133A/N: The story you are about to read is a strict Seiya X Usagi dedication. If you are not a supporter of the pairing, I'll advise you not to read it. Of course, you are still welcome to browse through despite not liking the couple. But, I've already warned you. So, don't get all touchy over what I've wrote. And for all Seiya X Usagi fans and my faithful readers, I'll be more than happy if you'd enjoy the story. Thank you!
Summary: Stage On! revolved around Usagi Tsukino who was the lead vocalist for the world best music band, Blue Moon, although she was also known to be unable to sing or write love songs despite having perfect pitch ability. However, when a sudden change of fate sent her into a parallel universe where it promised her that she'd meet her true love, Usagi found herself trapped in an unfamiliar world and forced to live a life of a normal high school girl instead. To make matter worse, she was lured into forming a new band with Seiya Kou, a highly talented musician who stole her first kiss? It seemed like things would only get even more complicated… Pairing: Seiya-Usagi-Taiki, Minako-Yaten-Luna, Haruka-Michiru…
Stage 1: New World
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Stage On…
Rays of various colored lights zoomed in onto the grand stage, lighting up the large indoor stadium. Soon, over ten thousands fans erupted as they watched their idols getting raised up to the platform one at the time.
At the moment when the red spotlight cast on the drummer, Rei Hino, she held up her drum sticks, beating them together three times to set the rhythm before striking down and crashing onto the crash cymbal. The blast produced shook the stadium while Makoto ran her fingers through the keyboard, creating a wave of timbre. The girls screamed when the spotlights shone down on the two guitarists, Mamoru and Saphir, as they amplified the stage with a harmony of fill passage and chords. Soon, the lights died down by a little and the band slowed their pace to suit the dim atmosphere.
"Usagi! Usagi! Usagi!" The audience chanted.
Suddenly, a huge strike of lighting crashed in to the centre stage before a girl, who had her long, blonde hair styled up into two tiny buns, jumped out from the explosion. The audience went crazy at the surprise appearance of their favorite lead vocalist, Usagi Tsukino. She was dressed in a stylish off-shoulder dress that split open at its front ends to show off her short, fluffy mini-skirt, and a matching pair of fashionable high-heel boots. Like usual, she had stolen the limelight with just her dazzling appearance alone.
The audience began screaming her name again as Usagi made her way to the front stage. Stopping inside the large circle of light, she placed the tip of her finger to her lips and hushed. Her fans obediently quieted down and she winked back at them as an reward. But as soon as she reached out for the microphone stand that had just ascended before her, the crowd went wild again.
Usagi grabbed the mic easily with a smile before bringing it close to her lips.
"Konbanwa mina-san! Blue Moon desu! (Good evening everyone! This is Blue Moon!)" She announced her band's name and extended her free hand out to the audience before turning back to face her band mates with a smile.
"Let's set the Stage On!"
That night, her angelic voice together with the powerful blast of music created by the band conquered not just the stage, but also the entire world.
Months later…
At a private resort not too far away from the city area stayed the members of the Blue Moon. As the drum beats within the soundproof room began to slow down, the rest of the musicians stopped playing their parts and turned over to look at their drummer with a sigh.
"I give up! We have been practicing for the whole afternoon! And to even think we actually came here for a vacation! Please, I need my break!" Rei grumbled.
Saphir shook his head at her as he put down his bass guitar, "You should know how tight our schedule is, Rei. We have a MV to do by the end of next week, so we only have these few days to finish up with our new album… Can't you just bear with it for a while more?"
"And how much longer do I have to bear?" Rei sighed, giving him a tired look.
Saphir shrugged, "That depends on how many live performances we'll have to do after the debut of our 3rd album… let's see… maybe, another year or more…"
"What? More than a year?!" Rei burst out, dropping her drum sticks.
"Stop stressing her out, will you?" Mamoru frowned at Saphir.
"You're forgetting something, Mamoru. Our Rei is the best drummer out there. No one can outplay her, let alone stress her." Saphir corrected.
"That doesn't mean I don't need a break!" Rei argued.
Makoto banged the keyboards with her fingers, drawing everyone's attention towards her as she sighed tiredly at them. "Quarrelling isn't going to help anyone. All of you will be just wasting your breath. And, I agree we should take a ten minutes break."
"And in the meantime, we can check on how Usagi is progressing with the lyrics." Rei suggested.
But before she could even come a foot close to the door, Mamoru grabbed her by the shoulder from behind, stopping her from exiting the room. Rei turned around and raised her brows at him questionably as he shook his head at her.
"Asking Usako to write a love song is already a huge challenge for her. We shouldn't be disturbing her…"
Rei gave him an unenthusiastic look, murmuring, "You are spoiling her, Mamoru. I bet she's slacking now like how she always does."
Saphir nodded, "I agree with Rei. We should actually help her out for a bit."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Makoto asked before adding thoughtfully, "Even if we were to complete the lyrics for her, she won't be able to remember the lines long enough. So, we can just forget about asking her to express her feeling and sing it thoroughly."
Rei sighed, "She has perfect pitch yet she can't even sing a single love song? Seriously, this sounds so ridiculous no matter how many times we mention it."
"Perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch (AP), was the ability of a person to recognize or recreate a musical note without external reference." – Story information.
"That's because she's incredibly dense and got no experience in love. Someone ought to do something about this…" Saphir hinted, looking over at Mamoru.
"I'm not good at lyrics composing." Mamoru replied plainly.
"I'm telling you to confess to Usagi, damn it! If you do that, I'm sure we can finally include our first ever love single in the next Blue Moon's album."
"Yea!" Rei and Makoto agreed and gave each other a high-five.
Mamoru shook his head, "Forget it. It isn't going to work."
"It will work!" Rei stressed. "We all know you love Usagi. How many more years are you going to hide your feelings from her? Just confess to her already."
"Yes, and make her fall for you… maybe then she will be able to sing some love songs." Makoto added convincingly.
"Good plan girls!" Saphir agreed, ignoring Mamoru's objection as he started to push him toward the door much to his reluctance.
Forcibly, the three of them took him to Usagi's room, opened the door, threw him in, and shut the door behind him. Mamoru stumbled inside and was partially disappointed that Usagi wasn't taking her usual nap. Instead, she was sitting by the desk with a guitar in her hands, clearly awake. She immediately turned to face him with a curious smile.
"Momo-chan? What makes you come over?"
"We are having our break now, so I thought I should check on you and see if I could help you with anything." Mamoru told her awkwardly, his hand already on the doorknob, pulling it with all his might but it wouldn't budge.
He frowned at the door, realizing that his friends were pulling against him on the other side so he couldn't open it and leave the room without confessing to Usagi. He gave up trying and turned back to face Usagi only to find her staring at him with her pair of touching blue eyes.
"You are willing to help me even though you aren't good at writing lyrics? I'm so fortunate to have you as my friend, Momo-chan."
Friend? Something about that term just didn't seem to fit what Mamoru was feeling towards her. He didn't like the sound of it but Usagi was clearly oblivious over whatever he was feeling or thinking right now. She blinked innocently at him as he took in a deep breath and held her firmly by the shoulders so she was staring at him in the eyes.
"Actually, I'm here because there's something important that I need to tell you…"
"Yes, what is it?" Usagi smiled innocently, ready to hear anything out from her friend.
At least she considered him as a friend. She wasn't aware of how he felt towards her despite he had always treated her nicer than anyone else from the moment they got to know each other in the music industry.
Mamoru turned serious. His eyes slid shut as he drew in one last breath. He had to do this. He had to express the one feeling he had been hiding for so many years out before it consumed him.
"I've always wanted to tell you this… but I couldn't find the chance to… and now, it's the right moment for me to say this, I… I love you…"
Mamoru finished and kept his eyes closed in anticipation for a sound of disgust, a sigh, an apology, something, but all he heard was soft giggles coming from Usagi. He snapped his eyes open in surprise, his heart fluttered in belief that she loved him too.
She looked back at him with a happy smile, exclaiming, "Thank you, Momo-chan! I'm so grateful for your help."
Mamoru blinked in surprise, "Help?"
Usagi nodded keenly, "Hai! That few lines fix perfectly well into the lyrics. Thank you for coming all the way here to tell me this. But, I'm really surprised! Since when did you become such a good lyricist? Who did you learn it from?"
While Mamoru stared speechlessly back at Usagi, the door swung open suddenly as the trio on the outside fell into the room in defeat at what they had just overheard.
Usagi turned and waved cheerily to her friends, "Hey, hey! Momo-chan had just thought of a few good lines for our song! Everyone should hear him out."
"We have already heard it!" They shrieked together.
"Oh, you already did? It's really good, isn't it? We can use it for our next single!" Usagi smiled happily as Mamoru sighed and released her.
"You stupid Usagi! Does anything else ever cross your mind besides song writing and singing?! How the hell can you be so dense and stupid?" Rei yelled at her best friend.
"Why are you scolding me all of the sudden?! You are being so unreasonable, Rei!" Usagi retorted.
"I'm unreasonable?! You're the unreasonable one here! Do you know how much you have hurt Mamo-…"
Rei stopped at her mid sentence when she felt Mamoru patting her on the shoulder, gesturing her to stop arguing with Usagi. She glowered at Usagi for one last time before turning over to Mamoru, telling him. "Sorry, Mamoru. I swear I'll bring her to the hospital and get her brain check tomorrow… Her lack of intelligence is to be blame…"
"You are the one who should get your brain check, you bad-tempered drummer!" Usagi retorted, pointing her finger at Rei.
"What did you say?!" Rei flared back.
While both Makoto and Saphir shook their heads at the dispute set before them, Mamoru sighed tiredly not knowing what else he could do to make Usagi noticed his feeling for her. He thought through the matters for a moment, finally deciding that it didn't matter if she didn't love him as much as she loved singing. With Blue Moon ridiculous popularity and demand from the society, he was sure that he could spend the rest of his life with her and the band, definitely not foreseeing the shocking event that would happen a day after.
As promised, Rei took Usagi out the following day, but the two of them ended up in an ancient shrine instead of the hospital. Even though they weren't intending to visit the prehistoric place, they were left with no other choice but to step foot into its ground after they got separated from the others while getting chased by the fans and paparazzi.
"I'm going to leave you behind if you don't hurry up, Rei!" Usagi shouted and waved to her friend when she reached the top of the hill where the shrine was located.
"You are such an expert at running, Usagi. Where did you get all your stamina and haste from?" Rei grumbled as she climbed the stone stairs breathlessly.
"Singing." Usagi smiled proudly.
Rei growled at her reply but was too tired to argue further. She stopped and panted tiredly when she reached the entrance of the old shrine, unable to even find the energy to look and admire the remarkable structure that was said to be one of the world oldest temples. Usagi beamed as she stepped through the grand gate with Rei tagging behind her.
"Wow! There are so many people around." Usagi exclaimed in anticipation.
She was fasciated by the amount of tourists gathered inside, exploring and taking pictures of the different buildings and antique structures around them.
"Yes, so don't blow your cover this time round. I don't wish to end up running about in the place I grew up in." Rei stated firmly as she placed her hand on top of Usagi's cap, securing it in place.
"Eh?! I didn't know that you used to live here…" Usagi exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, when I was still a child. My grandfather wanted me to take over his place and become a miko at this shrine, but I longed to become a musician back then. So, I abandoned my duties and left for the city to pursue my dream. Come to think about it, I would have lead a much easier life as a miko…"
"Miko was a Japanese term that meant shrine maiden who served at Shinto shrines." – Translation.
"Are you regretting it now?" Usagi asked abruptly.
Surprised, Rei blinked at her for a second before shaking her head with a smile. "I would have if it wasn't for you…"
"Me?"
Rei nodded with a gentle smile, "Ever since that day I saw your first audition on stage, I was overwhelmed. Your voice… It's so light like a feather yet gracefully powerful and sharp like the beauty of a sword… And then, I thought, how great it would be if I could play for a voice like this. So, the truth is, you inspired me, Usagi, as well as everyone else in Blue Moon. We are always performing our best because of you…"
"Eh?!" Usagi dropped her jaw in both embarrassment and surprise.
"But, it's such a pity that you are so slow when it comes to love..." Rei sighed.
"I'm not slow!"
"Then have you been in love before?"
"I love to sing." Usagi replied innocently.
"I'm not referring to that! What I meant was having affection for a particular person, a man or even a woman, it doesn't matter who as long as you feel happy together…"
"But, I'm happy with everyone now." Usagi replied simply.
"No, no! Not like that…" Rei sighed heavily before adding thoughtfully. "I'm talking about romantically loving someone. You know, it's like your heart will beat real fast whenever you think of this one person, and when he's happy, you will feel happy too, but when he's upset, you'll feel like crying. You may even go to the extent of wanting to be that person's strength because you find him respectable in all aspects and his voice is the only thing you'll want to hear…"
"Hmmm…" Usagi pondered hard, trying to let the new information sink in.
"Yes, yes… How is it? Are you feeling anything right now?" Rei encouraged.
Usagi nodded honestly, "I feel hungry."
Rei dropped her head in defeat and there was a moment of awkward silence as a gust of wind blew dried leaves past them.
"That's it! You're coming with me to the 'Love stones'!" Rei demanded and grabbed Usagi by her hand, pulling her along.
"What love stones?" Usagi exclaimed.
But she was ignored as Rei led her down several stairways, through a number of buildings and gardens before reaching the bottom ground where two tall rabbit's statues stood by an old entrance that was blocked by a barrier of white tapes that wrote 'Keep Out' in Japanese.
Rei took a step back, not believing that such a popular place of attraction was closed to the public. She turned around, ignoring Usagi as she grumbled, and climbed the long stairs back to the spot where she last saw an old lady selling talisman and protective amulets.
"Excuse me, Obassan. But do you know why the place leading to the Love stones is blocked from access?" Rei approached the elder and asked.
"Only those who are granted by fate can enter, child." The old woman answered mysteriously.
"What?" Rei blinked in confusion.
But the elder just smiled and handed a wooden box out to both Usagi and Rei, "Do you want to see what your fate might be?"
"Sure!" Usagi smiled and instantly placed her hand into the box before Rei could even stop her.
She drew out a golden piece of folded paper which she quickly unfolded and began reading without hesitation.
"You are selected to enter a New World where you'll meet your true love. In exchange, you'll have to forgo your following possession - Identity, fame, wealth, achievements, family and friends. However, you're allowed to bring your talents, skills, memories and experiences that you've achieved so far to the alternative universe with you. If you wish to start your journey now, please follow the guidance of the pair of divine butterflies."
"Alternative universe? What sort of fortune telling is this? It's like going into Wonderland, only worse…" Rei frowned suspiciously at the piece of paper.
Usagi shrugged with a smile, "But it sounds interesting."
"Anything weird sounds interesting to you…" Rei commented with a sigh before reaching into her pocket to take out her cell phone that was vibrating.
Flipping the small device open, she frowned when she saw the name of their manager flashed across her phone's screen.
"Yes, Yuuichirou… I do remember that we have a television program to attend at six… Well, you can entertain the reporters for an hour or so, can't you…? Yes, we will be back soon…" She ended the call with a tiring sigh.
"Usagi, we have to get-…"
Rei paused at her mid sentence when she turned around to find that her friend was nowhere in sight, and it wasn't just Usagi, the old lady and her stall were gone as well. Rei blinked in surprise and almost dropped her phone at their bizarre disappearance.
"Something isn't right…" She murmured and picked up her pace to look for her friend.
"Do you believe?
If the world betrayed you,
I'll stand behind you, betraying the world…"
She could hear him, the voice that compelled her to follow the pair of golden butterflies.
But, who was it?
She wanted to know, she needed to find out who it was.
The white tapes that were once blocking the old entrance vanished, opening a path for Usagi to enter. She reached out for the butterflies that were only a foot away from her, but her fingers wrapped around the air and nothing else. Instinctively, she followed them as they led her down the dirt road that seemed to extend forever.
Looking down the straight path, she could tell that she was the only one to come down this road in a while. The branches and leaves on top of the trees intertwined with each other, blocking out the sunlight. And without any street light or sign of technology, Usagi was sure that she wouldn't be able to see anything if it wasn't for the glowing butterflies that she was going after.
All of a sudden, the butterflies dispersed into tiny golden dust as a path of light coming from the distance lit up the dark pathway. She could still hear the voice calling out to her, but it was fainting away as the light before her gradually diminished.
"Wait!" Usagi called out as she raced forward, stepping into the new world.
Two teenagers stood at the centre of an empty street, both cornered by a group of bulky men.
"Please come back with us, young master Seiya." One of the muscular men requested.
"Don't make me repeat myself. Unlike any of you, I've no interest in following that old man's order." Seiya replied bluntly.
"That old man is the CEO of the Kou's financial Cooperation, who also happened to be your father, Seiya. You shouldn't be so crude even though you dislike him." The taller boy standing next to him commented with a shrug.
"I didn't ask for your comment, Haruka. And you shouldn't even be here in the first place." Seiya muttered.
Haruka shook his head, "I can't possibly let them steal you away when I've worked so hard to make you mine."
Seiya almost fell over when he heard this along with everyone else. For a minute there, the men around them thought that their young master had an undisclosed love affair with a guy who happened to be the son of the Director of the Capital Education Board.
"Don't be mistaken. He was referring to his band." Seiya quickly clarified, not wanting any of them to start reporting something ridiculous to his family.
"Young master Seiya, Your father, Kazuki-sama wants to meet you and if you don't agree on coming us, we'll have to bring you back by force." Another man in the group warned.
"Good, bring it on…" Haruka taunted much to their surprise.
"No, you stay out of this…" Seiya shook his head.
"But I'm here to help."
"If you want to help, carry this for me…" He replied before tossing his guitar case over to him.
Haruka caught the bag easily as he watched how Seiya dodged all the attack before kicking one of them in the gut. The wounded man groaned and collapsed. The other men ran towards Seiya, attempting to knock him out on the head. But Seiya turned around just in time to grab one of them by the arm. He lifted and tossed him to the other two men, knocking the three of them down.
"Useless…" Seiya commented while dusting his hands.
"Here's your precious guitar." Haruka muttered and returned him the casing.
"Thanks."
"Guess we better get running. It looks like it's about to rain." Haruka gestured at the flickering night sky.
Seiya glanced up, realizing that there weren't any storm clouds. The sky was clear and he couldn't find anything that would signal a drizzle besides the constant blinking. It was an odd sight but Seiya decided not to comment about it as he hurried down the street with Haruka. Now, besides those he had already beaten up, there were approximately 10 men chasing after them.
"How insistent…" Seiya growled as they ran down the row of houses.
Haruka sighed, "Even if you outrun them now, they'll still seek you out some other day. You should just follow them back and say hi to your father."
"It's not necessary. He's leaving the capital tomorrow, so as long as I don't get caught today, there won't be any problem." Seiya replied plainly.
"Right, I was recently told that that besides your father, no one in the Kou family wants you back in the main house. And it seems like your step mum and brothers hate you too…"
Seiya shrugged, "Good. They should keep it up…"
Haruka sighed, "You'll soon be cut from succeeding any of your father's inherits if you carry on displaying such unbothered attitude, Seiya."
"Really? It's such a shame. I don't need his inherits and I've never consider myself as part of that family before." Seiya replied uncaringly before his eyes spotted a golden butterfly as it flew past him.
"That thing…"
"What thing?" Haruka asked.
Seiya widened his eyes at his friend, "You didn't see it? That golden butterfly that just flew past us…"
"What?"
He threw Seiya a confused look before looking at the direction where Seiya was heading.
Besides the dark pavement in front of them, Haruka couldn't find anything that would catch his attention. The road before them were empty, except for some dry leaves and litters here and there, there was definitely no butterfly in front of them no matter how hard he tried looking for it.
Just when he was starting to suspect that it was just a part of his friend's imagination, Seiya turned the corner abruptly, following the butterfly into a dead end.
"It's gone…" He muttered, glancing around only to realize that the strange insect had vanished without a trace.
"Why the hell did you stop here for…?"
Haruka's statement was interrupted by a sudden loud boom that sounded like a thunder. They looked up to face the source of the blast and to their astonishment, something or rather someone was falling towards them from above. For a moment there, the boys thought that they were seeing an illusion of a fallen angel, but after noticing that she didn't have wings, they started to realize that she wasn't just their imagination.
"Wa!"
She cried and fell face first onto Seiya. The both of them dropped back to the floor with their lips pressed firmly against each others. At this, Seiya's eyes snapped open from shock, staring up into her wide blue orbs. She gazed back at him, equally surprised, as they continued to lay there in deep silence till Haruka cut in.
"I don't know what is happening here. But how much longer do the both of you plan to keep lying in that posture?"
Usagi gasped and quickly pushed herself off his chest when she finally understood the situation. She kneeled down in front of him, her expression in a mixture of shock and anger, as he mimicked her looks and gazed back at her.
"Yo-you… What have you done to me?" She exclaimed, pointing at him.
"What?" Seiya frowned.
"Tha-that was my first kiss! You stole my first kiss! You thief! Pervert! Give me back my first kiss!"
"You are the one who jumped onto me! And no matter how anyone looks at it, I AM the victim here… so PAY up!" Seiya demanded, as he extended his hand out to her.
"Eh?! Why should I be paying you?!"
"My kiss and service don't come free, Odango. So pay up! One million yen…" Seiya insisted.
"I'm never paying you a single cent! And my name is not Odango! It's Usagi! I can't believe you don't know my name!" She exclaimed in agitation.
"I don't get it. Why must I know a perverted girl's name?" He replied, half-teasingly.
"You are the pervert here!" Usagi exclaimed loudly, pointing her index at him.
"Shhh… Will the both of you please keep your volume down? They'll find us if you continue shouting like that." Haruka hissed, noticing the shadows of the men nearby.
Seiya sighed, "They are still around?"
Haruka nodded as he leaned against the wall and glanced out into the open, "We should get going. They might catch us if we continue to stay here."
"Ah! I knew it! The two of you must be criminals that the police are after!" Usagi guessed, gazing suspiciously at them.
To her surprise, Seiya just smirked at her remark as he turned around to face her. He took a step closer and leaned forward as if to kiss her, making her backed away nervously. She swore she would have given him a punch on the face if he hadn't stopped a short distance away from her.
"Yes, we are those big bad wolves that kidnap little Usagi (rabbit) like you to sell them off to the black market." He breathed.
"Iiyee… Get away from me!" Usagi shrieked, lifting up her fist at him.
She strike blindly, her punch missed him and landed onto his guitar case. Seiya's eyes sharpened a little at what she did, and he would have yelled at her if she hadn't surprised him with a warm smile.
"Ehhhh... This electric guitar case… I used the exact same one too!" She exclaimed before smiling sweetly up at him. "You must really treasure your guitar a lot."
Seiya could only blink back in surprise. She didn't even get to know his name, yet she managed to understand an aspect of him which most people overlooked just by looking at his guitar case? He continued to stare at her, watching her admire his fancy casing with a smile, and from that point of view, he thought she looked pretty cute.
She wasn't like any other girl he had met before. Most women he came across paid him to date them; many whom he didn't even bothered remembering their names. Those were the types he hated the most. They would throw themselves at him mainly because of his good looks and even claimed that they loved him when they didn't even know a thing about him. So, to meet a girl who would smile at him not because she was attracted to his physical appearance but his passion and interest was something totally new to him.
"Nn? Where am I?" Usagi muttered to herself, finally realizing that she was in a dark, narrow alley.
No matter how she looked at it, the place definitely didn't represent a part of the shrine where Rei and her were in before. Apart from her frustration in losing her first kiss to a complete stranger, Usagi couldn't be more confused now. Where was she? And, what was happening here?
"You are Usagi right? I see that you've jumped from the wall over here. Are you a resident of this neighbourhood?" Haruka approached her and asked thoughtfully.
"I should ask you the same thing. Who are you people? And what are the two of you doing here?" She replied quickly.
Haruka smiled friendly, "I'm Haruka Tenoh. You can call me Haruka. And this person you've just bumped into is Seiya Kou. Don't worry. We aren't offenders or anyone bad… You see, Seiya is getting chased by his father's men. It's his family issue, but I hope you can help us out and tell us the best place to exit from since you're familiar with the neighbourhood."
"I don't live here. Besides, even if I do, I don't see why I should be helping a thief like you." Usagi pointed at Seiya, still angry about him kissing her.
They glowered at each other for a moment longer before Seiya looked over to Haruka, "And, I don't see any reason why we must explain or even ask her for help. Just let them come. I'll just fight them off if they do."
"You shouldn't be fighting!" Usagi shrieked abruptly much to their surprise.
For a second, both Seiya and Haruka just stared back at her, not sure whether they had heard her right.
"Your hand! It's the most important thing for a guitarist! If you treasure your guitar so much, you should treasure your hand as well. So, you shouldn't be fighting and risk getting it hurt!" Usagi explained quickly.
Seiya widened her eyes at her, taken aback by the things she had just said. He would never imagine anyone telling him that. This girl, she was something else. She was the first person to show this much concern over an unforseen injury of his when clearly she was angry at him for kissing her, even though she was the one who landed onto him.
"But Seiya has already injured his hand because of you…" Haruka informed simply and gestured at Seiya's swollen left wrist.
"Eh?!" Usagi threw him a shock look before she turned to study the injured wrist.
"It's nothing…" Seiya muttered awkwardly and hid his hand away from her view.
"I saw everything." Haruka smirked, "You twisted your left hand when you tried to prevent Usagi-san from hitting the concrete back then. So, Usagi-san, you shouldn't be scolding him. If it wasn't for Seiya, you'd be the one having a swollen hand or skull instead."
Usagi's eyes enlarged with a mixture of shock and guilt. After hearing what Haruka had said, she couldn't even bring herself to feel angry about this man who kissed her against her will. Looking back now, maybe he didn't do it on intention or rather she should be the one to be blamed for falling onto him like that and injuring him.
"For a right-handed guitarist, your left hand is indeed very important, and looking at how swollen it is now. I don't think you'll be able to play for tomorrow performance." Haruka concluded, still staring at his wrist.
"I can always change to a left-handed player." Seiya replied nonchalantly.
"But you haven't gotten your left-handed electric guitar back from repair, have you?" Haruka reminded.
"Ehhh? You can play with both hands?!" Usagi cut in with enthusiasm.
"Amazing, isn't he?" Haruka nodded with a smile. "He's the best lead guitarist I've ever come across which is why I must have him in my band."
"It's nothing amazing…" Seiya brushed it off, not wanting the conversation to go any further.
"No, you're amazing! I've never met anyone other than Mamoru who is both a left and right-handed player. That's so cool! I'll love to see you play someday." Usagi exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh? You are not mad at me now?" Seiya grinned.
"I'm still a little angry…" She admitted, folding her arms across her chest. "But, I did cause your hand to get hurt. So, I think we can call it even."
"Even? I'm not agreeing to this…" Seiya shook his head stubbornly. "You still owe me a million yen."
"I'm not giving you anything!" She shrieked at him out of irritation.
"Can the both of you just cut it out already? You will alert the search party." Haruka sighed.
"It has been fifteen minutes at least. They are probably gone by now." Seiya concluded.
Usagi shook her head at his assumption, "You're wrong. They are just hiding around the other corners waiting for you to turn up on the main street."
"How can you be so sure?" Seiya inquired suspiciously.
Usagi held her head up proudly, "I've experienced it numerous times already. Whether it's paparazzi, fans, or stalkers, they all do the same things. It's nothing new. But their efforts are useless. I outrun them all the time."
"From how you put it, I'm starting to suspect that you are actually an escaped criminal." Seiya told her half-teasingly.
"I'm not a criminal! And, I can't believe you! How can you not know me when you are a guitarist yourself?" She exclaimed loudly
"Shhh!" Haruka hissed angrily at them. "How many times must I repeat myself? If the both of you ain't going to help, at least be quiet."
Usagi glowered at Seiya for a second longer before turning away. "Who said I wasn't going to help? Just follow me."
"Follow you? How do you know where to go when you aren't from this neighbourhood, Odango?" Seiya asked with a shrug.
"I already said that I've been through such situations for years, so it doesn't matter whether I know the place or not. Everywhere is the same for me." Usagi explained confidently.
"Hm? You are pretty confident, aren't you?" Seiya smirked.
"Of course, I'm very confident in getting the both of you out of this place. Or perhaps, you don't have the confidence to catch up with my pace, Seiya-kun?" Usagi challenged coolly.
Seiya laughed sarcastically, "Ha! I'll pay you a million yen if I couldn't catch up with you."
"You're on." Usagi smiled and raced down the alley with Seiya following behind.
Haruka sighed at them before picking up his pace and joining the couple as they disappeared into the corner.
The maids pushed open the huge double doors, bowing their heads as the head mistress entered the large dinning room. Her two sons, Taiki and Yaten, were already seated with half empty plates in front of them.
"Kaa-sama…" They greeted her formally.
She nodded and took her seat at the head of the long table silently. Nobody made a sound. An uncomfortable silence loomed over the table as they continued with their meals. While Taiki didn't seem affected by the presence of his cold mother, Yaten shifted in his seat awkwardly, showing his detest for having to dine with her.
"Have the two of you heard about it? You father is intending to bring that bitch's son into the family." She informed in a cold tone.
"But he got away, didn't he?" Taiki replied bluntly, not even bothering to look up at his mother as he continued to serve himself in his usual grace.
"Don't let your guard down. An illegitimate bastard like him might just use some dirty tricks and surpassed the both of you to become your father's successor… just like how his mother did sixteen years ago…" She warned with a sense of hatred.
"Don't worry, Kaa-sama. I won't let that happen." Taiki told her calmly.
The head mistress nodded at his remark, apparently trusting her younger son words. Unlike Yaten, who wouldn't listen to her, Taiki had never failed in meeting her expectation, whether it was in studies or running the family's business. Though she knew that he wasn't doing all these out of obedience, she wouldn't complain about it as long as he continued to excel in the path of becoming his father's successor one day.
"Lately, I heard you and Minako Aino are seeing each other pretty often, Yaten. You know that her family and ours are business rivals. What would your father and your fiancée, Luna, think if they see the both of you together? You should act more appropriately like how an oldest son of our Kou's family should…" She lectured firmly.
Yaten smirked, "Kaa-sama, I'm afraid you got your information wrong. She's the one who takes a liking and sticks on to me. Besides, Taiki is the one who told me to build a close relationship with her so we could create an opportunity to eliminate the Aino's family from stealing our next business deal."
"That sounds like a good scheme." His mother grinned evilly.
"I'm done and I'll be heading back to my room, Kaa-sama." Taiki muttered coolly, ignoring his mother's comment as he left his seat.
"Taiki…" His mother called out, stopping him from leaving the room.
"The recreation project on JUNK House was your proposal, wasn't it? But I was told that your father has decided not to demolish the place because that illegitimate child will be performing there tomorrow night. It's such a shame that we'll have to lose several hundreds millions in profit just because of someone who shouldn't even be part of the family. I'm sure you won't just let this matter pass and you'll help me get rid of him, won't you?"
Taiki remained expressionless as he glanced over his shoulder at her, "If he's going to stand in my way, I'll take him out as you please, Kaa-sama."
It had only been a day and Usagi had already discovered that she didn't belong in the world she was in now. Her existence alone was already a mistake. Neither her family, friends nor, her band, Blue Moon, existed here. In another word, she was a no body, something she hadn't came to get used to accepting as she walked down the night street that was scattered with people ready to enter the JUNK house.
Still, Usagi was rather enjoying the fact that no one knew her well enough to stalk or pester her, and the best of it all, there was no need for her to hide under some thick sun glasses or coat wherever she goes. In a good way, she had obtained the freedom and privacy she longed for though she would rather have her family, friends, and identity back. But she guessed it couldn't be helped, unless she was able to find her way back.
In the meanwhile, she would just have to accept Haruka's offer to stay at a rented apartment next to his in the exchange of helping him managed his band which consisted of only three members – Haruka, Seiya, and a girl called Minako Aino whom she hadn't met yet. Apparently, there were too little members to be considered as an official music group, but Haruka was particularly picky when it came to selecting the right musician to join them which was what made the completion of his band seemed almost impossible to achieve.
"It's a long queue…" Usagi commented as she frowned at the line of people waiting to enter the JUNK house.
"That's because Seiya is performing tonight…" Haruka replied.
"Eh? They are all here to see him? Is he really that popular?" Usagi raised her brows.
"Yes, especially with the girls… he's a lady killer… so I'll advice you to stay away from him..."
"I won't want to go near him even if you pay me to!" Usagi shrieked and folded her arms.
Haruka chuckled, "But he's exceptionally good. And besides him, I won't want any other guitarist in my band."
"But I heard he's playing for another band by the name of Amazon Trio tonight…"
Haruka shrugged uncaringly, "Many music groups in the town pay him to perform with them but he doesn't stay permanent with any of the band, so it doesn't really matter."
"It does matter! His hand is still swollen. He shouldn't even be performing with any group tonight!" Usagi insisted.
"Oh? You do care a lot for him, don't you?" Haruka winked.
"No, I don't!" Usagi insisted. "I just thought it is stupid of him to perform when he's hurt!"
Haruka shook his head, "It isn't stupid, Usagi. He needed the money to help his mother…"
"His mother?"
Haruka nodded, "Seiya's mother used to be a singer during her youth, but she developed a tumor in her vocal cord and was forced to stop singing after Seiya was born. And, if that wasn't bad enough, five years ago, she got into a car accident and though she survived it, she suffered from severe brain injury that caused her to acquire a disorder called, Amusia. I heard that ever since then, she sank into depression and her body has grown really weak, to the extent that she couldn't even leave the hospital bed without assistance. And of course, Seiya has been taking care of her and all the expenses ever since. The hospital bill and treatment aren't cheap either…"
"Amusia is agnosia for music. It involved loss of the ability to recognize musical notes, rhythms, and intervals and the inability to experience music as musical." – Story information.
Usagi grew quiet. Her expression showing a hint of guilt for the insult that she had made. At least, it explained why he was only concerned about money and would even sell himself out to those women who were willing to pay a large sum for him. Though, back in her world, Usagi had never faced any financial crisis before, she could somehow understand the difficulties Seiya was going through. Thinking along that line, maybe she should apologize to him for the crude attitude that she had been giving him these past two days.
So absorbed in her own thoughts, Usagi hadn't notice that they had entered into the night house till she heard loud screams coming from the girls that were already there before her.
"Seiya! Seiya!"
Usagi turned to face the small stage that Haruka was guiding her to. Seiya and the Amzon Trio were already in position, ready to start off with their performance. The two teenagers tried squeezing their way through the crowd with much effort, stopping only when they were directly below the place where Seiya was standing.
Seiya smirked at Usagi when he noticed her watching him from beneath and she stuck her tongue out to him before smiling gently back. He saw her opening her mouth to tell him something, but her message was covered by the cries of the audience. Though the place was only big enough to hold no more than a hundred people, the noise created was so piercing that it made a normal conversation seemed impossible.
The noise level got worse when the drummer, Fish's eye, hit on the drumheads while the bassist, Hawk's eyes, and lead singer, Tiger's eyes, joined in after him. Usagi covered both her ears at the music produced. It was awful, terrible even, and for someone who was born with perfect pitch, Usagi didn't know where to start picking out all the mistakes they were making as they played their parts.
The singer was totally singing off the pitch, the drummer was hitting the wrong beat and the bassist was playing his bass line way too high. Usagi couldn't even understand why everyone was still cheering for the band when they were obviously making so many mistakes until the song hit the chorus and the lead guitar took over most of the phrase line.
Slowly, Usagi dropped her hands back down to her sides at the powerful guitar chord being played. It was amazingly perfect which made her wondered how anyone could possibly create such beautiful music effect when his wrist was hurt. At that moment, Usagi found herself watching a solo by Seiya as she followed him with her gaze, not looking away from him and ignoring all the other noise coming from the background.
For the first time that night, she, who had always been high up on the stage, was experiencing what it felt like to admire someone else from below. It was a strange feeling. She wanted to be up there with him yet he was making the stage that was supposedly close seemed so far away from her reach.
Looking at him now, she secretly though he looked really cool and charming. Usagi could even feel her heart pounding harder against her chest at every note he played, and she smiled a bit when she noticed how his eyes would return to hers every so often even though she wasn't one of the girls screaming his name.
"Seiya…" Usagi muttered with a smile.
Strangely, she wanted to hear him play forever yet she needed him to stop. His hand must have hurt terribly by now, and Usagi could already see sweats dripping down from his forehead as he tried to endure the pain. She scowled at this, wanting the song to stop, but it didn't seem like it was about to end anytime soon till the amplifiers suddenly went off and the lights came on a second later.
The crowd erupted and booed at the interruption while Usagi turned around to the direction where Seiya was glaring. There, climbing down the stairs, were a group of men whom she didn't recognized. The audience split, making way for Seiya as he leaped down from the stage and stormed up to the people walking towards him.
"What is the meaning of this, Taiki Kou?!" He demanded as he stopped before the two bodyguards and glared at the tallest man behind them.
Taiki remained quiet and expressionless, allowing his secretary, Ryo Urawa, to answer on his behalf. "Pardon us, but according to the legal papers, the Kou Cooperation has already bought down this entire place, and we are planning to establish it into an entertainment resort instead. So, from this minute on, all activities here including live performance are to be ceased completely.
Those standing around murmured in consideration at the announcement made while Seiya just glared calmly back at his half brother. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? First you bribe every band that you can find in this town to stop hiring me, and now you even leased JUNK House so I couldn't perform here? What is it do you want from me?"
"You're in my way…" Taiki muttered coolly.
Seiya smirked bitterly, "Funny. Shouldn't it be the other way round? You're the one interfering here."
"Whether I interfered or not, there won't be any benefit for anyone either way. So, I don't see why I must waste my time listening to your cheap and pointless performance." He pointed out bluntly.
-Splash-
Taiki remained there with droplets of water sliding down his expressionless face. He turned his attention and stared at the girl who splattered a glass of cold water at him while everyone just seemed to be gawking at her outrageous behaviour in shock.
"Don't insult Seiya when you don't know how much hard work he has put in for tonight's concert!" Usagi shrieked at Taiki before shoving the cup back to the man whom she had randomly taken it from.
Seiya stiffened at the words that had just burst out of her mouth. Not even in his wildest dream would he have expected anyone to be brave enough to retort the famous prodigy of the business world like that. Taiki wasn't only a genius. He was also notorious for being cold and merciless to those who dared to go against him. There was no telling what he was going to do with Usagi now that she had publicly offended him.
Shoving his thoughts aside, Seiya quickly yanked Usagi back to his side when one of Taiki's bodyguards tried to get hold of her. The big man growled at Seiya's defensive move and attempted to shove him away but Seiya wouldn't back off, grabbing the man firmly by his wrist before he could make contact with Usagi.
"Don't touch her." He warned sternly and tightened his grip against the man's hand, causing him to groan in pain.
Usagi and the other onlookers stared in shock, surprised by his sudden aggressive behavior. Taiki, on the other hand, eyed at Usagi quietly, trying to figure out who she was. Her presence bothered him since it was his first time seeing his archrival, someone who couldn't be bothered about anything else besides money, got serious over something as mild as her safety.
As much as he knew, she wasn't one of Seiya's girlfriends, and judging from her unique appearance and brave attitude, he was sure that she wasn't any ordinary commoners. But, she didn't seem to be part of any wealthy family either since he would have known her if she was from a royal line.
So, who was this strange girl?
Usagi caught Taiki staring a little too long as she turned to glare at him, making him smirked faintly at her angry expression. Noticing this, Seiya released the man and stood in front of Usagi, blocking his half brother's view on her.
Taiki stared blankly back for a second longer before stopping his guards from attacking Seiya. The men stepped back as ordered and followed their master as he turned around, ready to leave.
"Hey! Don't go without apologizing!" Usagi shrieked angrily, wanting to chase after Taiki but was immediately held back by both Seiya and Haruka.
They sighed together, each holding a troubled expression, as Usagi struggled to break free.
"Let go! I'm not done with him yet!"
"Don't you understand what sort of trouble you've gotten yourself into?" Haruka sighed for the second time.
"Trouble?" She gave them a baffled look.
Haruka nodded quietly, not knowing how he should be explaining the situation to her. He gazed over at Seiya, silently asking him for help but he was looking more troubled that he was.
What had gotten into him? For the past few years, he had successfully followed his mother's wishes and avoided interfering with matters related to either Taiki or his family. But now, his effort to stay unbothered with them had turned into waste after he had thoughtlessly attempted to defend Usagi from Taiki.
The worse of it all was that Usagi wasn't showing any sign of remorse at the trouble she had gotten him into. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't flare at her when he felt her gently taking his left hand over to hers and rolling up his long sleeve to examine the sore on his wrist.
"Hey you…"
"I'm sorry…" Usagi interrupted Seiya in a murmur, making him stared back at her in surprise by her apology.
"I didn't have the right to scold anyone… I was rude to you too and even caused you to hurt your most important hand... it looks painful…"
Seiya could feel his heart skipped by a bit at her concerned expression as he quickly slipped his hand out of hers and looked away with a slight blush, "Don't worry about it, it doesn't hurt."
"You are lying! I saw you sweating up there because of the pain!" Usagi argued, pointing at the stage.
"It was just the heat…" Seiya brushed it off quickly.
"But, this place is air conditioned!"
Seiya attempted to open his mouth to retort back but Usagi wasn't interested in arguing with him at that moment as she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him out of the protesting crowd, up the stairs, and out of the house much to his reluctance.
"Where the hell do you think you are taking me? I'm not done with the performance yet!"
"You will only strain your hand and worsen it if you continue to play with this silly injury of yours, baka Seiya!" Usagi exclaimed with determination, ignoring his protest.
"I'm stupid? You're the one who got my hand injured!"
"Which is why I'm bringing you to the doctor now… So, keep quiet and follow me!"
Seiya frowned, slightly exasperated. "You're so not cute…"
"And, you're so uncool!" Usagi retorted.
Seiya gave her an unenthusiastic look as she rebelliously stuck her tongue out at him. They just kept walking down the street, so absorbed in their argument that neither of them was aware that they were being watched.
Seated in a black fancy car, Taiki continued to observe the couple quietly as they made their way across the road. He tapped his fingers against the arm rest once, signalling to his secretary that he was calling him.
"Yes, master Taiki?" Ryo obediently responded.
With an expressionless face, Taiki fixed his eyes on Usagi with a slight hint of interest. "Check on that girl and bring her to me by the end of this week. I'll have a little fun with her."
A/N: Initially, I wanted to keep Haruka's gender as a female, but Mei thought that it would be hotter if the band had four guys with the lead vocalist being the only girl in the group. Anyway, since I dedicate this story to her, I shall follow her wishes. Do leave me a review if you would like me to continue with this story since I wouldn't be spending time updating another chapter on if the demand isn't high. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading :)).