December Challenge 06 - Hitori
Title - Hitori
Author - unwritten_ideas
Rating - PG
Word Count - 837
Characters - Gackt
Disclaimer - don’t own squat and if I did, I’d be posting this with pictures
Summary - it's the morning of the first YFC show in Paris, and Gackt is wandering the streets alone
Notes - hitori (一人) is Japanese for one person, or alone
The usually busy streets were empty and the sun was only just beginning to rise. It made the city look barren and cold, dead even, and most people were still tucked away in their beds, sleeping soundly until the streets were fuller, sunnier and far more welcoming than they were at 5:30am.
There was one, lonely figure leisurely walking along the sidewalk. His sunglass covered eyes were taking in every detail he saw, from the still sleepy birds to the many closed stores, and there was a smile on his face.
For most people, the empty early morning streets of any major city, especially one in a foreign country, were to be avoided at all costs. But, Gackt had never been most people.
He wasn’t entirely sure where he was going. He had a vague recollection of seeing a public park a couple of blocks away from his hotel from the window of the tour bus, and he was heading in the direction he thought it was. If he didn’t find it then that was okay, but it was always good to have some destination in mind, Gackt thought.
He walked past a couple of bakeries. They were closed to the public still, but their open shutters and bright artificial lighting gave a little bit of life to an otherwise dead city. The smell of freshly baked bread and pastries hit Gackt hard, and that part of him that craved everything that was bad for him and was usually silenced by more exercise and more fruit drinks began to scream.
Maybe later, he told himself.
He didn’t want to talk the bakeries into opening for him now, because that would mean talking to people, and Gackt spoke to too many people. His band members, crew, family, friends, management, record label, fans, strangers… His whole life was filled with constant talking and a million people trying to pull him in a million directions at the same time.
It was noise, noise, noise… but at the core, was a deafening silence.
He had his close friends. His sister (who would never stop worrying about her baby brother, no matter how old he grew or how capable he showed himself to be), Chacha (never afraid to tell him he was being stupid or to give him the proverbial kick in the ass) and You (never judgmental, always supportive, always understanding and god, Gackt loved him), but most people were simply colleagues. Acquaintances. People he could use, or, more likely, people wanting to use him.
Gackt was always the star attraction at any party he attended. The men would speak with him and try to network, and the women would try to bed him (and sometimes, men and women would try to do both at the same time). He was never alone and it was never silent, but he never had company, not truly, and was always lonely. To truly connect with someone was a task that Gackt could never quite manage, but he’d smile, answer politely and sound enthusiastic about any future opportunities to work together with the men. He’d smile, flirt back and make each woman feel like the most important girl in the world for a few moments.
It was, however, all false. The smiles, the promises of work and the flirtations were just people hoping that some of Gackt’s fame and fortune would transfer onto them. In years gone by Gackt had known this, but ignored it. His ego hadn’t allowed him to care and each man or woman that competed for his time was welcomed, no matter what their motives or how much disdain they held for him in their eyes as they complimented him. Gackt had always found it easy to become blind to things he didn’t want to see.
But Gackt was older now and the falseness of it all no longer had the shine it had once had a long time ago. He still had to go to the parties. He still had to network and still had to flirt in order to keep his name current and his reputation intact, but it was no longer the ego boost it had once been.
That’s why Gackt loved walking around empty city streets. Here, he was alone and surrounded by silence, but it was a loneliness and quiet of his own choosing.
And that made all of the difference.
He returned back to the hotel a couple of hours later. His sweet tooth had been sated by a fresh apple pie from one of the bakeries he had passed and he had bought one for Jon as an apology, for he knew that his return from his walk to their shared hotel room would wake the other singer up.
More importantly though, his mind was at ease and quiet, ready to face the day and the incessant noise and chatter that would follow him wherever he went.
He hadn’t found the park, but that was okay. He hadn’t really been looking for it anyway.
~owari
Author - unwritten_ideas
Rating - PG
Word Count - 837
Characters - Gackt
Disclaimer - don’t own squat and if I did, I’d be posting this with pictures
Summary - it's the morning of the first YFC show in Paris, and Gackt is wandering the streets alone
Notes - hitori (一人) is Japanese for one person, or alone
The usually busy streets were empty and the sun was only just beginning to rise. It made the city look barren and cold, dead even, and most people were still tucked away in their beds, sleeping soundly until the streets were fuller, sunnier and far more welcoming than they were at 5:30am.
There was one, lonely figure leisurely walking along the sidewalk. His sunglass covered eyes were taking in every detail he saw, from the still sleepy birds to the many closed stores, and there was a smile on his face.
For most people, the empty early morning streets of any major city, especially one in a foreign country, were to be avoided at all costs. But, Gackt had never been most people.
He wasn’t entirely sure where he was going. He had a vague recollection of seeing a public park a couple of blocks away from his hotel from the window of the tour bus, and he was heading in the direction he thought it was. If he didn’t find it then that was okay, but it was always good to have some destination in mind, Gackt thought.
He walked past a couple of bakeries. They were closed to the public still, but their open shutters and bright artificial lighting gave a little bit of life to an otherwise dead city. The smell of freshly baked bread and pastries hit Gackt hard, and that part of him that craved everything that was bad for him and was usually silenced by more exercise and more fruit drinks began to scream.
Maybe later, he told himself.
He didn’t want to talk the bakeries into opening for him now, because that would mean talking to people, and Gackt spoke to too many people. His band members, crew, family, friends, management, record label, fans, strangers… His whole life was filled with constant talking and a million people trying to pull him in a million directions at the same time.
It was noise, noise, noise… but at the core, was a deafening silence.
He had his close friends. His sister (who would never stop worrying about her baby brother, no matter how old he grew or how capable he showed himself to be), Chacha (never afraid to tell him he was being stupid or to give him the proverbial kick in the ass) and You (never judgmental, always supportive, always understanding and god, Gackt loved him), but most people were simply colleagues. Acquaintances. People he could use, or, more likely, people wanting to use him.
Gackt was always the star attraction at any party he attended. The men would speak with him and try to network, and the women would try to bed him (and sometimes, men and women would try to do both at the same time). He was never alone and it was never silent, but he never had company, not truly, and was always lonely. To truly connect with someone was a task that Gackt could never quite manage, but he’d smile, answer politely and sound enthusiastic about any future opportunities to work together with the men. He’d smile, flirt back and make each woman feel like the most important girl in the world for a few moments.
It was, however, all false. The smiles, the promises of work and the flirtations were just people hoping that some of Gackt’s fame and fortune would transfer onto them. In years gone by Gackt had known this, but ignored it. His ego hadn’t allowed him to care and each man or woman that competed for his time was welcomed, no matter what their motives or how much disdain they held for him in their eyes as they complimented him. Gackt had always found it easy to become blind to things he didn’t want to see.
But Gackt was older now and the falseness of it all no longer had the shine it had once had a long time ago. He still had to go to the parties. He still had to network and still had to flirt in order to keep his name current and his reputation intact, but it was no longer the ego boost it had once been.
That’s why Gackt loved walking around empty city streets. Here, he was alone and surrounded by silence, but it was a loneliness and quiet of his own choosing.
And that made all of the difference.
He returned back to the hotel a couple of hours later. His sweet tooth had been sated by a fresh apple pie from one of the bakeries he had passed and he had bought one for Jon as an apology, for he knew that his return from his walk to their shared hotel room would wake the other singer up.
More importantly though, his mind was at ease and quiet, ready to face the day and the incessant noise and chatter that would follow him wherever he went.
He hadn’t found the park, but that was okay. He hadn’t really been looking for it anyway.
~owari