Epsilon Part I: Yamada
Posting this up, due to a request from jay_ay90. Based on T.S.D. [Tears. Sadness. Death.], a series that she created, which revolves around four musicians and their band. Credit goes to her for the characters, I'm just borrowing them. =]
- character: sayato yamada -
age: 20 years old
birthdate: 30th of December, 1986
birthplace: Osaka
eye colour: chocolate brown
hair colour: black
skin tone: fair
family: mother, one younger brother, two younger twin sisters
likes: cats, his guitar, music, little children, flirting, composing melodies, playing video games at the arcade
dislikes: cooking, being confined, bananas, uncooperative people, meditating, uniforms
favourite food: anything with tuna, honeydew
favourite drink: Pocari Sweat
personality: carefree, stubborn, dedicated to his music, childish yet mature, fashionable, caring
tidbit: works in a guitar shop as a part-time instructor.
Some background information on the main character I'm writing about. This was decided on last year, prior to the story's creation.
And, a short overview to introduce the rest of the band:
i. Kirigawa Rando, the vocalist and leader of the band - 18 years old as of 2006 [born on the 7th of March, 1988, in Tokyo], talented, farsighted, middle child, loves tennis and being in the center of attention, and is rather allergic to cats.
ii. Miyasu Akari, the band's keyboardist/backup vocalist/bassist [still undecided, sorry] - 17 years old as of 2006 [born on the 11th of August, 1989, in Tokyo], modern, fashionable girl, has an older sister, loves snowboarding and reading magazines, optimistic, hot-tempered, enjoys challenges and excitement.
iii. Also, Shinohara Kimiko, the band's drummer, and possible love interest of Yamada - 16 years old as of 2006 [born on the 24th of June, 1990, in Kyoto] - quiet, mature, but with a spark of rebellion, only daughter of a wealthy respected family, cultured, quiet, traditional. Yep. XD
For those who want to know what the guitar in 06 looks like, here you go:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Electric-Guitar-Pirate-GuitarNew-SX-PEG3_W0QQitemZ220142304841QQcmdZViewItem
Oh, and just one more thing...despite this originally being intended to follow the lines of the 1sentence community - as in, one sentence per prompt, I just wrote as much as I wanted for each prompt; minimum being, of course, one sentence.
...alright, on with the show. XD
_
1sentence challenge table; theme set Epsilon
#01 - Motion
#02 - Cool
#03 - Young
#04 - Last
#05 - Wrong
#06 - Gentle
#07 - One
#08 - Thousand
#09 - King
#10 - Learn
#01 - Motion
He sat on the black leather stool, one foot on its supporting circular rim, the other placed on the ground, completely still.
Their vocalist nodded, drummer following - “1, 2…1, 2, 3, 4,” - and they were off, music enveloping his senses, drowning out the world around him. Foot tapping to the simple blues rhythm, his hands moved to the position of his first opening chord, preparing for the entrance of the acoustic melody.
#02 - Cool
Eyes shining with wonder, the young boy stared through the glass of the window, enraptured by the solitary figure on the high stool strumming the simple instrument in his arms.
“Sugoi…” the whispered words escaped from his lips, unheard by the bustle of the crowd swirling around him.
An interruption, flurry of words, and his mother’s voice - chastening but full of relief - cut him off, and he sighed, wishing he could stay just a little longer.
Nine years later, he touches the strings for the first time, and remembers.
#03 - Young
He finally managed to coerce a small smile from her after the band’s first performance in Harajuku, but immediately shook his head at the thought - no, not with a man four years her senior, not with her brilliance and potential to go further, so much further, without him by her side.
#04 - Last
Stepping through the doorway of the band’s rehearsal room, Rando was startled by the brusque, irritated exit of his guitarist, a muffled ‘can’t-work-on-an-empty-stomach-be-back-soon’ reaching his ears as they passed each other. Akari, upon further observation, was nowhere to be seen, but sharp thuds and occasional furious outbursts from the adjoining kitchen gave him a general idea of where she was.
“She just ate the last of the tuna spread,” Kimiko responded dryly to his questioning look, returning to her novel as Rando groaned, burying his head in his hands.
#05 - Wrong
Despite many years of lessons, he could never get used to playing the piano; his long fingers, now guitar-calloused, always felt strangely exposed on the smooth, cold, black and white keys every time he touched them.
#06 - Gentle
"Please be gentle...gentle...ah! Slowly, slowly..." he whimpered, fingers clenching and unclenching nervously, twisting themselves around the wet cloth.
"Like this?"
“No! Not like that…please…yes, this way! Down, down…ah! Ah! Don’t drop it!”
“I’m not! I’m just lowering it into the case!” came the indignant reply.
“Man, get a grip, Yamada! It’s just a guitar!”
Brown eyes darkened. "Just a guitar? Just a guitar?! It's my Pirate SX PEG3, it's all I have! It's all you guys have, if you want me to play in this concert!"
“Well, if it’s so important, why don’t you come down and do it yourself?”
“Believe me, I would, if it wasn’t for the fact that Rando here,” he retorted, throwing a pointed, burning glare in the vocalist’s direction, “would let me off wiping these dratted speakers! As if they aren’t clean enough already!”
“…alright, alright! Chill!”
#07 - One
For Yamada, inspiration for a new song always strikes at one in the morning.
#08 - Thousand
"'Ya, Rando?"
“Mmm?”
“Y’know your target of achieving five hundred fans from every district?”
“Yeah?”
“I think there’re at least a thousand of them over here tonight; not taking into account the internationals.”
#09 - King
Instead of being irritated at the black fur strewn all over his bed sheets, he grins at the sight of the sleek, elegant cat stretched out in the centre of his bed, completely at ease. It starts to purr as he approaches, rolling over to fix him with a contented, apple-green gaze, and he drops the keys to his apartment, tucks a strand of dark hair behind his ear, and stoops down to pet it.
“King of the house, aren’t ‘ya?” he murmurs, stroking the rumbling feline affectionately.
#10 - Learn
"C'mon, just stretch your second finger to the fret, like this..."
“I can’t!”
“Yes you can! Move your hand further up the strings, then it won’t be so har-”
She begins to cry then; unable to take anymore, and he slings the guitar behind his back, gets off the chair and strides to the window, exasperation radiating back at him from his reflection. What was so difficult about it? Just an F chord, three notes; it wasn’t like he was asking her to play the whole song yet.
…barely an hour on the hard bench, though it might as well have been a day; strained eyes scanning over the complicated arrangement of chords, all ten fingers struggling to adjust to the accidentals appearing out of nowhere, losing grip; all sense of rhythm, emotion and love for the music, just tired, sosotiredwhycan’theseeIhatethis -
He closes his eyes and sighs softly, turning away from the image of himself in the glass and steps back towards the frustrated seven-year-old, noticing that her tears had already begun to splash onto the varnished wood of her instrument.
“Don’t cry; we’ll take a break, ‘ya?”
She looks up, hiccupping through her sobs, and he responds with a smile. “That’s it. Hold on a sec’, let me get this guitar off you…hey, you know what? There’s this new game downstairs in the arcade; want to go check it out? I think we have a little more time before your dad comes to get ‘ya.”
“But what about my song? I was supposed to play it for Mum on Saturday - ”
“Never mind that for a while. You worked really hard today; we can try again next lesson, okay? Now, let’s go! I can’t wait any more.”
_
“Yamada-sensei and I played Dance Dance Revolution 5 today, Dad! It was so fun, especially the last level - we had to go faster, and faster, and faster until Yamada-sensei couldn’t keep up anymore - I was doing fine on my own, so I won that level…”
The girl’s father raises an eyebrow at him, and he beams back at the man, lowering his voice. “Well, what can I say - the game did improve her sense of rhythm. She’s doing very well; but needed a break today, so I took her to the arcade downstairs for a while.” Seeing that the parent was satisfied, he knelt down and tugged at his student’s ponytail lightly. “Guess I’ll see you next Tuesday, okay? That F chord is nothing if you can keep up with that crazy dance; we’ll work on it then. Good job today.”
She waves at him as they leave; the happy grin on her face staying with him throughout the week.
_
Feedback greatly appreciated! =]