Track 01 - BathRoom

WARNINGS: -none-

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Ai just looked at the man for a second as he bowed. Suddenly something dawned on her, but she kept quiet and just smiled at him as he left. Megumi smiled at him as well, and Kira wasn't even paying attention but she was looking at him. Ai's hair was in her eyes as she looked at him, Megumi was messing her with red ringlet curls and Kira was slowly swinging her bag too-and-fro at her side.

"No problem. Glad we can help, and you enjoy the concert too", Ai called as he backed up the sliding doors before looking at Megumi and whispering, "You stop staring, you can't have a photo of him~!"

"Hey, that's not nice. I didn't keep pressing the subject now, did I?" Megumi defended herself, sticking her tongue out and sitting down on the exit side of the register with a sigh, "See you later, mister~! Enjoy the concert; we may just see you there~!"

Ai saw the t-shirt he was wearing and so did Megumi. Megumi didn't say anything because she was trying to think of why he had that t-shirt. However Ai knew why. As he left, Ai put her head down. Megumi was again messing with one of her curls and thinking about the t-shirt. Kira was still wandering in small circles until Megumi pipped up, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hey, I was just thinking. He must be on the staff", Megumi said slowly, looking at no particular place on the way across from her, "The t-shirt he was wearing; it says on their website that it hasn't been sold in stores yet".

"No way, he just said he was going to SEE the concert!" Kira said as she looked at Megumi like she was crazy, "If he was on the staff then why would he ask for directions to the venue?"

Ai's head tilted slightly as she was reading the magazine - they obviously hadn't worked it out yet. Really it wasn't hard to recognise people even if they wear big-sunglasses and pull their jacket collars up. When you think about it, doing that is a dead give-away. Kira and Megumi looked at Ai as they talked, now completely confused.

"No, he's not on the staff and he's not going to SEE the concert", Ai laughed as she flipped another page of her magazine, "I'm surprised by now you haven't noticed who he was".

"Well, then how did he get that shirt if he isn't part of the organising crew?" Kira asked, a bit flustered to know what on earth Ai was talking about, "And what do you mean by 'who he really is'?"

"That was Aoi from The Gazette," Ai said calmly, still not looking up from reading.

Megumi just looked at her and Kira almost fell. Megumi was in shock as Ai just calmly kept reading - she couldn't understand how that had just happened. None of the girls could. Even Ai couldn't believe how calm she was saying that and neither could Kira.

"And we ... just ... let ... him ... walk ... out ...?" Megumi said, one word at a time as she stood up and pointed to the exit that Aoi had left through, "Damnit, Ai~! I knew I should have taken a photo of him~!"

Megumi stormed off in a huff as she went to clock-off and find her bag, ready to leave. Kira stayed to help Ai pack up the register, then while Kira went out the front to bring her car closer, Ai head out to the back storage room to retrieve her stuff to take it to Kira's car. Finally Ai and Megumi came out and went straight back to Ai's check-out to wait for 3 o'clock to come. Being a few minutes to 3 o'clock, it wasn't going to be very long now.

* * *
Aoi left the store in such a hurry that just him leaving so fast would surely make people suspicious of who he was. As he got closer to the van, Aoi looked up at Ruki peering through the side window. He swallowed hard when he noticed Ruki shake his head in disbelief and then close the window. Great, he was in trouble now. He ran around to the side door and with one last glance around, Aoi opened it he'd and quickly ducked back inside to his seat. Once he was in, told the driver where to go and pushed the door shut, the van pulled away and headed to the venue.

"I have to say, Aoi. You're an idiot, honestly. Next time we can't find a venue, I'm going to call them myself", Ruki laughed at him, slapping the notepad down on his lap, "You just completely gave us away to those girls at the registers! Surprising thing was they never said anything."

"I did not give us away! Well ... maybe they suspected something was weird", Aoi said, shrugging a little, "But as you said, it's not like they said anything to draw attention to me. And no one swamped the car, ne?"

"Well actually a few people walking past the van tried to look inside, just not actually approaching the van", Reita added, looking up from flipping his iPod over and over in his hands, "Lucky for us the windows are tinted otherwise our van would have been up-turned by now. By the way Uruha, I don't owe you anything because he wasn't chased".

Uruha made a face at him as Aoi started sulking. They were all ganging up on him for no reason. All he did was ask for directions and then leave - no screaming fans or anything. He slumped in his seat and turned to look out the window. He sat his elbow on the arm of his seat and rested his loosely clenched fist to his mouth. Kai reached over and softly patted Aoi's shoulder in reassurance.
Soon enough as they travelled down the highway; the large Yoshiatsu Dome came into view not far away. It was just how it was described - a smaller version of Budoukan. They were still about five minutes drive away but there was already a visibly huge crowd growing out the front. Uruha leaned over Kai to look out the side-door window.

"Hey check it out. There would be the screaming fans you mentioned", Uruha said with a laugh, having his turn at picking on Aoi, "Ah don't worry, once we get up on stage it'll be great. I hope the stage is as big as Budoukan."

"Everything in Yoshiatsu is the same as Budoukan. Just no balcony seats, so settle down", Kai confirmed, now using one hand to push Uruha back into his seat, "So yes, you will still have the walk-ways, if that is what you're worried about".

Uruha grinned and clapped his hands together before clenching them into fists. He loved to use the walk-ways, to interact with the audience. But seeing there was no balcony in Yoshiatsu, there was only the floor to interact with. All of them thought it was exciting to see a new venue but really, they would have preferred the original Budoukan or even Yokohama Arena. Big places meant more fans could see them, which always brought their spirits up.
Speaking of Yokohama Arena, there were already big plans for that place. There was already talk about their next tour. Their manager was content with how popular they were all around Japan, but he wanted them to go bigger ... wider, so to speak. He was still thinking about it so there was nothing set in concrete yet, but the guys had their suspicions.

* * *
The clock up on the wall of the store had barely hit 3 o'clock before Megumi grabbed Ai's collar and waved goodbye to the workers starting afternoon shift. The afternoon shift workers kind of growled at Megumi and Ai because a rush of evening shoppers began to arrive.

Kira was ready and waiting by the sliding doors in her silver truck she had gotten from her father - an American SUV. Her father and mother lived in America even though they were Asian. Kira's parents own a chain of Japanese Restaurants in America so they were pretty much in good money. Ai was the first one to climb into the front row, which meant Megumi was in the back row. Ai laughed at Megumi, who was having a bit of trouble getting into the back because it was so high up. When she was finally safely in her seat, Kira started to drive off.

"Now here's a funny thought. When Aoi came into our store to ask for directions to this dome, it would have been cool if he asked us back stage after the concert", Ai said with a laugh as she snuggled into her seat, before making a weird face, "Oh wait I forgot. I bet he thought we didn't know who he was ... never mind what I just said then ..."

"I wonder how Kikyo and Mika are doing, braving the crowd", Megumi said, as Kira drove to the end of the street and turned left in the direction of the dome, "When I was talking to Mika before, it sounded really busy. I could hardly hear her."

"I'm sure their fine. Despite there being so many fans, the organisers always manager to control the crowd", Kira reassured her as she looked around, keeping an eye out for the dome car-park, "Alright, we're almost there. Can you guys keep an eye out for the car-park entrance while I watch this traffic ..."

~*~
Meanwhile Kikyo, a dark brunette with lighter brown highlights, was standing in line with Mika until people started screaming and running away from her. Kikyo looked around thinking that something was on her. There was nothing. Mika, a short girl with black razored hair and red streaks, looked behind her and Kikyo to where the fans were running. She gasped and grinned childishly, pushing Kikyo to turn around.

"Look, look, look, here they come~! Some of the crowd must have seen their car" Mika squealed over the shouting fans, "Wow this is so cool~! It's been forever since we've seen the Gazette in concert~! Damn I should have brought my camera~!"

Poor Mika was jumped around trying to look over the people - it didn't help Mika wasn't very tall at only 158 cms. Kikyo turned to where Mika was pushing her and noticed everyone was out of line to see the guys. She grabbed Mika's sleeve and hurried to find the closest spot possible. Barriers that kept the lines in order were restricting how close they could get. However Kikyo managed to get them close enough that there was only one row of fans in front of them. Kikyo stood up on her toes to try and spot their car.

"Mika where were you looking, I can't see their van yet~!" Kikyo shouted over the screams, obviously coming from those who could see them arriving, "There's too many people. I just hope they come this way to get inside, then we'll see them~!!"

Kikyo grinned happily and looked at Mika who was still trying to see over many of people. Mika was right; it had been ages since all five of them could get some time to see Gazette perform. Kikyo's black heeled sandals hit the ground lightly as she stamped her foot out of being impatient. If the guys were close, she hoped that Kira, Ai and Megumi arrived soon.

* * *
The rest of the trip to the Yoshiatsu Dome was relatively smooth. They didn't have to stop for too many remaining traffic lights. The driver kept the dome in his sights the whole time, for fear of getting lost again. He finally found the car-park entrance and drove around it towards where he was supposedly to drop the guys off. As the long black van slowly coasted up the drive to where the side entrance was, the barriers which kept the fans in line started to give way a little from every single girls running and scream to catch a glimpse of their favourite Gazette member. A row of organisers lined the barriers just in case one of them tried to jump over. Aoi had closed the window just before they arrived, in case a fan got too excited and pounced at the window.

"Wow, are we at the right place? If this venue is smaller than Budoukan, then how come the crowd is so big?" Reita asked out of shock, his mouth hanging open a little in awe, "Am I to guess that even though this is a fan-club only gig, some of our fans who aren't with our fan-club turned up to see us?"

"Hey look at that, Aoi. One of the girls wants to marry you", Uruha laughed as he again leaned over Kai's lap to point at a sign a fan was holding, "I don't think we've ever seen any of our fans hold up signs like that before. You should feel special".

"I'm going to ignore you for that. But I will say one thing ..." Aoi started as he pushed his sun-glasses further up his nose before looking at Uruha, "Next time someone teases you about your thighs, I'm not going to defend you".

But just to show he was only joking around, Aoi gave Uruha a playful shove before taking a deep breath and opening the side door. He had barely opened it an inch before the crowd got louder. Aoi stepped out first with Reita close behind and finally Ruki from the back row. They stayed close to the van, while Reita was trying to hide the fact he wasn't wearing his nose-band, and waited for directions on where to go. Kai and Uruha followed soon after the others, also sticking close to the van while an official ran over to greet them.

"Please follow me. Because you haven't been inside the venue yet, I will lead you through to the make-up room", the man said to all of them as he quickly slid the van door shut and it drove away, "You're late so you'll have to change fast. We've got extra volunteers to help you get ready, and the stage is already set for you to go. Your instruments are up on the stage".

"We're sorry to be so late, but we got lost trying to find the venue. Aoi insisted on stopping at a local Superb-Mart for directions", Kai apologised to the official as he followed the guy towards the side entrance, "Next time I'll make sure we know every little detail. I've been so busy that I missed a few things".

"Well we're here now so let's just put on a better show than before", Ruki said as he quickly slipped his note-pad into his back-pack, "Even though we're late, I don't think the fans care as long as we actually get to perform for them".

The crowd screamed louder as the guys all filed into one line through the side entrance - Kai, Reita, Aoi, Uruha and finally Ruki. But the fans didn't get to gape at them for long because the guards made sure the fans couldn't touch them. Ruki being last in the line, he took the small lily flower from his leopard jacket pocket and reached deep into the crowd, through the line of guards. He handed it to an adorable girl with dark hair and red highlights. With one last wink to the girl he was dragged inside, hands grabbing at him from all directions by a few girls who actually managed to reach past the guards.

* * *
Mika and Kikyo were watching as the guys all filed out of the van, just as a pair of underwear fly above her head. It seemed to have 'The Gazette' printed on them and Mika looked at it oddly. She then returned to jumping up and down trying to see while she and Kikyo were screaming loudly. Kikyo was trying not to get stepped on or her ear drums broken but she was loud too. But the girl's around Kikyo and Mika went quiet really quickly as Ruki handed the flower to her. Mika was smiling brightly as she held the flower and Kikyo was in shock.

"What just happened now? Ruki gave you his flower~! Why are you so lucky?" Kikyo said, pretending to be jealous as she randomly poked Mika's side, "I've never been lucky enough to get something from a famous person, and now look at you~! You get a flower."

"Yeah I don't know where my luck just came from but I like it~!" Mika said excitedly, jumping from one foot to the other as she stared at the flower with a big grin, "And he winked at me~! Did you see, did you see? Ruki winked at me, how cool is that~!"

Mika looked up and smiled as Ruki was rushed away into the dome side entrance. Mika clapped to herself, being careful not to crush the flower. The fans around her were growling at her, from obvious jealous that she got the flower and they didn't. Suddenly Mika jumped when a hand grabbed her shoulder. Kira and Megumi were the ones behind her. Kikyo looked around for Ai. She was waving from about ten people behind Kira. Mika laughed and started over to her. Ai was waiting in the now orderly line, seeing the guys had left and the fans were calming down. Kira, Megumi, and Kikyo followed Mika to join Ai.

~*~
"Front row seats~! This just keeps getting better and better~!" Ai said as she hurried down to their seats, dodging other people in her excitement before stopping at their row, "Come guys hurry up~! We should get yourselves settled before they turn the lights off~!"

Mika was next, then Kira, Megumi, and Kikyo following last. Mika sat her small bag of stuff under her seat as she sat down and waited. She was very excited - the edge of the stage was only a few feet away. Kikyo was messing with her lightly waved hair, hoping it looked good after the jumping around. Kira and Megumi were talking about what songs they hoped Gazette played and Ai was quietly telling Kikyo and Mika who came into the store only an hour and a half ago.

"NO WAY, ARE YOU KIDDING~!! YOU JUST LET HIM WALK OUT, AI~?!" Mika half choked as Ai 'shh'ed loudly to quiet Mika down to a whisper, "Aoi of Gazette? Came into your store and TALKED to you? You're mad for not getting an autograph".

"I thought the same thing when Ai said who he was after he left. Kira and I had no idea it was him", Megumi said with a laugh as she fixed her bags under her seat and sat down, "Yet the whole time I thought he just LOOKED like Aoi ... turns out it was him all along".

"Yeah and Megumi wanted to take a photo of him on her cell-phone, but Ai told her not too", Kira added, seeing her and Megumi were finished with talking about Gazette songs, "So from now on Meg, if you see someone who looks familiar, just take a photo of them. It may even be the real thing".

Oh ... never mentioned what Mika and Kikyo were wearing. Mika was wearing an adorable outfit - a large-size white hoodie with the last 'Nameless Liberty' Gazette Tour shirt on underneath. A black school girl skirt, black thigh-high stockings and white tennis shoes. Her hair was just in high frizzy pigtails. She was comfortable and cute. Kikyo was the normal one. Blue jeans, 'Nameless Liberty' tour shirt, and a bunch of bracelets. Her brunette hair was layered and reached her shoulders in loose waves. I should mention Mika was still holding the flower Ruki gave her.

* * *
"Gazette to make-up, hayaku~! Get these guys dressed and ready now~!" one of the chief make-up artists called as he led the band straight to the dressing room, "We're only behind by ten minutes but we're still behind so move it~!"

The band was quickly being ushered to the underground dressing room of the venue because they were late. There were at least four staff members standing by for each of them, reading to do hair, make-up and clothing. As soon as Gazette entered their dressing room, the staff just pounced on each of them and dragged them to individual dressing areas. While Reita was having his hair messed with, he glanced at Ruki from the corner of his eye.

"Hey, who was the girl you stopped for back when we got out of the van?" Reita asked with a hint of curiousness as the hair-stylist quickly but thoroughly styled his very flat hair, "Did you know her or something? How come you've never mentioned her before?"

"Don't be stupid. No reason I stopped, I just gave her the flower from my jacket", Ruki answered, also being scolded for moving his mouth as he was having make-up done, "I don't know her, I just felt like doing it. Funny thing is, I don't know why I did it".

While Aoi was having his hair done as well, he pretended to practice a few chords from the songs in their set-list for that night. It wasn't until his chin was lifted up by his make-up artist that he noticed he had to have his make-up done too. Uruha's hair was done and he was now also having his make-up done. Kai however was still in the middle of having his hair styled because he'd just spent some time handing the mini-disk to the technician to program the click machine. And to also give them the set-list to place next to Ruki's microphone on the stage.

"Hey Kai, I know you've decided on playing 'The End' for our opening but what song did you decide on playing first?" Uruha asked, now being fitted into his costume, "I remember you saying on the way over that you still weren't sure, but you never got back to us".

"That's because I changed it at the last minute, the flow of songs didn't seem right. I decided on us playing 'Filth in the Beauty' first seeing it's our latest single", Kai replied, realising the make-up artist now wanted to do his make-up, "From then on, the list is how you saw it before. Just check it when you get up on stage".

And so in no time at all, all of the guys were dressed and ready to go - they had basically opted for their 'Regret' video look, seeing it was one of their latest singles. Then they were once again dragged out of the dressing room and up a couple flights of stairs to get to the side stage. Their original idea to get into the stage was cancelled seeing they had arrived late. The idea was for all of them to do what they did at the start of their 'Nameless Liberty' final by walking through the middle aisle. But instead they just decided to move into the stage when the lights dimmed and 'The End' started playing.
While the guys waited, they could hear how loud it was on the floor. The place was obviously very full - more fan-club members had turned up than they thought. An official, who stood with them, suddenly pressed a finger to the ear-piece in his right ear. He placed a hand on Kai's shoulder and listened carefully to his ear-piece.

"Okay ... the Gazette on standby. Everything is ready and we're waiting on sound to play 'The End'," he was most likely speaking to his ear-piece before looking at the guys and dropping his hand from Kai's shoulder, "Okay, they're ready to play the opening so make it good, guys ... we'll see you all at the after party."

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NOTES:
1) Directions to the venue: I highly doubt the Gazeboys would get lost on the way to a venue, because they are driven around by someone anyway
2) The set-list: The guys probably organise their set-lists as a group but for my story Kai had the final word
3) After Party: It's not known if the band has 'after parties' after a big Live, but just pretend they do

Please read & review :-)