Everybody Likes A Challenge Ch 1
Title: Everybody Likes a Challenge 1/?
Author: Meg-chan (xme_chanx)
Pairing: Tora/ ?
Rating: NC-17 (in the future)
Genre: yaoi, AU, some angst
Warnings: man sex, angst, hot boys, test anxiety, no beta.
Disclaimer: I do not own these boys, I wish I did. I do own the story and will use brute force if you steal it. I have no money. At all. So if you sue me I’ll be really sad.
Summary: Tora likes a challenge; his comes in the form of an attractive man.
X-Posted: My journal, Alice in Loveland
Find others here:
Prologue:
http://community.livejournal.com/aliceinloveland/298367.html
Tora yawned and took another swig of coffee. Having a chemistry test at 8:30 in the morning was far from his favorite way to start the day. He crossed his legs, trying to counteract the random bout of restless leg syndrome that was plaguing him. Instead, he managed to knock over his guitar case and earn a glare from the professor, along with several huffs from his fellow test-takers. He caught his friend Tsukasa’s pantomime of hanging himself from across the room and laughed, which earned him another glare and more huffs. Tsukasa then pointed and giggled silently at him. Tora flipped him off and went back to the test.
Tora stretched and grabbed his guitar. That test kicked his ass, but he felt confident that he had done well. He glanced over at Tsukasa, who was still working away and repressed the urge to laugh again. Tora was unusually happy for having just taken a chemistry exam, but he figured he had a good shot at this band thing.
As he pushed open the second set of obnoxiously heavy doors to the music building, he climbed the stairs to Room 309.
The door was open to the office, which had several desks and things scattered about. There was a pile of guitar cases stacked neatly against one wall, and several broken lockers lined along another wall. It really looked more like a storage closet. Suddenly a set of large eyes set in an attractive face appeared in front of him.
“Uh, I’m looking for Shou.” Tora said, somewhat unnerved by the rapid blinking of the light-haired man.
“I’M SHOU!” He said excitedly. He stuck out his hand and Tora shook it.
“Are you a guitarist? Never mind, you are, otherwise you wouldn’t have a guitar!” Shou giggled.
“You’re Shou?” Tora asked incredulously.
“I’m Shou!” He pointed at himself.
“Oh. I’m Tora. I’d like to audition.” Tora was confused, this wasn’t the fountain guy. Shou nodded and immediately looked serious.
“Ok, let me call my bandmates. When’s a good time for you?” Shou asked. Tora thought for a minute.
“I don’t have class again until 2:30, so that gives us awhile, now if that’s ok.” Tora said.
“OK! Hang on.” Before Tora could say anything Shou darted off, leaving Tora gaping after him.
After a few minutes of Tora standing awkwardly in the hallway, Shou reappeared with 2 more people, one of which was quite short. The other had a cute face and dark hair with a blonde chunk in his bangs. Shou waved at Tora as they came down the hallway.
“Tora! This is Nao,” He gestured to the brunette, “And this is Hiroto.” He pointed to the small blonde boy. Tora nodded and smiled.
“Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” They all chorused.
“Where’s Saga?” the blonde one, Hiroto, asked Shou. Shou shrugged.
“He’s not answering his phone. If we all like Tora, then he’s in. Saga loses the right to vote or complain since he isn’t answering his phone.” Shou said authoritatively. Nao looked at Shou squarely.
“Shou, Saga has a test. He’s not going to answer his phone in a test.” Nao said, rolling his eyes.
“Nao, Hiroto and I have trouble with our own schedules, how can you expect us to know Saga’s?” Shou demanded. Nao ruffled Shou’s hair, and Shou smacked his hand away.
“What do you guys play?” Tora asked, interrupting the awkwardness of being outside a conversation. Nao smiled.
“I’m the drummer, Hiroto’s guitar, Saga’s bass, and Shou-”
“I’M the vocalist!!” Shou cut in with a huge grin. Nao laughed. Tora nodded.
“When can we do my audition?” he asked. Hiroto, Nao, and Shou looked at each other.
“Well, I guess we can do it now. I hope you’re good enough to keep Saga from throwing a fit.” Nao said.
“Ok, let’s start with something easy. America- Horse with No Name.” Hiroto demanded. Tora pulled his guitar out of it’s case and made sure it was in tune.
“Ok, when do you want me to start?” Tora asked. Hiroto grabbed a Les Paul out of one of the stacked guitar cases and started to strum.
“Come in whenever you’re ready.” He said. Hiroto played well, Tora listened for a minute before starting the song. After they finished Hiroto smiled widely at him.
“Awesome job! Let’s do something harder. How about, hell just improve. Hiroto started playing an upbeat version of the Delta Blues. Tora grinned and started a minor scale. His fingers flew up and down the fretboard. He kept going, the music flowing from his guitar. He didn’t even notice when Hiroto stopped to gape at him. Shou and Nao looked delighted. It was, in fact, Shou’s eventual squeal that led to Tora opening his eyes and seeing the huge smiles on their faces.
“You’re better than me!” Hiroto said admiringly. Tora shook his head.
“You’re really good. Are you still in high school?” Hiroto frowned.
“No, I’m a freshman. I’m just a little bit short. I’ll forgive you for suggesting that I was a high schooler if you teach me that last scale you played.” The blonde’s mouth stretched into an adorable grin. Tora laughed.
“I’m sorry, Hiroto. I guess I have no choice but to teach it to you, since I was clearly out of line.”
Nao snorted.
“What are you guys doing?” A new voice broke through. Shou turned around and threw himself onto the newcomer. Tora’s eyes widened. It was the fountain guy! Dark hair, blue eyes (probably contacts), and the same guitar bag. He noticed Tora looking at him and smirked.
“Can I help you?”
“What? Uh, no.” Tora mumbled.
“He’s our new guitarist, Saga.” Hiroto exclaimed. Saga narrowed his eyes.
“Why didn’t I get to vote? Shou, why’d you let them vote without me?” Saga asked, pulling Shou from his ribcage. Shou shrugged.
“You didn’t answer your mobile.” He said plainly.
“I HAD A TEST! Nao knew about it!” Saga rounded on Nao, who squeaked and jumped behind Tora, who grinned sheepishly.
“We didn’t want to make him wait.” Nao explained. Saga shrugged.
“Fine, whatever, I hope he’s good. Come on Shou, let’s go get something to eat.” With that, they left Nao, Tora, and Hiroto in room 309.
“Well, give me your phone number so I can call you when we have practice.” Nao said wearily.
“Why don’t we just go to the dining hall, too? Then we can talk and get to know each other.” Hiroto suggested.
“Is now good for you, Tora? Because I am rather hungry. I hope they have black forest cake again.” Nao licked his lips. Hiroto giggled.
“Nao really likes cake. And food in general.” Hiroto whispered. Tora laughed, and Nao blushed.
Tora decided lunch was just the opportunity he needed to find out more about this ‘Saga’ character. Maybe he could learn his class schedule. He could always do that later, though. For now, only topical curiosity would be allowed. Which meant blatantly asking for his address, mother’s maiden name, and a blood sample was out of the question. At least for now.
!~Notes~!
Who guessed it wasn’t Shou that Tora saw?? Show of hands, please.
Later:
Wait, I just saw my first post. Which said ToraXSaga is fun. Great job, there Meg. *smacks self*
Whew.
Also: I have no idea why Shou is so spastic. It just happened that way. I think it’s cute, though.