Track 01 - BathRoom

WARNINGS: -none-

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The girls laughed when Aoi began teasing Uruha about not talking much in front of the fans. They had to admit Aoi had a point - a couple of times Uruha may have gone to speak into a microphone but then he changed his mind. As always it was a disappointment to Kikyo because he didn't speak. Ruki, Aoi, Kai and Reita did but for some reason Uruha never did ... maybe he just thought the others did a better job of talking to the audience. Kira then giggled to herself when Reita kept pushing Aoi to tease Uruha while Megumi smiled with amusement at poor Kai trying to break them up. Ai smacked Kikyo's arm when she said for Uruha to defend himself but Kikyo just stuck her tongue back to Ai. Mika also smiled at Ruki when he looked apologetically at her. She blinked when Ruki mentioned the out-of-print 'Cockayne Soup' CD.

"Umm ... yeah I do have all of the Gazette CDs, but a couple of them are copied unfortunately. When I first met Megumi, Kikyo, Ai and Kira, they all got copies from me", Mika said softly, now feeling a little odd about saying some of them were copied, "It's hard finding older CDs because you can't buy them anymore ... but we have every current CD up-to-date".

"Wait, wait, wait~! Did I just hear you say you can get us a copy of 'Cockayne Soup'? Can you really do that for us; that would be fantastic~!" Kira suddenly butt in, looking from Ruki to Reita who'd stopped Ruki from getting too ahead of himself, "Aww we'll be good, we'll be good~! If it means we can get your very first CD we'll do anything, seriously~!"

Ai, Megumi and Mika smiled and looked around at each other. Well Kira was definitely making her point - she wanted a copy of the CD. Kikyo just rolled her eyes and swatted Kira in the arm.

"Kira, shut-up~! It's like Reita-san just said, they're here to do a practice and we're guests. So lets act like guests and allow them to practice", Kikyo said, pulling Kira backwards a little as a sign for her to take it easy before smiling at the guys as he climbed back up the stage, "Wow, what do we want to hear you play next? Hmm, maybe something light ... like 'Cassis' or 'D.L.N'."

Ai, Megumi, Mika and Kira also paused to think about what they'd like to hear next. Kira was thinking something heavy again, or hadn't heard for a while, like 'Wife'. Ai thought something like a light rock ... maybe 'Nausea & Shudder' because it had her favourite Aoi-solo. Megumi wanted something hyped-up like 'Cockroach' or 'Carry'. Mika actually wanted to hear 'BathRoom' again but she founded herself blushing and just decided on what Kikyo had asked for. Megumi then pipped up.

"Umm, I hope I'm not asking too much ... but could I just come up onto the stage and see behind your drum-set, Kai-san? I was hoping to see how everything worked", Megumi said softly, waiting to be told a definite 'No' as she continued, "I mentioned it at the after-party but if you think I will be in the way then it's okay. I've just always been curious about stage-technics".

Megumi bit her bottom lip and looked hopeful up at Kai as he sat down behind his drums. She remembered how the back of the stage looked at the 'Nameless Liberty' Final and it was pretty much the same as this one. She just wanted to see how everything was programmed, how the lights were set-up and what that funny little machine was that always sat beside Kai as he played. The other girls however had the feeling Megumi just wanted to be up close to Kai. Well they could blame her - each one of them wanted to be up on the stage with the guys too. Ai raised her hand to have her say.

"On that note, I'd actually like to watch Aoi playing up-close. I've always been curious about how guitarists work with their guitars, like how the fingers are placed and stuff", Ai said enthusiastically as she stood up on her toes to glance over the stage to see the electric-tuning table that sat near Aoi's feet, "And that thing ... I want to see it up close and how it works. Onegai?"

Ai put on the puppy-dog eyes and clasped her hands together underneath her chin. Okay she was really sucking-up now but really, how often would you get a chance like this to see how a stage was set-up? Blame Megumi, she started it with wanting to see the area behind Kai's drums. Kira thought it would be cool to be up on the stage; she'd watch Reita play up close too. Kikyo had good reason to want to watch closer too - she was practicing guitar herself. And lets just say Mika wanted to sit up there and watch Ruki as he sang - that would just make her day. All of the girls made hopeful faces and waited for the guys to give in before they bolted up the stairs to the stage.

* * *
While Aoi, Uruha and Reita played a couple of random chords on their instruments and Kai rattled over a few drums to make sure they were still right, Ruki smiled when he heard all of the different requests. Really all of the girls seemed to love every song but each had their special preference. He was waiting for Mika to say what she liked but she practically just whispered that she liked what Kikyo wanted to hear. Ruki had the feeling she wanted to hear 'BathRoom' again but she was blushing and so he decided not to suggest it. As he went to turn around and suggest the next song to practice, he shut his mouth when Megumi spoke up. Then each of the girls took turns to say they wanted to be on the stage too. Ruki glanced back at Kai, which made Aoi, Reita and Uruha look at him too. Kai just blinked, wondering why they always had to ask him first.

"Hmm I don't see why not, just please be careful. Try not to trip over any cables or amps, we don't want any of you to hurt yourselves on our account", Kai said with a little nervous laugh as he banged the bass-drum a couple of times, "Megumi if you want to see behind here just come up and climb over the platform ... carefully. I tripped over it a few times years ago".

Aoi, Reita, Uruha and Ruki laughed. Kai was right, he has taken a dive over his platform before. It all started when his drum-kit first got it's own platform so he was up above the rest of the guys. But since then he's learned to keep his balance on the narrow steps. Aoi smiled at Ai when she mentioned wanting to watch him play.

"Yeah sure, you can watch. It's better to see how guitars work when you actually close to them, so come up and sit down here", Aoi suggested as he pointed at the rise from the extended stage to the main stage in front of him, "You should be able to see from there; it saves you from standing. You can also see how I use the tuning table. It's not hard, it just looks complex".

"Kikyo-san, you said your practicing guitar, ne? You're welcome to come up and watch me. Depending on the song, I may play a bit too fast though", Uruha said with a little laugh as he slightly turned one of the knobs on the front of his guitar, "You should even play something on my acoustic guitar later so I can see how you play. I could give you some pointers-"

Reita lowered his head and laughed; hands on his hips. First Aoi was flirting, now Uruha ... he couldn't tell with Kai but he was acting overly nice to Megumi. Ruki ... well, he already knew Ruki was head-over-heels for Mika. Okay Reita thought Kira was cool but he wasn't going to admit directly, anyway.

"Oh listen to Mister-Know-It-All over here. Just because your lead-guitar doesn't mean you're the All-Mighty", Reita teased and he laughed when Uruha held up his middle finger, "Can we just practice already? Kira-chan, come on up and sit on the edge of Kai's platform".

Ruki smiled to himself at Reita teasing Uruha - all of the guys just couldn't help but tease each other seeing they worked together almost everyday. Before the song started Ruki decided to remove his white jacket, revealing the black satin shirt underneath. Despite having a little ruffle around the neck, it didn't have any sleeves so at least he would be kept cool ... and show off the muscle in his arms at the same time.

"Yes, I agree we should get started. It'll be lunchtime before we even get through the next song ... I think we'll go with 'Cassis' next. Majority vote ..." Ruki said as he picked up his guitar from the cradle in front of Kai's platform and put the strap around his neck; smiling at Mika, "Saa, would you like to come up and sit down here to watch? It shouldn't be too loud from here".

Ruki leaned down and patted the edge of his platform, gesturing for Mika to sit down in front of him. He hoped she wouldn't feel too awkward considering he would be standing just two feet from her. Not to mention 'Cassis' was pretty much one of the songs he'd sung for her at the 'One Night Stand' gig last week. Aoi discretely looked from Mika to Reita to Kai to Uruha ... he knew what Ruki was trying to do. Reita, Kai and Uruha were all thinking the same thing as Aoi - Ruki was slowly but surely letting Mika feel relaxed around him and his career-personality. So it was for certain now - he was definitely attracted to Mika. Even the other guys were feeling at ease with the girls being around. Seeing them act silly was actually making them laugh so they were relaxed. And being relaxed was actually helping them practice too, because it meant they could properly focus on what they had to do.

* * *
The girls waited silently and semi-patiently for what Kai would say. They found it funny that each of the other guys looked straight at Kai, while he had a 'why are you looking at me?' expression. Both Ai and Mika had their fingers crossed behind their backs and impatiently bopping up and down from the knees. Before Kai had even finished speaking, Megumi was the first one to let out an excited squeak. She ducked under the railing and proceeded to scramble up the stairs to the stage. As Megumi raced past Ruki and over to Kai's platform, Ai, Kira, Mika and Kikyo froze to watch how child-like Megumi was acting. At made them laugh as they all took their time to walk up the stairs. Megumi did as she was told and carefully climbed over the edge of the platform to get behind Kai's drum-kit.

"Aww honto arigatou, Kai-san~! I've always wanted to see how the electronics are set up behind your drums~! There's so much stuff back here~!" Megumi said as she disappeared behind the display walls that hide all of the lights and wiring before poking her head back around to smile at Kai, "Oh if your about to play the next song, can I watch you from behind? So I can see how you play?"

Ai, Kira, Mika and Kikyo giggled again at Megumi's reactions to the back of the stage. She was definitely showing that she'd never seen any of it before. Then came the random question of brazenly asking Kai if she could look over his shoulder while he played, which made the girls mouths drop.

"Megumi, settle down. We'll be told to get off the stage if you keep going like that~! We were invited to quietly watch them practice, not run all over the stage", Ai said as she now made her way over to Aoi and sat where he asked her too before smiling at him, "Thanks, I can see just fine from here. And I see what you mean by the tuning thing looking complex ..."

Kikyo smiled at Uruha and quickly walked over to sit down in front of his position. She liked that he remembered she played guitar; it was kind of sweet.

"Yeah I did say that, didn't I? But I like to watch you play even if it is a fast song. It's really cool seeing you play a fast song because it shows how skilled you are", Kikyo said honestly with a thoughtful expression before laughing, "However I'm not sure you need to watch me play, I'm really not that great. I mainly just play simple acoustic pieces for the kids where Mika and I work at the day-care".

Mika laughed at Kikyo's modesty. Mika also played some guitar for the kids along with Kikyo but as Kikyo said, they were only slow, basic, one-rhythm songs that the kids could easily keep up with. Kira then marched proudly over to Reita and plopped down on the spot Reita pointed too before defending Uruha.

"Oh come on now, Reita-kun. There's no need to tease Uruha-san, he's a really good musician he's allowed to have an inflated ego sometimes", Kira said, now teasing Kikyo more than Uruha, see Kikyo was the one who liked him; Kikyo stuck her tongue out as Kira continued, "Anyway, we really think all of you are brilliant musicians. You've come such a long way and just exploded all over Japan~!"

Kira flung her arms out to the sides to show her definition of 'exploding all over Japan' as she put it. Mika put her hand over her mouth and giggled. Megumi and Kikyo laughed too but Ai just made a face and shook her head. Kira was acting overly excited and it was probably because she was socializing with Reita, from the Gazette, on their stage ... and who could blame her excitement. Mika then noticed Ruki turn away and remove his white jacket, revealing the black, sleeveless satin shirt under it. She blushed slightly but remembered the outfit from a photo shoot years ago. When he'd retrieved his guitar and come back to pat the platform he always stood on, Mika sheepishly shuffled over and sat down so she was facing him.

"Oh, thankyou for letting me sit here, Ruki-san. Yes, it should be all right here and I'm used to the loud music from going to Live concerts", Mika said, then mentally kicking herself for saying something so lame as she bit her bottom lip and clasped her hands around the top of her knees, "Oh your going to play 'Cassis'? I love that song, it's one of my real favourites".

Mika couldn't help but smile at Ruki when saying she liked 'Cassis'. It was like Gazette's first really meaningful love song that didn't have some kind of sad ending. As she watched Ruki adjust his guitar and prepare for the song, Ai, Kira, Megumi and Kikyo glanced around at each other - they thought it was cute to see Mika flattering the singer. It was also apparent that she was beginning to like Ruki's slightly quieter personality when not in front of an audience. A side of him that she'd of course never seen before - Mika was used to seeing this dirty-dancing, potty-mouth character and it surprised her that he could be so quiet. Now that'd she'd seen this new side of him, Mika was beginning to feel light-hearted and a little giddy around him ... like it wasn't just a little fan-girl crush on him anymore. It was a stronger feeling now ...

* * *
Aoi smiled at Ai as she sat down before he kept tuning his guitar. Uruha laughed at Kikyo's modesty towards playing guitar as he also finished tuning his guitar. Reita was finished with tuning his bass and just set to quietly telling jokes to Kira while he waited to play 'Cassis'. Ruki smiled warmly down at Mika at her compliment to 'Cassis' and jerked his head to the side so he could flip a strand of hair from his eyes. Kai laughed to himself as he watched Megumi almost trip over herself as she came scrambling over the platform and marvelling at the background set-up. He then went back to random rattling over his drums as he stared off to the side thoughtfully, listening to make sure they sounded right. Kai doing this always made others wonder in awe how he could play with even watching his drums - it was something that only a professional drummer could do. He suddenly stopped at glanced over his left shoulder when Megumi spoke up.

"Sure you can. But I recommend standing back while I play, I don't want to hit you with my drumsticks by accident. I'm sure you've seen how much they fly around", Kai laughed as he poked at the earpiece before glancing over at Ruki, "Saa ... I'm ready when you are. I think we all are so lets get on with this practice. If we're lucky we can get in another song before lunch".

The other guys liked the sound of that - there hadn't been a lot of time for breakfast so Kai had only made something small but now they were feeling hungry again. Kai then looked over at Aoi to make sure he was ready with his acoustic guitar. Kai softly clicked his drumsticks to count four beats before Aoi began to opening for 'Cassis'. Once he was done, it quickly jumped into the electrics of the song with Aoi swapping back to his electric guitar to follow along with Reita, Kai, Uruha and Ruki. After it went back to Aoi's acoustic part to which Uruha joined him, Ruki just stood gripping the fingerboard of his guitar as he began to sing. His eyes were half closed as he was feeling the emotion of the song; a couple of times looking down at Mika as she watched, like he was singing for her again.

After the initial verse, he stepped back slightly so he could play his part along with the others, but soon stopping, as he had to sing the next verse. Again Aoi and Uruha swapped back to their acoustics during Ruki's soft singing. Then as they jumped back into the electrics, as Ruki sang the last few lines of the verse before the chorus, Kai turned around to his own microphone and sang along with Ruki. Reita now placed his foot up on Kai's platform and turned so Kira to watch closely how he played. Aoi for the first time in ages was feeling goose bumps while playing this particular song - maybe he was just a little embarrassed that they were playing a love-song for the girls. Uruha smiled over at Kikyo as he soon got into his famous solo; one of the best according to so many fans. Kai glanced to his left quickly to smile at Megumi while she watched, too - he'd never known any girl to be so interested in his playing ... but then again, when was the last time he got to talk to another girl without being pounced on for autographs.

Suddenly, Aoi, Reita, Kai and Uruha cut off their playing and left Ruki to do his thing. Ruki handled his solo nicely before it quickly changed back to all of the guys playing. Kai was now beginning to work up a little sweat and made a note to remove his jacket after the song. Reita was trying to remain cool without noseband, though it was now beginning to annoy him. Aoi and Uruha kept the emotion constant in their playing, while occasionally smiling at Ai and Kikyo. As the song was coming to its end and Ruki was finished singing, they played the music out and let Aoi finish it off perfectly like he was always good at doing.

Ruki turned around and they all clapped and whistled at their performance. It was even better than during their 'One Night Stand' gig the other week. They were about to decide on their next song when Kai's face suddenly looked surprised and he stood up to look over the empty hall. Aoi, Reita, Uruha and Ruki had been looking at Kai but now turned to where he was staring. A staff member came bolting up the stairs to the group, carrying what looked like the newspaper. He skidded to a halt to catch his breath. Reita put his bass down to approached him and bent over him, rubbing his back.

"Hey, are you okay? What's the rush?" Reita asked as the other man stood up, still panting.

"Ruki-sama, you and the others are in trouble. It's all over today's paper~!" he said, looking between breaths, a little horrified as he quickly handed the newspaper to Ruki, "It's about the after-party last week~! Look, look~!"

Ruki blinked at the rolled up paper before taking it and slowly un-rolling it. He just stared at the front page, swallowing hard and looking around at the others - even the girls. He turned the paper around - there, printed on the front page were several photos of Gazette and the girls. One was of Ruki and Mika, laughing together and looking very close. Another of Reita hugging Kira and looking very wasted. The third was with Uruha, Aoi, Kikyo and Ai leaning in close together and chatting about something. Finally, the last photo was of Kai and Megumi sitting close together and with Kai's hand resting on her shoulder. The main title was basically, in Japanese Kanji, "The Gazette Girls - who is on with who?"

"What the hell is this? Where did those photos come from?!" Aoi said as he practically dropped his guitar to run over and rip the paper out of Ruki's hand, staring closely at the photos, "There was only our official photographer there that night and even then, he didn't come near us all night".

"That's what I thought too, but I think I know what happened..." Ruki said, blushing slightly at the photo of him and Mika, "Last weekend at the after-party, while we sat with the girls-"

"You saw a bright flash come from out of nowhere?" Uruha cut in, as he now approached take the paper from Aoi and look at it, "I saw one too, and what sounded like a camera ... seems we had a leech-photographer".

Kai had now jumped off his platform and stood between Reita and Uruha, hands on his hips as he looked at the paper in Uruha's hands. The guys all looked around at each other and had to admit - Uruha was probably right. Their official photographer would never have done something like this, especially when he'd been with them for close to five years. He was respected ... now somehow a leech had gotten into the after-party without his camera or even himself being noticed. But what had puzzled them the most was maybe somehow he'd seen the girls being escorted back-stage and got the impression they were to meet the band. So he'd managed to get into the after-party as well and take the scandal-causing photos. The guys could only imagine how the fans would react to this ...

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NOTES:
1) Kai's platform: It's unlikely the sensible Kai would trip over his platform all the time but chances are it may have happened once or twice
2) 'Exploding over Japan': Nameless Liberty Six Guns I would say was the major turning point for the Gazette. Because to all bands, playing at Nippon Budoukan is like a big milestone - once you play there, your 'in the big leagues' basically
3) 'The Gazette Girls - Who is on with who?': Sounds like something out of a popular gossip magazine. But this was a good way to make the story progress

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