Chapter 2 - Child's Game, Adult's Pain
Submitted June 5, 2004 Updated June 5, 2004 Status Incomplete | BAD LUCK and ASK are to share the stage once more!
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Chapter 2 - Child's Game, Adult's Pain
Chapter 2 - Child's Game, Adult's Pain
Brilliant rays of sunlight reflected off the glistening glass windows of the tall building. Michael Winchester closed one eye, blinded by the light as he stretched his neck up as far as he could to comprehend the size of it.
“Cool, huh, Mikey?” gleefully asked his father, removing his dark shades. “It was once a rundown television station until it was sold and transformed into a building for hire. Now it’s hired for movie and television sets, functions and in this case, ideally used for dozens of performers and their staff to work together without distracting anyone else.”
“Yeah, cool…I guess.” The thirteen year old sighed, folding his arms. “Was it necessary for me to come though? I wanted to play DDR with Benji-kun today.”
The two Americans made their way off the busy pavement and into the foyer where K showed their passes to the reception desk, and presented his magnum to security. Michael innocently smiled at the two large men, hoping their wouldn’t find his Glock 29 Sub-Compact he was given for his eleventh birthday. While he didn’t share the gun lust his parents did, he knew well how dangerous situations could get in his father’s company and how handy a concealed weapon could be.
As they winded through the corridors, passing swarms of artists, and workers, Michael couldn’t help but smile at the men and women who parted like the Red Sea in K’s stride. Not that he blamed yet, his father did have a tendency to shoot people who got in his way. He was relieved when they reached the room assigned to Bad Luck. It was located on the fifteenth floor, one of the more expensive sweets – obviously Tohma Seguchi had made sure his star band were well treated.
K opened the door to the blasting sound of a wail that reminded him of the time his mother kicked Ark in the crotch with her stilettos for purchasing the wrong shade of lipstick.
Pulling an irritated face, K pulled out his magnum and fired a shot into the air. The wailing ceased, as five-year-old Himeka Nakano had used the opportunity to steal her father’s guitar away from Ryuko Sakuma.
“You monster!” She yelled, hugging the guitar, “You were killing it!”
Ryuko pouted, “That’s not fair! No one else was complaining!”
This was because everyone else had died on the floor from her horrible twanging of the electric guitar. Michael slapped his forehead. “Oh, I get it now. You dragged me here to baby-sit the tiny tots. Damn it Dad, you could have warned me!”
K defensively shot out his hands, “Oh no.”
“Well good, in that case I’ll take my leave and return to blowing my allowance at the arcade like a regular kid should be doing on the weekend.”
Michael went to exit the room when his father grabbed his jacket’s hood, pulling him close, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Oh no, you won’t be babysitting them, you’ll be babysitting Sakano-san!”
“Come again?”
~@~
As Ma-kun and Ken-chan tuned and readied their instruments, Taki flipped through the schedule for the day their manager handed him earlier before leaving to discuss business concerning the release of their latest album. ASK enjoyed the flexibility their manager allowed them, especially as their vocalist preferred to pertain power to their destiny.
“There’ll be a meeting around midday,” he casually explained, “pretty standard. Executive producers from Music Smile will talk to us in groups about the concert procedures.”
Taki rolled up the booklet; lowering his head, blowing out a sigh, he wearily rested his head on his interlocked fingers. Ma-kun grimaced, unstrapping his guitar. He approached his friend warmly, rubbing his back. “Hey, chin up, Tachi. We can’t wow the public if our vocalist isn’t into it 100%.”
“You’re worried we’ll run into Bad Luck, aren’t you?” surmised Ken-chan. “Or…are you worried about Eiri Yuki coming to finish the job?”
“Ken-chan!” spat Ma-kun.
Taki lifted his head, “Both I suppose. But…but…what I fear more is if I see Shuichi Shindo that feeling of jealous rage will seep into me again and corrupt me to the monster I once was. I can handle seeing him in magazines, on TV and listening to him on the radio – but if I saw him in the flesh again…”
“Tachi, you’re sooo melodramatic!” Ken-chan laughed, tossing an empty beer can at his head, “You’re in a band, not a day time drama. Am I right, or what, Ma-kun?”
The light blonde guitarist joined his laughter. “Without a doubt! Come on pretty boy, let’s make some music!”
“Yeah, yeah. Just leave the face alone, Ken-chan.” Taki stepped on the can that had landed by his feet.
~@~
Suguru arrived late to the rehearsal. His three-year-old daughter Sara wept, clinging to her mother Umi’s jacket. Sara was a timid girl, she was always crying about something. Shuichi giggled, it reminded him of Suguru.
Suddenly a sharp blade flew at Shuichi’s head, piercing his tender brains. He keeled over, blood pouring before him to form a red puddle. Umi turned her nose up at the display. “As Bad Luck’s lawyer I advise you to cease slandering your band mates.” The malevolent, grinning woman felt one of the larger knocks in her thick blue braid. “Or…do we want to meet Umi-chan’s special butcher knife again?”
Lifting his bleeding head from the floor, the vocalist dumbly pulled a smile. “Ay-ay, Lawyer-san!”
“You be a good girl today,” Umi warmly told Sara, stroking her tearful girl’s bright green hair, “you take good care of Sakano-san along with your little friends.”
Sakano raised an eyebrow, “Umi-san, what do you mean?”
Ignoring the baffled man, she went to give her daughter to her father when she realized Sara was clutching tighter than she imagined a three year old could. The girl was like a lizard! She had to incorporate Suguru and Hiro’s help to pull her from her jacket. As Sara was ripped from her mother, she took with her a large piece of the jacket’s fabric. Umi groaned. The little girl then clung to her father.
“I’m off to make some calls,” announced Umi, locking her arm around Yuki’s, and taking the cigarette from his mouth with the other. “Oh, and he’s buying me a drink.”
Yuki scowled at the nerve of the woman as she took a drag of his alpha menthol, “Now when did I say that?”
“I never claimed you did,” replied Umi, “right, Ayaka-chan?”
Ayaka took Yuki’s other arm, “You’re so kind, Eiri!”
“No I’m not! Leave me alone, both of you!” As he protested, the two women pulled him out of the room to leave Bad Luck to get to work.
~@~
In the corridor, Sakano wrung his hands, sweating profusely. He spun around to face the waiting children and attempted a smile. He’d never dealt with children before, though he wondered if Shindo-kun counted…it was his responsibility, as informed by K-san, to entertain the youngsters while Bad Luck discussed the upcoming concert and technical jargon of the day’s rehearsal.
“What would you children like to do?” he calmly asked, hoping they wouldn’t spy the fear in his eyes. He’d heard children could smell fear in adults.
“Kumagorou wants to listen to Bad Luck siiiiiiing!” shouted out Ryuko, “and…he would like some chocolate!”
“I want ice-cream,” replied Himeka, “and my baby brother to be eaten by a bear.”
Sara clung to Sakano’s leg, cutting off the circulation, “I want…I want…my Papa! Waaaaahhhhhh!”
Trembling, the producer pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his moist brow. “I…I…I…uh…” He gulped, unsure what to do.
Michael slapped his right hand. The temptation was rife to shoot the jittery man out of his misery; he began to understand why Sakano-san required a baby-sitter. “Let’s play a game to pass the time. Since it’s a big place I say hide-and-seek.”
The girls cheered in agreement, except Sara who was still howling for her father. Sakano was made the seeker, since hiding would be nearly impossible with Sara refusing to relinquish her kung-fu grip.
Himeka snuck behind a bin as Sakano counted down from twenty. Michael snuck into the empty room next-door, and wished he was elsewhere, kicking the score of his pompous friend. Sakano’s countdown was almost up. Ryuko ran around the corridor like a headless chicken. Frazzled, she climbed into a metal box filled with cardboard packages. “He’ll never find us in here, Kumagorou,” she thought to herself, winking to her bunny.
~@~
Taki was in the middle of singing the second verse when there came a knock at the door. Ma-kun and Ken-chan turned off their instruments. Taki opened the door, and was handed a package from a deliveryman who explained the parcel held their passes and further information for the concert. He thanked him, and watched him trundle his carrier into the distance. Shrugging, Taki leaned against the frame of the door, carefully opening the parcel.
As his hand moved to close the door, a small force connected with him and threw him to his feet. “What the hell - ?!”
Taki groaned, raising his head, coming face to face with two emerald eyes concealed under thick chestnut hair.
“A kid…?”
“Cool, huh, Mikey?” gleefully asked his father, removing his dark shades. “It was once a rundown television station until it was sold and transformed into a building for hire. Now it’s hired for movie and television sets, functions and in this case, ideally used for dozens of performers and their staff to work together without distracting anyone else.”
“Yeah, cool…I guess.” The thirteen year old sighed, folding his arms. “Was it necessary for me to come though? I wanted to play DDR with Benji-kun today.”
The two Americans made their way off the busy pavement and into the foyer where K showed their passes to the reception desk, and presented his magnum to security. Michael innocently smiled at the two large men, hoping their wouldn’t find his Glock 29 Sub-Compact he was given for his eleventh birthday. While he didn’t share the gun lust his parents did, he knew well how dangerous situations could get in his father’s company and how handy a concealed weapon could be.
As they winded through the corridors, passing swarms of artists, and workers, Michael couldn’t help but smile at the men and women who parted like the Red Sea in K’s stride. Not that he blamed yet, his father did have a tendency to shoot people who got in his way. He was relieved when they reached the room assigned to Bad Luck. It was located on the fifteenth floor, one of the more expensive sweets – obviously Tohma Seguchi had made sure his star band were well treated.
K opened the door to the blasting sound of a wail that reminded him of the time his mother kicked Ark in the crotch with her stilettos for purchasing the wrong shade of lipstick.
Pulling an irritated face, K pulled out his magnum and fired a shot into the air. The wailing ceased, as five-year-old Himeka Nakano had used the opportunity to steal her father’s guitar away from Ryuko Sakuma.
“You monster!” She yelled, hugging the guitar, “You were killing it!”
Ryuko pouted, “That’s not fair! No one else was complaining!”
This was because everyone else had died on the floor from her horrible twanging of the electric guitar. Michael slapped his forehead. “Oh, I get it now. You dragged me here to baby-sit the tiny tots. Damn it Dad, you could have warned me!”
K defensively shot out his hands, “Oh no.”
“Well good, in that case I’ll take my leave and return to blowing my allowance at the arcade like a regular kid should be doing on the weekend.”
Michael went to exit the room when his father grabbed his jacket’s hood, pulling him close, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Oh no, you won’t be babysitting them, you’ll be babysitting Sakano-san!”
“Come again?”
~@~
As Ma-kun and Ken-chan tuned and readied their instruments, Taki flipped through the schedule for the day their manager handed him earlier before leaving to discuss business concerning the release of their latest album. ASK enjoyed the flexibility their manager allowed them, especially as their vocalist preferred to pertain power to their destiny.
“There’ll be a meeting around midday,” he casually explained, “pretty standard. Executive producers from Music Smile will talk to us in groups about the concert procedures.”
Taki rolled up the booklet; lowering his head, blowing out a sigh, he wearily rested his head on his interlocked fingers. Ma-kun grimaced, unstrapping his guitar. He approached his friend warmly, rubbing his back. “Hey, chin up, Tachi. We can’t wow the public if our vocalist isn’t into it 100%.”
“You’re worried we’ll run into Bad Luck, aren’t you?” surmised Ken-chan. “Or…are you worried about Eiri Yuki coming to finish the job?”
“Ken-chan!” spat Ma-kun.
Taki lifted his head, “Both I suppose. But…but…what I fear more is if I see Shuichi Shindo that feeling of jealous rage will seep into me again and corrupt me to the monster I once was. I can handle seeing him in magazines, on TV and listening to him on the radio – but if I saw him in the flesh again…”
“Tachi, you’re sooo melodramatic!” Ken-chan laughed, tossing an empty beer can at his head, “You’re in a band, not a day time drama. Am I right, or what, Ma-kun?”
The light blonde guitarist joined his laughter. “Without a doubt! Come on pretty boy, let’s make some music!”
“Yeah, yeah. Just leave the face alone, Ken-chan.” Taki stepped on the can that had landed by his feet.
~@~
Suguru arrived late to the rehearsal. His three-year-old daughter Sara wept, clinging to her mother Umi’s jacket. Sara was a timid girl, she was always crying about something. Shuichi giggled, it reminded him of Suguru.
Suddenly a sharp blade flew at Shuichi’s head, piercing his tender brains. He keeled over, blood pouring before him to form a red puddle. Umi turned her nose up at the display. “As Bad Luck’s lawyer I advise you to cease slandering your band mates.” The malevolent, grinning woman felt one of the larger knocks in her thick blue braid. “Or…do we want to meet Umi-chan’s special butcher knife again?”
Lifting his bleeding head from the floor, the vocalist dumbly pulled a smile. “Ay-ay, Lawyer-san!”
“You be a good girl today,” Umi warmly told Sara, stroking her tearful girl’s bright green hair, “you take good care of Sakano-san along with your little friends.”
Sakano raised an eyebrow, “Umi-san, what do you mean?”
Ignoring the baffled man, she went to give her daughter to her father when she realized Sara was clutching tighter than she imagined a three year old could. The girl was like a lizard! She had to incorporate Suguru and Hiro’s help to pull her from her jacket. As Sara was ripped from her mother, she took with her a large piece of the jacket’s fabric. Umi groaned. The little girl then clung to her father.
“I’m off to make some calls,” announced Umi, locking her arm around Yuki’s, and taking the cigarette from his mouth with the other. “Oh, and he’s buying me a drink.”
Yuki scowled at the nerve of the woman as she took a drag of his alpha menthol, “Now when did I say that?”
“I never claimed you did,” replied Umi, “right, Ayaka-chan?”
Ayaka took Yuki’s other arm, “You’re so kind, Eiri!”
“No I’m not! Leave me alone, both of you!” As he protested, the two women pulled him out of the room to leave Bad Luck to get to work.
~@~
In the corridor, Sakano wrung his hands, sweating profusely. He spun around to face the waiting children and attempted a smile. He’d never dealt with children before, though he wondered if Shindo-kun counted…it was his responsibility, as informed by K-san, to entertain the youngsters while Bad Luck discussed the upcoming concert and technical jargon of the day’s rehearsal.
“What would you children like to do?” he calmly asked, hoping they wouldn’t spy the fear in his eyes. He’d heard children could smell fear in adults.
“Kumagorou wants to listen to Bad Luck siiiiiiing!” shouted out Ryuko, “and…he would like some chocolate!”
“I want ice-cream,” replied Himeka, “and my baby brother to be eaten by a bear.”
Sara clung to Sakano’s leg, cutting off the circulation, “I want…I want…my Papa! Waaaaahhhhhh!”
Trembling, the producer pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his moist brow. “I…I…I…uh…” He gulped, unsure what to do.
Michael slapped his right hand. The temptation was rife to shoot the jittery man out of his misery; he began to understand why Sakano-san required a baby-sitter. “Let’s play a game to pass the time. Since it’s a big place I say hide-and-seek.”
The girls cheered in agreement, except Sara who was still howling for her father. Sakano was made the seeker, since hiding would be nearly impossible with Sara refusing to relinquish her kung-fu grip.
Himeka snuck behind a bin as Sakano counted down from twenty. Michael snuck into the empty room next-door, and wished he was elsewhere, kicking the score of his pompous friend. Sakano’s countdown was almost up. Ryuko ran around the corridor like a headless chicken. Frazzled, she climbed into a metal box filled with cardboard packages. “He’ll never find us in here, Kumagorou,” she thought to herself, winking to her bunny.
~@~
Taki was in the middle of singing the second verse when there came a knock at the door. Ma-kun and Ken-chan turned off their instruments. Taki opened the door, and was handed a package from a deliveryman who explained the parcel held their passes and further information for the concert. He thanked him, and watched him trundle his carrier into the distance. Shrugging, Taki leaned against the frame of the door, carefully opening the parcel.
As his hand moved to close the door, a small force connected with him and threw him to his feet. “What the hell - ?!”
Taki groaned, raising his head, coming face to face with two emerald eyes concealed under thick chestnut hair.
“A kid…?”
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