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Author's Note: Hikaru no Go AU Boyband fic. It's gen for now, but not for long. Some slashy overtones.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Number Five
by SVZ
The same could be said of Shindou Hikaru’s singing.
He pondered about that for a little while, and decided to do what he always did when he was at a loss… he blamed Waya.
Technically, this time it was Waya’s fault for screwing things up. The auditions they had planned had went on much longer than they intended and Waya refused to let them end at the proper time (“What if the next person is the one we’re looking for?”) and left all of them tired, hungry, and pissed off as hell at the brunet. They had spent the entire afternoon and the better part of the evening rejecting hopelessly untalented but hopeful teenage boys and dammithe was tired and hungry, and there was no way he could muster up the strength to cook anything without the high possibility of burning down his apartment.
Most restaurants were closed at this hour, and he didn’t think he could stomach fast food, so he thought the next best thing to do was to grab a drink and then crash on his bed and not wake up until noon the next day.
That was when he discovered Shindou Hikaru-- in a karaoke bar, ten blocks and a subway stop away from his apartment.
The bar was modeled after the ones in America; featuring a small stage and the floor resembling a nightclub dance floor opposed to separate, private rooms. It was because of the Americanized set up that attracted teenage girls to it, but really, Akira only went in because he knew their vending machines carried his favorite brand of green tea and he was craving for some good, ice-coldgreen tea.
Akira was one step away from popping open the can when the beginning of a familiar song captured his attention. Or rather, the singer’s voice did.
His first thought was, Hey, this person isn’t half bad…. and he closed his eyes and soaked in the sound, before blinking and realizing, This isn’t sung by a girl… and that was when he did a double take.
A teenager around his age was on the stage, dressed in a burnt orange t-shirt with a number "five" logo in bright yellow, black cargos, a black hoop earring in his left ear, and his bleached blond bangs almost glowing in the spotlight. When he turned around, Akira noted that his eyes were a vivid shade of green, and at the moment, they seemed to be glaring at a girl—his girlfriend?—who was standing in the crowd, looking triumphant and amused.
He’s good-looking, Akira realized, and then felt a wave of relief wash over him when his second thought was, But his voice is even better. Akira then blinked, wondering why he even cared, it wasn't like this guy was auditioning.
His voice was good, smooth and almost sweet with a hint of depth in his low notes, but rough and inconsistent in a way that was fitting to the singer. He started out well, and then seemed to stumble over the chorus before getting it together by the third verse. Potentially good, but not perfect—and Akira admitted that the song the other teen chose was a difficult—T.M. Revolution wasn’t known for having slow songs, after all.
He would probably be better at ballads. Akira stole a glance around and felt himself growing more certain. Damn, he even has stage presence.
Akira snapped himself out of his thoughts when the song was over, and impatiently pushed his way across the floor while a mediocre teenage girl singing a Koda Kumi song took the stage.
There was no way Touya Akira was going to let this slip through his fingers, that’s for sure. He didn’t care if he had to get down on his own freaking hands and knees and beg to convince his band members to let this guy audition—this kid was definitely talented, and the crowd of people surrounding him can attest to that. Talent was something that was hard to come by, but a person with enough stage presence to capture the attention of the entire room was even rarer. You can teach anyone to sing, but you can’t teach them how to get everyone’s attention.
A couple of girls recognized him, he realized, and he winced inwardly at the realization. He smiled and nodded at them, hoping they wouldn’t ask for autographs but he did ask if any of them knew the singer’s name.
One of them told him his name was Shindou Hikaru, before dissolving in a fit of high pitch giggles.
Shindou could be found talking animatedly with his female friend, looking annoyed. Pieces of their conversation reached his ears before he actually did.
“Akari, I can’t believe you made me sing. Dammit, You know I haven’t sung since—“
“Hikaru, don’t you think that you should look towards the future? You have so much talent, it’s such a shame that—“
Akira cleared his throat, and the two of them jumped slightly in surprise. Shindou looked at him warily and his friend surveyed him with mild curiosity.
“Shindou Hikaru?” Akira asked, smoothly, and the blond nodded, again looking bemused and a bit suspicious of his intentions, his green eyes narrowing slightly. “I’m Touya Akira, and I’m part of—“
“You’re in that new boy band-- ‘Go Jumpy Boys’,” Akari exclaimed. “Your father’s also the president of that music agency.” She turned to Hikaru, who gave her a rather strange look, and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been hanging around Nase too much… you know how she is about the music business. She's trying to get out of modeling and into singing, after all...”
Akira raised an eyebrow. “You certainly know a lot,” Akira said, impressed. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your—“
“Fujisaki Akari—but call me ‘Akari’ or I’ll think you’re talking to my mother,” she introduced herself, flashing a small smile, and Akira couldn’t help but return it, wishing silently that all his fans would behave more like her and less like… obsessive, stalkerish fans. She seemed stubborn and slightly pushy, but she was friendly.
“… And this has to do with me, how?” Shindou asked, flatly. Akira was taken back by the other teen’s aloof attitude.
“I’m in a band,” Akira said quickly, cutting straight to the point. “I want you to audition for it.”
Shindou looked up, and Akira’s voice got caught in his throat when Shindou turned his piercing eyes to his. “I don’t see why I should,” he stated. “I’m not really interested in music anyway…”
“Hikaru! That’s not true—“ Akari protested loudly, sending an apologetic look to Akira. Although she was trying to be helpful, they had only called attention to themselves with the yelling.
“How about we talk about this over something?” Akira suggested, casting an uneasy look at all the unwanted attention. “We could grab a cup of coffee or ramen, or something…”
Shindou’s lips threaten to twitch into a smile, and his eyes lit up. “Ramen?” he practically purred, and Akira could hear Akari slapping her forehead and groaning.
“Sure,” Akira assured him. “Whatever you want…” he turned to Akari. “Of course, you’re welcome to join us as well.”
Akari grinned, and Akira was reminded how that even though he wasn’t attracted to her (since, well, he honestly preferred guys over girls—not that any of his fans know, of course)—Akari was indeed, a very pretty girl.
Shindou had never been interested in singing until about a couple of years ago when the choir teacher in junior high heard him sing the first couple of lines of a popular anime show, and persistently asked him to join the school chorus until he relented. There seemed to be more to the story before Akari trailed off, uncertainly.
Finally, Shindou excused himself to the bathroom, and Akari continued.
“Our choir teacher, Fujiwara-sensei, was really young,” Akari began again. “He was like an older brother to everyone and he was really kind; everyone liked him. Hikaru and Sai –he asked everyone to call him by his first name—were practically brothers, and Hikaru became interested in music.”
Akira nodded, wondering where the story would lead.
“Hikaru has a great voice, and Sai told him he could go far with it, so Hikaru took up the guitar for a little while, and he even performed in a couple of places. He was really close to scoring a record deal, too… but then…” Akari lowered her voice, “Sai got into a car accident about a year ago… and he didn’t make it.
“The entire school was shocked, but Hikaru took it especially hard. Sai was Hikaru’s mentor and like I said before, they were as close as brothers… Hikaru just stopped singing and playing the guitar. He focused in school and his grades went up, but today is actually the first time he actually sang since then.”
“How did you convince him?” asked Akira, in wonderment. “I mean, I’ve only met Shindou and I already know that—“
“He’s pigheaded? Yeah, well, we’ve been friends since we were five, and I know he couldn’t refuse a bet,” Akari confided, smirking. “He’s so empty without music, so I did him a favor and told him that he probably sucked at singing now that he’s all out of practice…”
“… and he bought it?”
“Yup. Hook, line, and sinker.”
“No offense, but Shindou doesn’t sound like the brightest bulb in the box,” Akira remarked, wryly.
“Oh, his grades can attest to that.” Akari blinked, “Um, so, why do you need a new member for ‘Go Jumpy Boys’?”
The abrupt change of subject caught Akira off guard. “Huh? Oh, um, well, there’s me, Waya, and Isumi, and Kaga used to be in it—but he got caught smoking cigarettes and that our producer kicked him out because it ruined our image or something like that… so we needed a fourth member. We’re being produced by G.O. Entertainment—not my father’s agency, you see.”
“Wouldn’t I screw up your band’s image? From what I’m thinking, it’ll be another stupid cookie-cutter pop group like ‘w-inds’ or ‘KAT-TUN’,” Shindou said, dryly, popping up behind him, and Akira thought absently that that was why Akari had switched topic so suddenly. Shindou was obviously referring to his bleached hair,
“We’re actually more like a younger Porno Graffitti with a bit of L'arc en Ciel without the weird outfits, thank you very much.” Akira looked over Shindou’s outfit and dismissed it. “Nah. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t screw up by smoking or doing something stupid.” Akira’s lips twitched in amusement when Shindou looked disappointed. “The girls will like your look.”
“That is,” Shindou interjected. “Assuming I audition and your producer and band members agree.”
“You’re the one who worried whether or not your image would be accepted or not,” Akira pointed out, and he felt like snickering when Shindou looked positively murderous.
“Look,” Shindou said, curtly. “I doubt your band members would even like me—“
“Want to bet on that?” Akira asked, baiting him.
Shindou threw a disgusted look at Akari, “I don’t know what or how much she told you but I’m not—“
“Hikaru,” Akari interrupted. “Sai would have wanted you to try out.”
There was a long silence while Akari drained the remainder of her drink and Shindou looked torn between anger and shock, and Akira felt as though he interrupted a lover’s quarrel.
Akari broke the silence first, pulling out her cell phone and grimacing at what she saw. “Mitani called me a couple of times,” she said, putting her cell phone back into her bag. “It’s late, I should probably go home,” she apologized. “Thanks for the tea, Touya-san.”
Shindou stood up as soon as Akari was out of sight, “Stupid girl… she’s wearing a school uniform at this hour, too. Mitani would have my head if I let her go home alone,” he muttered, crossly.
“Who’s Mitani?” Akira asked.
“Her boyfriend.” At Akira’s stunned look, Shindou smirked. “Yeah, I bet you thought we were together, right?”
“Uh, yes… sorry about—“
“Don’t get your panties all in a twist. Everyone thinks that at first.” Shindou sighed, and dug up an old receipt from his wallet. “Have a pen?”
Instead of answering, Akira handed him one from his pocket.
“Nice,” Shindou commented, eyeing the pen. Akira had to admit that it was rather nice and expensive. It was a present from his mother and he was rather attached to it, and he intended to keep it that way. Seeing Akira’s look, Shindou rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to pocket it. Here.” He handed him back the pen and the crumpled up receipt. “Call or text me sometime tonight, OK? Then we can set up a time or something.”
Before Akira could respond, Shindou was already gone.
Well, maybe he was a bit concerned, and to be fair, it wasn’t exactly Shindou’s talent he was distressed about.
It was actually his hair and clothes… and was that another hole in his left—never mind. Akira decided he didn’t want to know.
“Shindou, didn’t you have anything else to wear?” Akira asked, pained.
Shindou looked over his clothes and replied breezily, “Of course I did, but I just felt like wearing this today. Got a problem?”
Akira felt a migraine coming on. “No, no,” he sighed. “Not a—did you bleach your hair even lighter?”
“Uh huh. I even pierced my left ear again too. Neat, huh?”
If they were in broad daylight in the middle of Tokyo, Akira would have strangled him. Shindou just had to make it difficult for him, didn’t he? It was bad enough his outfit was… well, it consisted of olive green cargos and a yellow shirt with the message “I know you are, but what am I?” in white lettering, and a bright green sweatshirt tied around his waist. It was enough to blind someone, and Akira noted the number five emblazoned on the sleeve of the sweatshirt.
What is up with this guy and number five? Seriously…
“… and this is coming from someone who has their hair in a ponytail, hypocrite. ‘Sides, I thought you said my image was perfect for the band, Touya,” Shindou said, smugly, snapping Akira out of his thoughts.
“Huh? What? Oh, uh, yes, but—“Akira started. “Oh look, we’re here.” Akira breathed a sigh of relief. Saved. I think.
Waya.
Naturally, Waya and Shindou had hit it off immediately. Waya had been reading a magazine in a chair when they came in, and he looked up and grinned once he got a good look at Shindou.
“Damn, Touya. He’s prettier than you are!” Waya got up and introduced himself to Shindou. “I’m Waya, and I can tell you for sure that I don’t have a stick up my ass like Touya.”
“That’s good to hear,” Shindou replied, shooting Akira a look.
Akira decided to ignore Waya’s comments and called Shindou’s attention over to the remaining band member (who, in his opinion, was the only other sane person in the room). “Shindou, I want you to meet Isumi.”
Isumi smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you. So, Touya tells us that you sing?”
As always, Akira’s opinion remained the same and he doubted anyone else could persuade him otherwise.
A CD recording could never capture the emotions, beauty, and authenticity of a song that could be heard live. You couldn’t see Isumi’s long fingers fly over the keyboards, Waya’s forehead glisten with sweat when he played the drums, Shindou’s eyes squeezed shut and his head thrown back in concentration as he belted the lyrics to a song that Akira never thought would get sung.
Still, Akira admitted, as the beginning of their soon-to-be-released first single started. A recording’s close. Not perfect, but close. Shindou’s raw, compelling voice filled his ears.
Oh yes, ‘Go Jumpy Boys’ were definitely going to get somewhere.
His fingers traced over the cover and then their title of their first single.
5.5.05.
Akira shook his head, wondering why everyone hadn’t refused when Shindou asked if he could name their first single and if they could release the single on that date. Maybe it was because they were afraid Shindou would drop out if he didn’t, or maybe it was because they saw the desperate need in his green eyes… whatever it was, someday , he needed to ask Hikaru what the deal was with him and the number five.
Constructive criticism and coherent feedback welcomed.
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