15Chapter One
tick, tick.
The needle of the metronome flicked back and forth. His hands moved across the keys. And he began to play.
tick, tick.
Concentrating hard, he produced line after line of beautiful music. Then, he abruptly stopped. He had turned to a blank page. Like always, he still didn't know how to continue it. To finish what he had by now dubbed the unfinished score.
tick, tick.
He slammed the file shut. Why bother finishing it, when the one he had written it for would probably never hear it? It didn't seem right to be sharing his gift with the whole world, when the recipient was lying in a hospital bed.
His fingers wandered over to the dark red metronome. They touched the familiar words engraved into the side. 'For Kenji, May you one day live your dream. From Toru' How many times had he gazed at these same words, only serving to remind him that Toru was now in a coma since two months ago?
Two months, he mused. The same amount of time since he had given up on music. Why bother, he asked himself again, when the only audience that really mattered couldn't enjoy it?
He was startled by the honking of a car. His eyes shot to the clock as he automatically reached for his jacket. 7 o'clock. About time to get going if he wanted to get to the hospital before they were closed to visitors. Rising from his seat, he couldn't help but look over at the framed picture of himself with Toru, receiving an award for a piece they had co-wrote.
His eyes tearing up, Fujima Kenji turned and left the house, slamming the door as he went. tick, tick.
The needle continued moving back and forth.
"Walk faster! I don't want to miss anything" A redhead complained, tugging along his breathless companion. Although in serious need of oxygen, Yohei still managed a chuckle.
"Please don't tell me you actually believe in that load of crap" he smirked, amusement clearly evident on his face. Sakuragi glared at him. "Shut up! You should always trust what they say on the Astro Channel. If Ayako says that there will be a shooting star tonight, there will be a shooting star! You just wait and see" he replied stubbornly. He wasn't about to let anyone, not even his best friend, deter him from making a wish on the shooting star. Sure, it seemed doubtful at first, but what harm could it have? He had even prepared his wish well in advance. All he needed was for the star to show up.
Yohei smiled. "Sure, I'll believe it when I see it." He still wasn't sure why he had agreed to stake out the night with him just to see the star. if it would even appear in the first place.
Sakuragi marched off angrily towards the riverside. Someone please remind me why he's my best friend, he muttered under his breath. It was with a head full of murderous thoughts with which he tripped over. Flailing his arms around wildly, he fell forward. Fortunately, a pair of hands prevented him from slamming face first into the floor. The same pair of hands pulled him back up, and Sakuragi was suddenly face to face with their owner.
"Hi" greeted a cheery looking young man. "Are you okay" Sakuragi pulled himself out of the young man's grasp roughly. "I'm fine" he snapped. Backing away, he suddenly tripped over backwards this time. He was saved yet again, this time by Yohei Mito. "Urgh! You're heavy you know" exclaimed Yohei, grimacing under the weight of his friend who had succeeded in piling all of his weight onto him. Sakuragi flared. "What in the world do I keep tripping over" The stranger piped up.
"Oh, that's just my guy line." "Guy line" "Yup, you know, tent string. I'm staying here overnight if it means catching a sight of the shooting star."
Sakuragi was so delighted he forgot about wanting to kill the stranger for being the one who caused his falls. "See, Yohei? There are other people who believe it too" he triumphantly said. Yohei raised his eyebrows. "Yah, too bad there's so few of them" he replied, gesturing at the deserted riverside. Sakuragi turned his head away and ignored him.
The stranger grinned at this exchange. "I'm Sendoh Akira. Are you here to wait for the shooting star too" "Yup" Sakuragi replied. "I'm Sakuragi Hanamichi and this is Yohei Mito. Nice to meet you. Are you here alone" Sendoh nodded.
"I was, until you guys came along. I..." he was suddenly cut off by Yohei. Squinting at something in the distance, he whispered excitedly"Oh. My. Goodness. Fujima Kenji! Over there"
Fujima jerked his head up at the sound of his name. He cursed as his spotted a bunch of guys standing at the riverside. One of them was jumping and pointing at him excitedly. He couldn't afford to waste time with his fans now. He had totally forgotten that with his brown hair and blue eyes, he was easily recognisable in a single glance.
Still, the ever obliging famous star didn't change his direction and he headed towards the group, a ready smile on his face. "Good evening. Pleasant night, isn't it"
The trio gawked at him. One of them was all starry-eyed. "Fujima! Hi! I'm Yohei Mito! I'm so honoured to meet you! I love your music" Fujima would sweatdrop if he was a cartoon, but as he wasn't, he just had to listen as Yohei enthused on and on about practically every one of Fujima's works.
"..but the one I absolutely love the most has got to be 'Timeless'" Yohei thought he saw Fujima flinch at the name of the recently critically acclaimed piece. "Erm" the star stammered, his smile wavering a little. "Thanks. I never thought that I would bump into such a..big fan of mine right here." He maintained his composure as he fought back the urge to cry. Why did he have to remind him of that song? Sakuragi cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are" the redhead deadpanned. Yohei stared at him. "How could you possibly not hear of Fujima Kenji, the famous pianist cum singer? His music is everywhere - in every music store, in ads, in malls, even elevator music! You can't seriously have never ever heard any of his songs before" Yohei was practically shouting all of this. Sakuragi merely blinked at Yohei and shook his head.
"Nope, never ever in my life." "Gyahhh! You need to stop spending so much time eating and sleeping and start paying attention to your surroundings"
"It doesn't really matter. I don't really like all the star treatment. Just treat me as a normal person." Fujima said softly. "Really? Wow. I never thought that a you would ever hate the limelight" Sendoh commented thoughtfully. "After all, you were always friendly with the paparazzi. You're practically the only big shot that has never turned down an interview." "Well, I make it a point to be polite. I don't consider myself as such a big shot, anyway."
"Speaking of which, you seem to have been avoiding the media these two months" Yohei pondered. "What's with this sudden change" Looking a bit uncomfortable, Fujima just mumbled a reply. "Well, things happen. Times change. I needed a break, that's all."
Sakuragi tapped his foot irately. "Hey, leave the man alone. Since he's your idol, shouldn't you be respecting his decisions instead of interrogating him? I - Damn it" Sakuragi cursed as his foot caught in the guy line again. Hopping around on one foot, he managed to stop himself from falling into the icy blue water by crashing into the rusty metal railing lining the bank. Sliding down to the ground, he was about to curse the man who invented tents when he saw it.
The shining light that crossed the dark night sky. The orb of radiance that held such promise. The shooting star.
Sendoh was dumbfounded. Like Sakuragi and Yohei, he had never seen a shooting star before. He was struck by the beauty of it all when he noticed that Fujima had his eyes squeezed shut. Doing the same, he couldn't help but feel excited at this new experience.
Opening his eyes, Fujima felt a tiny spark of hope. On impulse, he had wished on the star immediately when he had spotted it. Just as he had, with another wish, many years ago.
Flashback
Sitting on the wall of his house, a young boy, who looked like he couldn't have been more than 8 years of age, gazed intently at the night sky, a look of concentration etched deep onto his face.
Suddenly, a voice piped up from behind him. "Yo Kenji, whatcha doing" Shrieking, the small boy fell from his high perch and landed on the source of the voice. A tall, skinny little boy squirmed his way out from underneath him. "Ouch" Brushing himself off, he wiped a large pair of spectacles. "You look dumb sitting up there." "No, I don't! You need thicker glasses" Kenji shot back. Huffing, he turned his attention back to the vast night sky.
"For your information, Toru, I'm looking for a shooting star. But there doesn't seem to be any here." "Don't you know? Shooting stars are really rare. You have to be really lucky to see one. Besides, why do you want one for" "I want to make a wish and see if it comes true. That's what they say happens, anyway." "A wish? What wish? Tell me! I'm your best friend, remember" "Well..okay. I want to fly among the stars and see who lives up there. Maybe I can see the sandman and ask him to give me nice dreams."
At that precise moment, a streak of light shot overhead. Kenji saw Toru mumble something under his breath.
"What were you saying" "I was wishing on the star, too. I wished that you would get your wish fulfilled." "Oh, ok. Thanks." "No problem."
End of Flashback
"What do you mean you didn't see it" bellowed Sakuragi. "It's not my fault" protested Yohei, his head caught in a vicious headlock. "Well, it was there! So that means I was right and you owe me 10 bowls of ramen now" "What? No way! I didn't say I would do anything like that"
Sendoh just shrugged when Fujima looked towards him. "I think we should just leave them alone."
Turning away, Sendoh was about to get about unpitching his tent when something truly baffling happened then.
A sparkling mist had appeared before them. Dropping Yohei, Sakuragi backed away from it. It materialized to form several silhouettes. Sendoh thought he could just make out two human-like figures and a third smaller, undistinguishable one. As the mist faded away, he was able to make out the features of the figures. One was a well-built, tanned young man. The other had pale white skin and piercing blue eyes. He held a black-and-white furred rabbit in his left hand, while waving away the mist with the right. Sweeping his gaze over the four, he prodded the rabbit.
"Well, here we are. What are you waiting for? Next year? You know what to do. So go do it already"
With those words, the rabbit jumped from his arms and landed neatly in front of Yohei. Strangely, the boy didn't even blink. It was as though he was in a daze. The other stocky companion waved an arm at him. Almost mechanically, Yohei made his way into the tent. Sidestepping Sendoh, a loud snore was heard seconds later.
Then, the same white mist as before reappeared. This time, it extended its range to include the remaining three boys. Unable to move, they stood frozen as a blinding white light surged from the core of the cloud of mist. Several seconds later, their senses were entirely blocked out.
-to be continued-