Bronze: True Heart 3
by K.Huntsman
Shibuya Productions Recording Studio
Kouji looked up as the door to the studio opened and Arin Hanano entered, followed by his bodyguard and preceded by his manager. Polite introductions were made between the three of them and the band before they got to talking about the music. And he found out that his idea that Hanano would open up once they were discussing work was accurate. The American positively glowed once they began going through tentative melodies and lyric fragments, though he was a bit shy about adding his own ideas. Still, they weren't too hard to coax out of him, and he began speaking in a broken Japanese that didn't impair either his ideas or his enthusiasm, though his manager had to once in a while find a phrase or define a word for him.
After about an hour of sitting and watching, his bodyguard left, coaxed out by Shibuya and Takasaka to join them in coffee or whatever. Akaiko-san was drafted into using her laptop to write down lyrics in both English and Japanese. Arin, Kouji found, didn't care too much for playing an instrument to demonstrate when he came up with a line of music, but instead used his own husky voice in quiet, wordless sounds that gave away that he had one HELL of a range, far broader than Kouji's own. The second of the songs they got a rough of finished in the session was mostly his lyrics, the music to fit it come up with by Kouji and the other members of God.
It was pure magic.
UNKNOWN FANTASY
I remember you used to be here
Though I don't remember why
Where did you go
What did you know
When you said "Good-bye"?
I see your shadow
In the white of the moon
I hear a memory
Singing to me
Singing our tune.
I should have left you
Before you left me
Locked the doors
Put up the boards
And threw away the key.
Is it you who has changed
Or is it I
I cannot tell
I hear the bell
And flee into the sky.
I should have said
"I love you with all my heart"
And "Stay here tonight"
You wouldn't have gone on that flight
And I wouldn't be torn apart.
Remembrances hurt so few
Hurt though you never meant them to
And I never got to say "Good-bye"
Emotions low, emotions high
For a love that's true
Doesn't just die.
Molly smiled as she finished typing in the lyrics. She'd snag a copy of the written music they'd worked on and type it in tonight, doing printouts for everyone before the next session. She stretched a little, then saved the file and shut down the screen, deciding that she'd been sitting in one spot for too long. She waved at her cousin and the other musicians, then went out into the hall, hoping to find a soda machine or something. She didn't have much luck in that department until she ran into Shibuya-san, who was coming to see how the jam session was going. She smiled at the blond youth and filled him in on what the group had accomplished so far; in return, he showed her to a lounge that had several vending machines and a microwave.
"You've worked here a long time, haven't you?" she asked, digging into the pocket of her slacks and putting yen in one of the machines.
He shrugged. "My uncle owns this company. After our parents died, he took my sister and me in, and we became part of the business until Madoka died too. I think we would have ended up in the company anyway, probably. It's the family business."
"How did you meet Nanjou-san?" she asked, retrieving her Coke from the machine. "I don't mean to pry, but it's kind of obvious how I met Arin, since we're related; you and Nanjou-san don't exactly seem the type to be childhood friends, though."
Shibuya laughed. "We're not. Kou-chan doesn't have any childhood friends, anyway. I transferred into his school the year he started his singing career. Actually, my sister and I both did, and she's the one who got him to sing." There was a small shadow in his voice, so Molly didn't press. "Why are you Hanano-san's manager, Maari-chan?" he asked. "Surely nepotism wasn't the only factor in this case...."
Molly blinked, startled a little by his familiar use of her name, and startled as well by its true pronunciation. She hadn't really heard her name pronounced in the Japanese style since she was small; she always went by its romanized equivalent. And his familiarity wasn't offensive; Shibuya-san had a charming personality that she could only describe as "cute." He could get away with blatant casuality.
"I have what Daddy calls 'the ear,'" she explained. "He means I know what'll sell and what won't. He owns his own recording company like your uncle, so I've been listening to albums before they're released for as long as I can remember. I'm nearly infallible in picking what songs will become hits and what won't. And, well...." She shrugged. "When Arin came to live with us after his parents died I heard him singing himself to sleep. I knew that he had a good enough voice. I told Daddy; Daddy gave him an audition; he passed; Daddy told me Arin was my responsibility." She grinned a little. "It wouldn't have happened if I'd been the same age as Arin, but since I'm two years older, I got my start in the business by managing him."
Katsumi smiled. "I guess that makes you about a year older than me, then," he said. "Because I know that Hanano-san's a year younger."
"Yeah, Arin's birthday isn't exactly a secret," she replied. "You should see the stuff his fans send him for presents."
"Oh, you should see the stuff Kouji gets!" Katsumi returned. "He gets everything from pink, fluffy, stuffed animals to chocolates to jewelry. What happens is that most of it ends up getting donated to charities in his name."
"Same for Arin. After the first year, he asked me never to bother him with it again." Maari-chan smiled at Katsumi and he smiled back, feeling a kind of kinship with her now. Apparently they had a lot of things in common, at least related to work.
"Shall we go tell them that they should go take a lunch break?" he asked, checking his watch. "It's already three, and they've been in there since nine! They must be starving!"
"I guess we should." Maari smiled at him. "Don't expect Arin to, though. Arin will probably stay in the studio and keep working on the music. When he gets involved in a project, everything becomes secondary. He forgets to eat, sleep, you name it. 'Toni and I have go force food and sleeping pills down his throat to get him to quit sometimes."
"Oh Gods! And he's teamed with Kouji for this!" Katsumi couldn't believe the contrast. "Kou-chan's anything but a workaholic. He likes the music, sure, and he's good at it, but he's not serious about it."
Maari laughed softly. "Then I think that this is going to be an interesting project all around, Shibuya-kun," she replied. "Well, shall we see if the inmates want to be left out of the asylum?"
Back to Chapter 2 On to Chapter 4 ZetsuAi/Bronze Fanfiction Page Send comments to author Tsuzukimasu...