Track 01 - BathRoom

WARNINGS: Minimal coarse language

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The girls were feeling really good after hearing 'Baretta'. They had indeed been to see the 'Nameless Liberty' final together, though from quite far back from the stage - a little bit back from the middle of the floor to be exact. But they had seen how amazing 'Baretta' was then and they were still impressed by it now. In fact they were now having a very excited conversation with a couple girls in the row behind them. One girl was in a completely white long-sleeve Lolita dress and matching headdress with her hair in frizzy pigtails. The other girl, her friend, was doing an Uruha cosplay of his 'Zetsu' outfit. Kikyo was also fan-girl squealing over the girls cosplay outfit.

"Oh my god, I really love how detailed your costume is~! The top is so neatly made and even the ties are in the right places~!" Kikyo said excited as the girl turned and lifted her arm so Kikyo could look at the longer side of the vest, "Did you really make the whole thing yourself? How did you find the resources to make it? I have trouble just watching the videos".

"Oh it wasn't easy. I actually screen-caped a lot of pictures from the Zetsu video in my computer along with finding random pictures taken from the making", the cosplay girl explained as she tugged on the vest and patted the thighs of her pants, "I must say he's the only one from a Visual Kei band who I believe can get away with wearing pants that expose his thighs".

While the stage was dark, the guys took a couple of minutes to catch their breath, down a few mouthfuls of water and get their bearings for the next song. Ruki was quickly moping the sweat from his forehead while Uruha approached him and asked about the speech he made just before 'Baretta'. Ruki quickly and quietly explained to Uruha that the girl he'd given his flower too was in the front row. That he didn't know why he couldn't stop looking at her - it was like a dream. Uruha didn't say anything but just went back to his place - that's what Ruki must have meant when he talked about 'BathRoom' being a story about dreaming. Then the stage lit up and Ruki moved to jump up onto his platform again. He raised his arm and the beginning to 'Cockroach' burst from the loud speakers.

~*~

fukaku nigotta teihen wo ugomeki
mitomerarenai hane wo hayashita ore wa "suteki kai?"
"buzama" na furumai ga oniai daro? sore de ii
ore wa ikiru kusatta very fuck'in doubter!

Natural born trash human
Natural born worthless fellow
Natural born rebel spirit
It is good as orange rotted

Natural born trash human
Natural born worthless fellow
Natural born rebel spirit
It is good as orange rotted

te wo nobashi todoku hazu mo nai kabe wo niramu

Do you see this muzzle that aims at your head now?
Now by this hand in a free cockroach some time
Do you see this muzzle that aims at your head now?
I am seen. In the future when you fall on ground...

Natural born trash human
Natural born worthless fellow
Natural born rebel spirit
It is good as orange rotted

Natural born trash human
Natural born worthless fellow
Natural born rebel spirit
It is good as orange rotted

te wo nobaseba� todoku to shinjiteitai

Do you see this muzzle that aims at your head now?
Now by this hand in a free cockroach some time
Do you see this muzzle that aims at your head now?
I am seen. In the future when you fall on ground...

Do you see this muzzle that aims at your head now?
Now by this hand in a free cockroach some time
Do you see this muzzle that aims at your head now?
I am seen. In the future when you fall on ground...

Natural born trash human
Natural born worthless fellow
Natural born rebel spirit
It is good as orange rotted!

Natural born trash human
Natural born worthless fellow
Natural born rebel spirit
It is good as orange rotted!

~*~

'Cockroach' was a very rough song, but not in a bad way. Rough in the way that only Ruki knows how to put across in his voice and the other guys in their instruments. Well whatever the feeling was, the fans loved hearing 'Cockroach' again - they jumped along with Ruki at the start of the song and during the chorus. Even joined in the head banging towards the end of the song. The girls weren't much for head banging like most but this time they made an exception and actually managed to keep their balance with a little help from the railing. As the song was finishing and Ruki barked out the last verse the lights blacked-out over them once again, leaving the fans to scream and cheer in the dark ... again. The Lolita-girl and the cosplay girl in the second row got Ai, Megumi, Mika, Kira and Kikyo's attention before the next song.

"I never get sick of listening to that song. We once had it on repeat for like six hours when their 'Gama' CD was released~!" the Lolita-girl said excitedly, pointing from herself to her friend a few times, "We danced around my room a few times - it drove my mum crazy so she ended up going out for the day".

"My dad doesn't worry much about me playing Gazette songs because he used to be the bass player in a band when he was younger", Mika shouted over the screaming, "In fact my mum likes some of their softer songs. She always asks me to turn up 'Cassis' when it comes on".

* * *
In between songs, all seven of the girls really got into talking. About favourite songs, what concerts they've been too, which band-member was their favourite ... Lolita-girl and cosplay-girl found it amazing that Ai, Megumi, Mika, Kira and Kikyo all liked one of the guys individually. Of course cosplay-girl thought Uruha was her favourite and Lolita-girl liked Ruki. She said that even though he has such a "dirty mouth" and rather suggestive lyrics, it didn't deter her from liking him the most. Mika agreed with her and mentioned that her mother thought his choice of words was a bit raw, as well. Lolita-girl also mentioned thinking Kai was just great - that no matter how sad she might be about something, just looking at a photo of him smiling always made her smile. Megumi laughed and said she did the same thing - hence why sometimes she carried a small printed picture of him just in case.

Meanwhile back on the stage Ruki picked up a thick black feather bower that sat beside his guitar cradle. He draped it around his shoulders and then took the little mega-phone sitting on the edge of Kai's platform. Reita now swapped his bass like Uruha had done with his guitar before - from the oak-wood to his fancy new black one with white marble-print panel on the front. Aoi pulled at the shoulders of his silver jacket while he waited - he couldn't wait to change before the encore. It wasn't often he wore full-sleeves for lives - maybe the 'Regret' outfits weren't such a good idea after all. Kai took this time to wiped a clean towel over his arms because they were so damp from sweating under the lights. He even dabbed over his face a little bit but also being careful of his make-up. Finally the lights flared up again and when the fans saw Ruki, they knew what was coming up next and cheered. Reita and Kai picked up the start of 'Silly God disco' and Ruki threw one end of the feather bower of his shoulder as he danced around with Aoi and Uruha.

~*~

It is cheesed with power and the morality of which it goes mad
A lot of people became dogs having tied to the chain
Your happy there?

I want to be enjoying the life though it will knock against a high wall hereafter
I'm already dead however I was saved with the rock

I swore at at that time. I will walk life that shines highest
There is no fear. It gets it over though there is a painful day too
Now let's go. The wing expands and goes to look for freedom and the glory
The world that extends to the place waits surely for you

odoranai ka? Real Cinderella kizu darake no GARASU no MAACHIN de

Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
kikasete yo "bodies"

Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
zecchou wo oshiete yaru yo tonight

I swore it at that time. I will walk life that shines highest
There is no fear. It gets it over though there is a painful day too
Now let's go. The wing expands and goes to look for freedom and the glory
The world that extends to the place waits surely for you

odoranai ka? Real Cinderella kizu darake no GARASU no MAACHIN de

Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
hizumi wo agete

Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
hibiki kasetekure tonight

Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
dou ni demo shitekure

Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
Hey God! Are you ready?
kurui dashita yoru ni [DO LUCK] yori mo amai Fuck'n roll buchikondekure

~*~

The girls laughed at the guys as they danced in circles around each other. Especially Kira at Reita because he was always so confined to his little corner between Aoi and Kai, that she liked seeing him move around the stage. When Ruki swapped from using the mega-phone to the mic at the start of the first chorus, the audience began swaying their hands from side-to-side in time with Aoi and Uruha as they swayed with their guitars. Then after Ruki sang the first two rounds of 'Hey God! Are you ready?', you can only guess what happened next. He sharply turned his head to leer at Uruha as he began his solo part. The first few rows of girls in the front squealed with delight when both of them moved down to the front of the extended stage. Half way through his solo, Uruha got up close to Ruki who began dancing in front of him like he was so often expected to do. But this time Ruki also took the feather bower and threw it around Uruha's neck, pulling him down to chest-height so he could kiss the top of the guitarist's head before the solo was finished. He of course took the feather bower back from Uruha once he was done. Kikyo said a very loud 'Oh my God~!' and her and Mika covered their eyes - once again their two favourite guys were fan servicing.

Apart from that little display, each time Ruki sang 'Are you ready?' the audience jumped and punched the air. It was also another song that you could easily dance too; much like 'Regret' or 'Shadow'. Finally as the song was finishing, Ruki sang the last line of it and shook the feather bower around his shoulders. Really the whole feather bower thing only went with his red crushed-velvet suit from the actually video and not his 'Regret' outfit, but it goes with the song so he just went for it. The fans liked it anyway, so it put a smile on his face as he called a loud 'Sank-yu~!' to the fans.

* * *
Ruki whipped the feather bower off his shoulders and threw it over the top of the drum-kit to Kai. He laughed and stood up to catch it, which he then bundled it up and threw it basketball style to one of the staff members beside him. Some of the fans could be heard laughing at the completely random act, also causing some of the backstage staff to shake their heads. Aoi, Reita and Uruha were smiling as well; quite impressed that Ruki had even bothered to use the feather bower. He never even used it for the 'Nameless Liberty' live except when walking up to the stage, and they were actually wearing the right outfits for that. The cosplay girl leaned forward to speak to the girls.

"I was waiting for Ruki and Uruha to dance together, it's always expected of that song now but ..."she trailed off and glanced up at the stage before laughing, "I really hadn't expected him to dance around with the feather bower, let alone wrap it around Uru-chan's neck and dance with him".

"Yeah I can't help but feel a little bit jealous", Kikyo turned and giggled with the cosplay girl, "And I'm sure my friend Mika feels the same about Ruki".

Mika swung around and looked at Kikyo with a fake shocked look, her mouth gaping wide open. Cosplay girl and Lolita-girl laughed when Mika swatted Kikyo's arm with one hand at a time. Kikyo just stuck her tongue out and excitedly looked back at the stage like the others were. The guys seemed to have settled down and Aoi now had his arms wrapped around his acoustic guitar. The girls frowned and wondered what other song they'd be playing with acoustic. They all quickly tried to think of songs with acoustic guitar until they saw Ruki gripping the microphone on it's stand and he whispered ...

~*~

Reila...

Deatte kara doredake onaji kizu wo oi
Doredake sasae atta?
Kimi ga tsurai toki ni wa hoka no dare yori
Boku dake ni oshiete hoshikatta
Jijitsu ga me ni yakitsuku
Mugon de fudou no kimi wa nani mo omou
Riyuu nado iranai sa
Tada boku no kimi wo kaeshite kurereba

Nokosareta boku yori mu ni natta kimi wa
Dorehodo tsurai darou ka
Mada nanimo hajimattenai no ni
Mada kimi ni kono kotoba ietenai no ni doko e

Reila...
Kimi no na wo yonde mite mo
This voice does not reach you...
Reila...
Me wo akete?? uso da to waratte misete yo...

Ashita wa doko e yukou
Kimi ga nozomu nara doko e demo yuku yo

Kimi wa itsumo sou boku ga omou hodo
Dokoka e itte shimau
Mata boku wo nokoshi hitori de hashitte yukunde
Mou todokanai mou todokanai
Yatto kimi ni aeta no ni
Gaman shiteta mono ga subete afurete
Namida ni natte koboreta

Reila...
Ienakatta kono kotoba wo
Reila...
Ima koko de kimi ni utau yo
Reila...
Dare yori mo kimi wo aishiteru
Reila...
Aishiteiru. aishiteiru...
Futari ga ita heya ima mo sono mama
Kagi mo kakezu ni
Itsudemo kimi ga kaette koreru you ni
Zutto matteru yo wakatteru kedo
Ima de mo kimi ga doa wo akeru sugata ga mierun da
Ashita wa kitto kaette kite kureru kana

~*~

Out of the girl, Megumi and Kira were the ones to make 'awww'ing sounds when the band started playing 'Reila'. They hadn't heard the song for so long it made them a bit emotional. Actually Megumi and Kira had met in the same music shop when the 'Reila' single first came out. They had each bought all three versions of the single and happened to start talking about the Gazette. Kira introduced her to Ai at the Superb-Mart, which all three of them worked their now. And Megumi was already friends with Mika and Kikyo, who both worked at a child-day care together. That weekend, all five of them had gotten together and realised they had a lot in common and became best friends really quickly. The rest was history - here they were now, almost two years later and they were going to Gazette concerts.

During the whole song, Ruki did not move from where he was standing. Being a somewhat grave song, he actually began to cry halfway through the song ... just like their MRD Live some years ago. Even Aoi and Uruha moved out a bit from their corners to show the fans their solos. Aoi was the first and he put a lot of emotion into his playing, getting lost in the music as he closed his eyes. Uruha's performance was no less - he also performed his piece perfectly, also closing his eyes to remember back when the song was written. Finally the song was coming to an end and Ruki had finished singing. He looked up at the high ceiling of the hall and listened as the others faded out the music, as he swallowed hard and willed the tears to stop. The fans who were close enough were close to tears too when they noticed Ruki crying. They had heard rumours the song was about someone he really cared for, but that person was gone now. Megumi, Ai, Mika, Kira and Kikyo wrapped their arms around each other and cuddled - they really hoped he didn't sing anymore sad songs that night.

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NOTES:
1) 'Reila': There has been much debate from what fans think the song Reila is about - someone close to Ruki died, someone close to Reita died, someone didn't die at all, stuff like that. From reading the translation there doesn't seem to be any hint at someone dying, the video probably just implies that. The song might just be about someone in terms of "That person is dead to me"; meaning never wanting to see that person again. But there's no real way to confirm what the real story is, so we'll just leave it there

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