Track 01 - BathRoom

WARNINGS: -none-

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Ai hadn't really expected Aoi to return her hug but she smiled when he did. Then when she let go Ai stuck her tongue out at Reita, her way of saying shut-up. Kira had the urge to hit Reita for that but he was too far for her to reach. Megumi, Kikyo and Mika just giggled at Reita calling Aoi a 'grumpy old bastard' - he wasn't that old! Ai really never thought Aoi looked mad either so it surprised her when he talked out it in the 'Nameless Liberty' bonus footage. Why would anyone else think that? Even after hugging Aoi, Ai stayed sitting on the floor next to Aoi but she just looked around. Mika also realised Ruki's cheek was touching her head while he laughed at Reita but she didn't draw attention to it. Kira looked at Reita oddly when he hid behind her, before patting him lightly on the head and drawing her attention to Kai. Megumi looked over at Kai and liked how he was in charge right now - it was a good idea that he was the bandleader. Kikyo turned and looked at Kai as well.

"I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that your manager won't be very happy about this. I know his job is to protect you, but geez ..." Kira said crossing her arms insecurely as she looked at the paper sadly, "No offence but since we were invited backstage last week, we've been nothing but trouble. I'd be surprised if you even want to stay friends with us because of it".

Megumi, Kikyo and Mika all looked equally sad at the paper before Uruha picked it up. Ai also watched as Uruha read it and then smiled briefly to Aoi before absentmindedly picking at her nails as her hands rested in her lap. As Uruha read out that the article didn't mention their names, the girls felt a bit more relief. But whether their names were mentioned or not, their faces could still be recognised in public.

"Well that is one good thing, at least. If they knew our name they could hunt us down, and find out where we live and that would suck!" Kikyo said with a frown as she taught about what would happen before looking at Uruha, "And as far as not going anywhere until this is sorted out, I won't argue with you. There's no way I'm game enough to leave now".

Ai was suddenly surprised at Aoi's response to see their manager right away as she quickly stood up too. The girls knew he had a point - they really couldn't leave the building without being spotted, even if they were parked out the back. None of them had ever had this happen to them, so even though they wanted to help, there really wasn't a lot they could do. Kira was a model, but she wasn't famous or anything so she didn't know what to do either. Mika then smiled at Ruki's statement.

"Aww, that is really nice of you, Ruki-san. We all feel really bad about this and we wish there was something we could do to help but ..." Mika started until she briefly heard the staff talking and swallowed hard, "Oh my ... well this is certainly worse than I thought. Now you have to explain yourselves to the fans because of us ... we've definitely made a royal mess for you guys".

Everyone looked at Mika as she spoke and nodded - the thought of who-knows-how-many fans lined up outside the Dome just sent frightened chills up their spines. Kira and Megumi again linked arms and tried to comfort each other. And they'd been having so much fun that morning - now in the space of only an hour, the day had just turned up side down.

"Well this will certainly be something to tell my grand-children. 'Guess what kids, my friends and I got the famous rock band the Gazette into a lot of trouble' ..." Kira said with a nervous laugh before swallowing hard and looking around at the guys, "So I guess we'd better do what Kai said and go see your manager ... or maybe it would be better if we just hide from him while you talk to him?"

Ai, Megumi, Kikyo and Mika tried to laugh but they were still worried about how the guys would explain things to their manager ... then the poor fans waiting outside. The girls thought about getting off the stage to retrieve their bags from under their seats but if they couldn't even leave the building yet there probably wasn't much point.

"I just hope that the fans will understand the situation and not let it get to them. I mean, just because we're seen in photos with you doesn't mean you'll stop making music", Ai said seriously, sounding very wise as she stared at no particular spot on the floor, "But there are some who are very protective of their favourite bands and could become jealous really easily. Then they turn violent and controlling ..."

The other girls knew what Ai was talking about. Some years ago when they all went to see another band performing in one of the small Live houses in Tokyo - outside, before they were allowed in, a group of girls had gotten into a fight. All because one girl had mentioned having a crush on the bass-player, and another girl with the same crush became jealous. Ai, Megumi, Kikyo, Mika and Kira had been in line in that order behind those two girls. Unfortunately Ai's shoulder ended up being struck by accident while the other two girls fought. So ever since, the girls have been a little nervous around large crowds. But they weren't about to tell the guys this - it would just be another burden on them.

* * *
The guys could understand how lost the girls felt about the whole thing. This was not something they were subject too all the time so of course their first instinct was how to hide themselves. Kira was probably right, their manager wouldn't be too thrilled about the problem but he wasn't their manager for no reason. Just the same as Kai wasn't the bandleader for no reason. Ruki took this time to let Mika go so he could retrieve his white jacket from Kai's platform. Of course he walked straight back over to stand beside Mika as he pulled it on. Uruha kept squinting at the article until he'd given up trying to read without his glasses and dropped the paper at the foot of Kai's platform. The guys then felt rather uncomfortable when Kira added they probably wouldn't want to stay friends.

"I don't think that's necessary, you've done nothing wrong by being around us; it was our choice to meet you. If anything we're supporting each other ... ", Ruki assured the girls as he glanced around to each one of them while adjusting his jacket, "And anyway, it was our's and the staff's carelessness for not realising there was a leech photographer around ..."

Aoi, Reita, Uruha and Kai nodded in agreement. Really it was ignorance - they'd been so preoccupied with enjoying their dinner and the girls company that neither of them thought more of the flashing and camera sounds. Ruki felt the most guilt because he had the feeling it was a camera but thought only their official photographer was present during the after-party.

"Well come on, we need to find our manager now. You can expect he'll be waiting for us is Riri knows and now our fans are lined up outside", Kai urged, placing a hand softly to Megumi's back protectively and gesturing for everyone to follow him, "We can't go out through the main doors because the foyer can be seen from outside. We'll have to go exit the side doors and head upstairs from there ..."

Luckily during the past week Kai had gotten very acquainted with the new building while the others practiced. He'd been shown a detailed map of each level and where each room was. Now he knew where their manager would be. Aoi glanced at Ai and smiled reassuringly, also gesturing for her to follow him behind Kai and Megumi. Uruha reached out with his hand to Kikyo to take her hand as he filed in behind Aoi and Ai. Reita just looked at the others and then at Kira, a little nervous. Despite being the tough guys of the group, Reita sometimes felt nervous around their manager when something went wrong. But in any case he also guided Kira to follow the others. Finally Ruki followed along at the end, now holding Mika's hand.

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Before long, after detouring through the side exits from the main hall and travelling up a couple of flights of stairs, just down the hall they came to the room that their manager was using while they were performing lives at the Dome. Kai, being the first in line, opened the door and walked in while leaving the door open for the others to follow. Their manager was busy taking calls already regarding the current news story. It was even on the TV that was perched up in the corner of the room, showing the photos from the paper. The manager saw the guys walk in and hung up from the most recent call.

"Are you guys deliberately trying to make trouble for me?" he asked leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes, "I've had a million and one phone calls from the press regarding this ..."

He took his copy of the newspaper and chucked it to the end of his desk before leaning on the edge and standing up. Well that was quick - Riri, fans, the staff, their manager, and the press ... everyone knew about it, and all before lunchtime on the same day. That had to be a world record!

"We know it looks bad from your perspective because you're our manager, but we've discussed it and feel that it's Gazette's duty to fix it. Not yours", Uruha said, relaying what they had just been talking about, "We all agreed that we were careless for not realising it before it happened-"

There was a little pause as the phone on their manager's desk rang again, causing the guys to jump a little. Their manager didn't seem fazed because it'd been ringing non-stop. He just pressed a button on the phone to put it on hold as he crossed his arms and went back to listening to the guys.

"It was not only our fault, but it was also your carelessness that you and the staff didn't noticed the leech who got into the after party with his camera", Aoi butt in, stepping forward and placing a hand on Ai's shoulder, "If the security had been tighter, this wouldn't have happened and they wouldn't be in danger".

Aoi certainly took a risk is accusing their own manager as well, but really he had a small point. The security wasn't really that great on the night, not when most of them were controlling the crowd outside, in the foyer and around the edge of the main hall. The manager looked thoughtful as Reita continued.

"This is just my own thought but probably the only way to fix this is to schedule a press conference by today ... even though it's short notice", Reita said, suddenly realising he shouldn't have opened his mouth but he kept going, "If we don't do it today, the girls won't be able to get out of this building without getting attacked by our fans".

Reita scratched his nose - he felt naked without the band around his nose but only wearing it during the concert was enough. Aoi, Uruha, Kai and Ruki just looked bug-eyed at Reita for what he said. A press conference?! They might as well just walk straight out into the mod of fans outside. But he'd said it now and by the look on their manager's face, he was really considering it. He stood silent for a minute, obviously thinking about Reita's proposal. He could see how nervous the girls were and how serious the guys were. He nodded and leaned over to press a button on his desk phone. A woman answered, saying she was 'Publicity Spokesman' - or 'women' in her case.

"I need you to put word out to the press about a conference. Held in the foyer of the Yoshiatsu Dome at noon", he said, speaking into the phone, "Strictly press only; we have an announcement for them to also be broadcast to the whole city".

The guys looked at each other - the whole of Tokyo was going to see it? Well, their manager seemed to think it was their best option otherwise he wouldn't have called their Publicist. So they would be talking to the press only in the foyer, while fans could watch from the Live broadcast. Most likely the 'emergency' broadcast would be aired on one of the entertainment channels - something like this of course was not important enough to just stop the whole TV network for. Well, at least the guys would be given a good couple of hours to prepare for the conference. They were going to have to speak very carefully if they ever hoped to calm the fans down.

* * *
During the groups little sneaky detour away from the eyes of the fans outside, the girls really felt like they were mocking the fans. Here were the guys trying to help them from being attacked, which the girls were really grateful for ... but was all the sneaking around really necessary? The took the short time to comprehend the situation - on one hand you've got 'the GazettE', famous Visual rock band with popularity rapidly growing. One the other hand you've got the fans, who would do anything to meet the guys and spend who-knows-how-much money just to have all of the bands merchandise. Then stuck in-between them were the girls, who were just like every other fan and felt like they were on cloud nine just to meet them. So when you've got jealous fans outside, demanding to know why only 'those girls' were allowed to meet the guys ... yes, the sneaking was their only way up to the managers office.

Finally as the girls followed Kai and the others into their manager's office, they instantly wished they'd been told to wait outside. The guy wasn't very tall and he was thin, but he looked very intimidating; like a lawyer - black pressed suit pants, a long sleeve white business shirt, grey tie that was loosened from stressing so much, his back thinning hair was combed back neatly and he wore 'invisible-frame' glasses that made his eyes look very small. Megumi looked at the T.V. and just stared at the photos from the paper - weren't they blowing this whole thing out of proportion for just a harmless meeting at the after-party? Mika kind of shifted to hide behind Ruki to put him between her at their manager. Though she didn't once let go of Ruki's hand, either out of fear or just reflex. The girls flinched a little when the man asked why they were causing him grief.

The girls listened as the band spoke with their manager, daring not to say anything. The last thing they wanted to do was intrude. Ai jumped a little when Aoi put his hand on her shoulder. She had been watching the T.V. and only half paying attention to the conversation. She blinked up at Aoi when he had a go at their manager about security. Ai took a step back away from their manager - that really wasn't a smart thing to say to your boss. Okay Uruha had mentioned it wasn't their managers duty to fix the problem but then Aoi went ahead and blamed him anyway for lack of security? Well the girls had no idea what the security was like that night, though they had seen a few guys outside, in the foyer and around the main hall ... but what about after the concert when all the fans had left and the after-party was happening? Maybe there had been a mix-up and some guards had been told to leave early?

Anyway, the girls looked equally bug-eyed at Reita when he suggested a press conference. That was a little extreme wasn't it? Could they just go on the radio and talk about it? After all the guys were due for a radio gig later that afternoon, as Kai had said. Kikyo and Kira looked at each other and thought the same thing - they felt like curling up into a little ball in the corner of the room. Mika and Ai kept staring at the T.V. - they'd stopped talking about the newspaper and now it looked like they were filming the fans outside the Dome. So now they were doing Live reports at that very minute? Mika was about to bury her face into Ruki's back until she snapped up right and composed herself. Megumi still couldn't believe how silly the whole thing was. If the fans were letting it get to them this much then what was the point? She crossed her arms and waited for the meeting to finish.

Once their manager had confirmed the press conference, the girls wandered out of the office and stood out in the hall. They really felt rather useless because they couldn't help fix anything at that time. It was all in the hands of the guys and their manager. While Mika, Ai, Megumi and Kikyo stood huddled together, Kira wandered across the hall to the windows. From the second level of the Yoshiatsu Dome, she could see the small clusters of fans standing in the courtyard outside. There was even a news crew in the middle, talking to some of the fans. Kira just sat her elbows on the windowsill and brought her hands up to rest her head in them. Soon the other girls wandered over to see what she was looking at and they just froze when they saw the crowd. Well the crowd wasn't that big but it was still intimidating ... the girls couldn't wait for the whole thing to be over.

"Well, despite the view from up here looking rather bad, I still have the belief that everything will be alright ... if the fans love Gazette enough I think they will understand", Kikyo said honestly as she stepped away from the window to get her mind off the crowd, now crossing her arms and walking in circles while waiting patiently for the guys to finish, "I just think that those photos on the paper would have been a really big shock to them. Lets think from their perspective - if another group of girls had been in those photos, we'd be just as surprised, right? And it could be us down there with the others fans too ..."

Megumi and Mika nodded in agreement, while Kira and Ai kept staring out the window but they heard her. She had a very good point though. They would probably be a little jealous if it was another group of girls in the photos but probably not go so far as to actually turn up at the Dome. They'd just accept it because it's quite a rare thing to meet your favourite celebrity ... or to even form a decent friendship, for that matter. That was probably one of the reasons the girls kept thinking it would all be okay - the band still thought of them as friends. Kikyo, Megumi and Mika looked towards the office when they heard the guys coming out. Ai and Kira also turned back around too - well it was all organised. The press conference was at noon - so in a couple of hours they would know for sure if the fans were understanding enough to let the scandal go.

* * *
Noon had come up quickly after Gazette's manager had called for an emergency press conference. The foyer had been set up with a table for the guys to sit and across from their table, several chairs lined up where the press were already sitting and chattering away to each other. Even some reporters who didn't have chairs were standing around the back of those seated. In the meantime, between the meeting with their manager and noon, the guys didn't practice at all. Instead they had gone back to the main hall and gathered around the last row of chairs near the double doors. Kai however was observing the going-ons of the foyer by peering through a small gap in the doors. Directly in front of the doors he could see their table. He could also see their manager talking to a staff member just off to the side. Kai backed away and shut the door gently, turning around.

"Well ... it's almost time. They've got everything set up, from what I can see. So the sooner we can get these girls out of trouble, the better", Kai said, moving to stand next to Megumi and he rubbed her back gently for reassurance, "I can't see where the camera is for the Live broadcast but I'm sure its out there somewhere. As our manager said, we just have to be careful in what we say ..."

Aoi, Reita, Ruki and Uruha looked at Kai as he spoke but didn't say or do anything in response. They weren't looking forward to talking to the press but they were eager to explain things to their fans outside - the fans were their top priority. While waiting Aoi kept Ai company, a hand resting on her shoulder. Uruha was still holding Kikyo's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. Reita was trying to keep Kira occupied by again telling her jokes and Ruki too was holding Mika's hand, every now and again glancing at her to make sure she was okay. Kai just kept rubbing Megumi's back softly.

"I'd just like to say when this is over, don't let the fans make you think your not welcome to see us again ... that is if this dilemma hasn't already turned you off", Uruha said truthfully, trying to make a little joke of the situation before he continued, "I mean I think my fellow band mates agree with me when I say we don't want you to leave. We'd still like you all to stick around ..."

"That's right. I think for the first time in ages since we really got the band going ... meeting all of you has really made us remember that when we're not performing, we're normal people too", Ruki added, as he thoughtfully scratched his head underneath his dread-lock ponytail, "Well, seeing our next tour is only a month away, we'll probably be rather busy organising for it but I'm sure we'll have a couple of days here and there".

And aside from putting the fine details on their next tour, their next single 'Hyena' was to be released smack in the middle of their tour. No information on their new single had been released yet so they weren't about to spoil it for the girls. But as soon as their 'Decomposition Beauty' tour started, then a notice would be put up on their Official website. The promotional photo-shoot had already happened, but the photos wouldn't be released for another week. Then over the next month, they would be filming the video for 'Hyena' ... of course Ruki was pushed and pushed to have a haircut. The dread-locks had to go ...

"Our next tour will be for about three months so we won't have much time to even sit down, but we should really get together again once we come home", Reita piped up excitedly, clenching his fists over his head and then clapping once with enthusiasm, "Hey Kira, we can have that party we were planning at the after-party. You have to admit today wasn't exactly a party".

Aoi, Ruki, Uruha and Kai laughed at Reita's comment. They could tell he was really itching to put on his noseband - because for the conference he would be without it. And the whole city would see that he does have a nose and his reputation would be lost. Just then their manager poked his head through the door and sighed.

"We're ready when you are boys. The Live broadcast has been connected to the big screen out-side the Dome and the press are waiting for you", he said, gesturing behind him before he stepped back, holding the door open a little to wait for them to enter, "I believe you guys can fix this; I think the fans just need to hear that your still around even though you've made friends with these girls".

When their manager opened the door further, already the guys could see the flashing of cameras and the chatting became louder. They could also here the small crowd of fans just outside in the courtyard shouting for their favourite band member. They guys looked around at each other and then moved to approach the door. Just as they were about to walk out, they all glanced back at the girls and each of them held a thumbs up.

"We here goes nothing. Be sure to wish us luck okay ... hopefully we won't take too long. We'll protect all of you, even if it kills us", Aoi said as a joke, now waving before he glanced at the other guys, "This will be something for the fans and the cameras - 'the GazettE without make-up and Reita without his noseband'. Who wants to bet that'll be tomorrows news report?"

Reita slapped Aoi across the back of his head, resulting in a soft grunt from Aoi. Then one-by-one they all filed out into the foyer, instantly being flashed with tons of camera's and shouting reports. The fans just outside screamed, chanting 'Gazetto' as all the guys sat down at their table to begin. From the sound of the fans chanting, they didn't really seem that upset. Probably more enlightened to the fact they were seeing their favourite band again ... and without make-up, as Aoi had stated. The conference probably wasn't going to be as bad as they first thought. All they were really focusing on was just filling in the details of the after-party photos ... after all it was the first time letting fans backstage. Maybe that was the leech-photographers main motive to get the photos - to stir things up between the band and their fans.

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NOTES:
1) Gazette Girls: It's highly unlikely if any of the guys happened to be hanging around other girls that the situation would be like this - eg. mobs of jealous fans
2) Press conference: It is also highly unlikely they'd hold a press conference about it either ...

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