba said, as another group walked out of the audition room and through the waiting room, still panting and looking worried.
“They could wait until they finished the song!” He said outraged.
Nino shrugged. “I guess that’s what showbiz is … It’s not about people’s feelings… It’s all about the money and not wasting time…” He paused and stretched. “But to be fair, they did sound terrible!” He added with a slight smirk.
It was true; even Aiba had found it difficult not to block his ears at the off-key singing that had come through the door of the audition room. “Yeah, but they could be more encouraging…” he muttered.
As Nino sat by Ohno in one of the cold hard chairs, he bit his tongue, trying not to show it to the others. His confident expression was just a mask and underneath he did feel very insecure. He was confident about their singing and dancing; after all, they had been taught by the best teacher… Nino looked fondly at the sleepy-looking man. But what if the judges did not like his song? The others had said they loved it, but what would people working in the music industry say? He felt a certain burden rest on his narrow shoulders. He dreaded to think of what would happen if they did not go through now! The other four had worked so hard, they deserved songs which would put them through to the competition and help them win it! He just was not sure he had composed such songs.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Ohno put a hand on his knee.
“Stop worrying… They are going to love your song now, and your song at the competition.” He murmured, without even looking at Nino.
Nino knew he had said it this quietly so that the others would not hear it, and the young composer smiled feeling grateful. He liked sharing these moments of secret communication; hidden, yet in front of everyone. It still amazed him how Ohno saw right through him and always knew exactly what he needed to hear.
Nino placed his small hand on the bigger one and squeezed gently, answering in his own way.
Their turn came and went by very quickly. It felt more like another one of the practices in Matsumoto’s basement. The room was quite small, not well lit, and the judges were barely looking at them: They mostly took notes down on their notepads lying on the big desk, separating them from the groups.
Nino could not hide his relieved face. They had not stopped them in the middle of their performance and had let the music play to the last note.
Jun was frowning. “It wasn’t our best performance!”
Nino rolled his eyes. “Always such a perfectionist, Jun!” he mocked, feeling much cheerier.
Sho and Aiba were grinning. “I didn’t mess up a single move!” Sho exclaimed and Aiba nodded in agreement.
Ohno smiled his usual calm smile. “We did well, but we shouldn’t be overconfident. We still need to wait for their call tonight.”
They all nodded in agreement.
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That night, Jun received the call and he immediately called the others to let the others know.
“We’re through! But as Ohno said, don’t get arrogant and stay focused!” he said to the three.
When he called Ohno though, he was much more thankful. “We’re through Ohno! Thanks so much for all your help! We would not have made it this far without you! “ he exclaimed on the phone.
Ohno laughed. “That’s great to hear Jun! But we all played a role!”
-------------------
When Jun hung up from his call to Ohno he frowned. He had not wanted to share his worries with any of them, but he could definitely feel them, tying up his stomach into knots.
He was happy they were through, but somehow it felt too easy. Of course, they weren’t like those off-key singing groups they’d heard at the audition… But surely, there must be many more registered groups they had not heard; better groups…
-------------Competition day------------
Jun’s worries turned out to be exact. It became clear when they reached the competition studio that they were far from being the only ones to have passed the audition.
As they walked through the crowd of contestants arriving at the same time as them, the five young men were overwhelmed. The building where the competition was taking place also contained many smaller rooms where groups could warm up and practice one last time. They were given a room number when arriving and told they had approximately two hours until filming started.
Their confidence at having gone through to the competition was replaced by complete anxiety, as they walked through different corridors and heard incredible-sounding groups, echoing through the walls. Even Nino could not hide his nerves and looked like he was about to be sick.
“How did we even go through…?” he breathed out. “They sound amazing, imagine how well they must dance…” Only Ohno was close enough to hear him and he squeezed his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
When they finally found an empty practice room, they hurriedly closed themselves in and stayed silent for a moment. It was like they were all trying to forget what was behind that door. Right now, the competition seemed pretty terrifying to all of them.
“Okay, so we should probably have realized there would be groups with more experience than us…” Jun finally said, breaking the thick silence.
Sho nodded. “There is a lot of money at stake… I asked one of the staff, there’s about 30 groups in total.”
“All performing tonight? That’s a long show!” Aiba exclaimed.
Jun nodded. “Okay they’ve given us the procedure.” He said reading the piece of paper stuck to the door of their room. “It says here we’re 29th out of the 30.” He sighed. “At this point, I have no idea if that’s a good or a bad thing… We can either go to the main waiting room where they have screens and watch the other performances, or just wait here until a staff comes to get us when it’s our turn.”
“How do they decide the winner?” Ohno asked.
“There’s a panel of judges which will watch all the performances and then give a verdict at the end of the night. But there’s also a live audience and it says here, its reactions may help the judges when they are taking notes for each performance.
“So if the audience really likes us and cheers us on, the judges may give us the prize even if we weren’t as good as the other groups?” Aiba asked hopefully.
“Exactly.” Answered Jun.
Sho smiled; if anyone could sway an audience, it would be Aiba and his dazzling smiles.
Nino sat down on a chair near the door and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about the prize right now; about the fact that he’d only come for the money in the first place. Right now, all that mattered was that he was here with them. Right now, he knew, more than anything, he wanted to do his utmost to win this with them.
If they had even the smallest chance of winning, he had to stay focused. He did not want to think of the money, or the flight to Germany. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Ohno who was listening to Jun and Sho apparently trying to figure out a strategy.
Nino forced his eyes shut and swallowed back the sadness he could feel creeping up in his throat; he swallowed it all back down like he had when telling Ohno about his exam result.
Right now, it was not about the money; not about Germany. Right now, all there was, was the 5 of them, the music and their routine. He nodded to himself: “Focus Nino” he whispered.
“The problem is some of them have probably been together much longer than two months.” Jun was telling Sho.
Nino got up.
“That’s not important.” He said firmly as the others looked up in surprise. “What matters is how hard we’ve worked for this, and how strongly we believe we can make it. We may not have the highest chance out of all the groups here; we may have just a small chance. But that’s all we need.” He looked seriously at each of them in turn.
The other four grinned up at him. “Alright then!” Jun exclaimed.
Ohno took a step forward. “Let’s warm up!”
They all nodded until they realized the problem. “There is no piano or cd-player in here!” Sho exclaimed. “How the heck do they expect us to warm up?”
“Yeah… It’s the showbiz thing again, I guess… Save money wherever they can… We should have thought of that as well…” he sighed.
“I’ll go ask them if they’ve got a cd-player we can borrow.” Sho said, before hurrying out of the room.
He was back fairly quickly however and looking in a very bad mood. “Okay so there’s nothing we can borrow. One of the staff member just told me we should have come prepared with our own stuff… He was so patronizing!” He let out, furiously.
“Okay I have an idea.” Aiba said shyly. “I have the songs on my phone. I recorded one of our practices so I could practice at home as well…”
Sho’s frown turned upside down. “Of course you do…” He said chuckling slightly.
“Yes, that’s great!” Jun exclaimed happily. “Mao-chan was right! You do work super hard, don’t you?!”
His face fell when he realized what he’d just said. He looked quickly at the others and coughed nervously. “Emm, yes… So… let’s get started!”
Though the others did exchange worried looks, they did not comment on Jun’s sudden mood change, and started rehearsing.
----------------------
After having gone through the song several times, they decided they were as ready as they would ever be. They could not practice the dance because they did not want to get all sweaty before the competition, and had only repeated their singing.
“Aiba, have you brought the costumes?” Sho asked.
Aiba grinned and nodded.
Nino grimaced in worry. It was Aiba’s idea that the other groups would all be wearing similar outfits. “It’s to look more like a team! Like a real group!” he’d said. Somehow, he’d managed to convince the others to let him take care of it.
Nino had a bad feeling about this… What could Aiba have prepared for them…?
When Aiba opened the huge bag he’d dragged here and took all the pieces of clothing out, there was a long silence.
Sho eventually broke it.
“Okay well. If we’re doing this, we might as well do it properly!” he exclaimed with a small laugh.
Nino was repeatedly shaking his head. “I am not wearing this!”
“It’s not that bad Nino.” Ohno said quietly, picking up a flashy, glittery, overly-styled shirt. “It’ll just be like…” he hesitated.
“Like we’ve just come out from an teenage magazine!” Nino groaned, examining a pair of jeans with patterns of sequins on it.
“What, you don’t like it?” Aiba asked confused. “My younger brother helped me pick them all out. He seemed certain you would all like it! He’s a big fan of music groups so I thought he’d know what we need…”
“Aiba… Are those groups of his, idol groups by any chance?” Nino asked through his teeth.
“Ohh… Well, yea I guess…” Aiba conceded. “But…”
Sho interrupted him. “Don’t worry Aiba. They’re great!” he said throwing a warning look to Nino.
“Fine…” Nino breathed out. They all changed into the flamboyant clothes.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Jun went to open it.
A small group of staff quickly came in. “Who are those people?” Ohno asked confused.
It turns out they were makeup artists. They left 15 minutes later, leaving the five young men looking more ‘camera-ready’ than they’d ever been.
“Was that really necessary?” Nino asked, playing with the gel in his hair.
“It is the TV world, I guess…” Jun answered distractedly, looking at his reflection on his phone with a small smile.
Nino smirked. “You’re really enjoying all of this, aren’t you…”
Jun blushed slightly. “What do you mean?”
“The costumes, the makeup… You’re loving it!” Nino said, his lips curling into a feline smile.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jun answered, trying to sound innocent.
Sho interrupted them. “It should be starting soon. Do you want to go and have a look at the first performance?” The others nodded.
They were back in their room fairly quickly however, and all looking a bit paler, even with the makeup.
“Okay so watching is a bad idea…” Jun said grimacing.
Aiba nodded slowly as he took a chair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous…” he said, his voice higher in pitch than the others had ever heard it.
“How long do you guys think we have?” Nino asked.
“Well, if one performance is approximately the time of a song, let’s say maximum 5 minutes, and we’re 29th, that means we probably have a bit more than 2 hours…” Sho said quickly, sounding anxious and taking a seat next to Aiba.
Nino rolled his eyes. “University show-off…”
Sho shrugged; he pulled out a small piece of paper and started whispering his rap to himself.
Aiba took out his iPod and earphones and, closing his eyes, he started nodding along to the music. Ohno had somehow dozed off where he sat.
“What do we do now…” Nino asked, sitting on the floor against the wall. He preferred it to the hard chairs.
Jun gave a smirk. “I guessed our bratty member might get bored…” He walked to his bag and pulled out the Nintendo DS.
“My sister told me to give this to you. She said you could keep it.” He added as he leaned down to hand it to Nino, who took it gladly.
“I think she took a liking to you… God knows why…” he finished with a chuckle.
As time passed slowly, the members seemed to get more and more stressed. It was like the air was getting thicker; more difficult to take in…
Jun who’d been pacing for a long time was now standing very straight and seemed to be doing breathing exercises.
The tension was rising.
Sho had given up on his rap and was now whispering to himself the sequence of the dance routine while tapping his foot. It got to the point where even Aiba looked like he wanted to hit him.
Nino suddenly broke the near silence by slamming the Nintendo shut and putting it on the floor next to him. Leaning forward, he took his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.
Ohno, who’d woken up at the sound of the closing Nintendo, got up from his chair and shuffled across the room to sit next to Nino on the floor. He put an arm around Nino’s thin shoulders. “Stop overthinking, Nino.” He said quietly.
Nino turned to look at Ohno. They gazed at each other for a moment and gradually, Nino’s whole face relaxed. With a deep sigh he took the Nintendo again and Ohno settled to resume his nap on the gamer’s shoulder.
Sho was now grinning, looking at the two young men on the floor. He had been on the verge of telling Ohno to do something about Nino’s sudden outburst, but the latter had not even needed his nudge.
He turned to Aiba and winked at him. “Do you know any other pair who needs matchmaking help?” he said chuckling. “I think our work here is done…”
Aiba gave one of his breathy laughs. “I’ll let you know.”
Jun rolled his eyes but couldn’t supress a small smile. What a bunch of weirdos he’d put together…
Finally, they were called on stage. Looking at the stage from the side, they were petrified. A staff member was encouraging them on, but they could not move.
“Come on. Let’s show them what we’re made of.” Ohno eventually said firmly.
The five men stepped out onto the stage, blinking into the bright lights.
They shyly presented themselves to the jury and Jun somehow managed to mention the café’s name and address.
“Is there a leader in your group?” One of the judges asked kindly.
The five men looked at each other in confusion at each other. They had not discussed this. After a moment, Nino, Aiba, and Sho looked towards Jun hesitantly; after all, he had been the one to really get them together. But Jun saw their looks, smiled and shook his head. He looked at Ohno, who was busy looking away from the multiple cameras around the stage.
“Though we haven’t talked about it, I think our Leader is Ohno here.” Jun said, putting a hand on the older man’s shoulder.
He was not surprised to see the others nod enthusiastically. Sure he had been the one to organise most of this, but somehow it felt right to say Ohno was the leader. It was not just because he lead them when singing and dancing… He was also the one who held them together; the one who stepped up when they were fighting or feeling down; the one who always knew exactly what to say to them.
Ohno, apparently oblivious at what had just happened, swallowed painfully as he finally looked up and saw how many cameras were pointed at them and the size of the audience in front of them. But when the music started and he looked to his friends who were getting ready for the first dance move, he could not supress a smile as he realized something.
Performing with these four would always be fun, whether there were hundreds of cameras on them or no cameras at all; whether there was a whole stadium of people looking at them or no one at all.
Their performance gave them an incredible feeling. They all knew exactly what the others were doing every second, and could feel the tension give way to the joy of dancing using Ohno’s familiar moves and singing Nino’s emotion-filled song.
When the final note echoed in the studio, they bowed.
“I can’t hear properly…” Aiba said quietly to Nino. “Are they clapping?”
The shorter man laughed. “I don’t know… My hearing has gone all fuzzy! It’s like I’ve got water in my ears!”
The adrenaline rush seemed to be blocking their senses. His numb hands could barely feel Aiba and Sho’s grips on either side of him.
They straightened up from their bow and were faced with a standing ovation. Grinning widely they left the stage.
Nino was giggling and kept clapping Ohno on the back. Aiba and Sho were skipping excitedly.
But Jun and Ohno seemed under shock. “Can someone please tell me what just happened?” Ohno asked shakily.
Jun nodded with wide eyes. “Me too! I think I must have blacked out after the bow… Did we just get a standing ovation?” he asked looking at the others for an answer.
Nino, Sho and Aiba burst out laughing and nodded repeatedly. As the adrenaline dropped, leaving them without any energy, they fell in each other’s arms. Nothing could possibly top this feeling of ecstasy they now shared.
-------------------
After the final group had performed, the five friends went to the main waiting room along with all the other groups to wait for the results. There was an overall mix of adrenaline and nerves. They couldn’t seem to decide between the happiness of having performed and the stress of hearing the name of the winner.
“Nino!” A voice exclaimed.
“Mum?!” Nino answered disbelieving, watching his mother make her way through the crowd surrounding them. “You saw us? How did you get a ticket?”
The woman laughed at his confused expression. “This competition is all you’ve been talking for the past weeks. You really thought I would miss it?” She exclaimed. “And anyway, I wanted to meet everyone! I’m so proud of you! Not only did you make such nice friends but you performed really well!”
“Friends…” Nino muttered. Something seemed to stir in his memory. He slowly remembered his mother’s ridiculous deal. But what was she saying now?
“Well, yes.” His mother looked at him in amusement. “The young people you’ve been spending so much time with and telling me so much about… Your friends! I did not want to point it out before when you mentioned them because I wanted to see it for myself.” She turned to the other four confused looking men. “You see he can be very scheming when he wants to…” She said quietly, as though Nino could not hear, and then added louder: “But you all seem so close, it’s wonderful!”
She paused and smiled guiltily. “I’m sorry I forced you into this deal so that I’d buy your plane tickets... But isn’t it amazing to have friends like this?”
Nino looked around the four young men he’d gotten so close to over the last two months. So that’s what friends were? Even when he had talked to Sho just a few weeks back, it had not clicked that what he was describing was actually the meaning of a friendship. But he never could have predicted he would have this many… friends!
Jun burst out laughing. “Honestly, Nino! We know you’re clueless about relation-stuff, but come on!! You really did not realize we’re your friends?!”
Looking at them, Nino saw the only one not laughing was Ohno. He was actually looking fairly guilty.
The older man walked up to him slowly, looking apprehensive. “I’m so sorry Nino. I met your mum that day I brought your cardigan back, and she told me about the deal… To me you were a friend already then… I would have told you. And then you could have just told your mum… But I thought if I did, you would leave us and focus on your piano since you would not need the reward money anymore…”
“You thought I would have abandoned you guys?” Nino asked sadly. Leaving them a month ago now seemed like an absurd idea.
“Well, at the time I wasn’t sure. Now I know you wouldn’t but…”
Nino thought about it and nodded. Even a month before, he’d still been pretty selfish, hadn’t he…
“I just wanted a bit more time… But I guess I should have just told you…” Ohno started.
He was abruptly interrupted when the pianist pulled him into a hug, not caring about the many people, including his mother and friends, surrounding him.
“I’m glad you didn’t” Nino whispered.
-------------------
The results were released an hour later.
The groups were all standing silently in the waiting room.
The five members of Storm held hands and closed their eyes.
When the loudspeaker called out the name of another group, the errupting shouts of excitement intermixed with those of disappointment. As the winning group was called to the stage to receive applauds from the judges and the audience, the five friends clapped along with other groups. As the screens showed a recap of the winners’ performance, it was clear they deserved it. Their act had been close to perfection.
The members of Storm stayed quiet and observed the other groups until the last one had left. Nino’s mother patted her son’s shoulder, saying she’d wait for him outside in the car, and left them.
Sho broke the silence with a sigh. “Let’s go.”
As they walked towards the exit, they all seemed lost in thoughts. The silence of the empty and dark corridors seemed loud somehow.
“It’s strange, isn’t it…” Aiba said when they reached their practice room and started changing back to their normal clothes. “Feels like something really big just finished…”
The others nodded silently.
Of course they all knew the winner deserved the prize but something was off. It was like they were at a loss of what they would do now…
‘We are never performing together again…’ Ohno realized silently with a shock. Exchanging glances with the others, he was pretty sure they it had hit them as well.
“The winners were amazing weren’t they…” The older man said quietly, as they left their practice room and started walking down a corridor. “I wonder if they will continue performing together. Maybe we will see them on TV again…”
He bit his lip. It was not like he could voice his wishes out loud: for them to stay together. He smiled at the irony of the situation. Even winning would not have meant they would stay together… After all, they had agreed to participate for such different reasons… Only Aiba and him seemed to have done it for the simple love of music. He looked at the taller man with a fond smile.
“Yes, they really were brilliant!” Sho exclaimed, giving a nervous laugh. “But at least Jun managed to advertise the café!” he added, patting his friend’s shoulder. “You’re going to be incredibly busy with all the new customers you’re going to get!”
Jun smiled and turned to Aiba. “And you can tell the kids at the school all about our performance!”
Aiba grinned. “I’m sure they’ll love it!”
Then Jun and Aiba simultaneously looked to Sho with a concerned look.
Sho chuckled at their expression.
“Don’t worry I wont go back to a lazy unemployed!” he said winking to Nino, who gave a chuckle. “All of this has reminded me of my passion for rapping, so I think I’ll try to find a way to do just that!” he added smiling at Aiba
Ohno nodded, as they turned a corner, following an exit sign. “Yes, same here. This competition has reinforced my belief that I want to become a dancer or choreographer.” He said with a smile.
Jun turned to Nino with a grin. “And it turns out that even if we didn’t get the prize money, you can still go to Germany Nino, huh?!”
Nino nodded and smiled faintly. He was lost in thoughts and barely heard Sho adding: “Yeah, it looks like we all pretty much got what wanted, even without winning…”
Jun stopped in his step as they walked past double doors. Looking inside, he recognized the filming studio. A few people were busy cleaning the stands where the cheering crowds had been. The stage looked oddly small from here. It seemed unbelievable that not more than an hour ago, it had been packed with people. Closing his eyes, he smiled as the crowd’s clamour echoed in his ears and he could nearly feel the spotlight’s heat on his face. He sighed and started walking quickly to catch up with his friends who had not stopped.
When they reached the exit they all paused; no one seeming to know what to do now. They said goodbye a little awkwardly and separated, all walking in different directions.
Somehow, none of them had thought about what would happen between them after the competition…
As Nino walked towards his mother’s car parked by the pavement, he could not shake this confused feeling, creeping over him… He was going to Germany for sure! He’d filled the exam requirement, and now he was certain to get the money for his plane ticket!
He had gotten exactly what he’d wanted! Surely, he should feel happier about this… Shouldn’t he?
But then, what was this feeling of emptiness about…
Little did he know, that all four of his friends were now feeling the exact same way.
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Don't worry guys!! There is one more chapter!! You didn't think I'd leave it there did you? :P
Nah, I love Arashi too much to leave them in such a position! So close to being together.. X3
As always, leave me some feedback!! ^_^
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Chapter 8 is up!