Transaction

Disclaimer: Bleeeeeeeeeh.

Author’s Notes: Okay, so I lied again. You love me though! I kept this a separate chapter because of the interesting interactions between everyone. You'll see what I mean when you read. It's just a great amount of exciment. Buzzing. WOO! Y'know?

Anyways, Anon, I'm so sorry I haven't thanked you in a while! Forgive me! I get so caught up writing the A/Ns that I forget I have people to thank until after I post. And Cocoke5, thanks for your reviews too. I'm glad you both enjoy it. The reviews are always aprreciated, I don't mind if they're repeated or anything. Sometimes you guys come up with thought provoking stuff! Like the whole BAD LUCK situation and whatnot.

Enjoy!
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Transaction

Chapter Sixty-One
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"Out," Keiko said, shutting off the engine. "Now."

She unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car, flicking the smoldering cigarette butt into the street. She watched as it miraculously avoided being run over, was almost across the street, and then a car whizzed by and squashed it. Poor cigarette butt. It had almost made it.

Keiko wasn't pissed so much as she was getting in the mood to play. Albeit, Kenji whining more and more and Haido doing things to try and shut him up hadn't helped, but that wasn't the real cause of her mood. She needed alone time, maybe a drink or two, and music.

The parking lot was packed, but Kenji wasn't nervous. He was growing serious, now, sobering from his whining and climbing out of the car. He recognized the NG symbol on every car he saw except Keiko's, and that made him secure in the idea that they weren't late.

Yet.

He hadn't let go of Haido's hand, so he was pulled out of the car when Kenji go out, and Kenji was entirely focused. They were going to be performing, their first (surprise) concert in a little under twenty minutes. He didn't have make up on, his hair was starting to grow out, and his clothes were comfortable rather then showy...

But he was SO ready for this!

Haido shut the door behind him, he heard it sound off as Keiko locked it up. It nearly made him jump. Nerves weren't a problem, but apprehension was.

What if they couldn't do this at all? What if Keiko and Kenji could and he couldn't? What if he messed up everything they'd worked so hard on? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. He was a perfectionist. He loved his music and his work.

He gave Kenji's hand an absentminded squeeze as Keiko breezed passed them. He envied her in a way. She was confident no matter what, it seemed.

Keiko was starting to get nervous. On the inside. She could feel a tingle in her gut telling her that this was bad. She wanted to undo last night, undo this hangover... what if her fingers got slow because of it?

She pushed opened the door, nothing showing on her face, only looking back to call for Haido and Kenji to hurry up.

Kenji was already hurrying to catch up, following Keiko and pulling Haido along with him. He wasn't nervous. There was no way he could be nervous. He'd been looking forward to this his entire life. At least, it felt like his entire life. It didn't matter how long he'd been looking forward to it, because it was happening.

It was really happening.

He was way too excited to be nervous. Or, maybe he was so nervous, he didn't know it. It didn't really matter, because either way, he was grinning when he caught sight of Tohma and Taki, all ill-contained excited energy.

"When do we go on?" He wanted to go! He didn't care about warming up, even though he knew he had to. He just wanted to get onstage and sing, because that was what he lived to do.

Keiko was nearly bowled over as Kenji dodged past, dragging Haido behind, who looked shocked out of a dream. They were quite a pair.

Tohma smiled as he always did, with the calm patience of a parent who was used to dealing with this far too many times to let it annoy him. Kenji was excited. That was good. It meant energy for the performance. Somehow, things like that seemed to transfer between people. Like giggling. When one starts, a chain reaction happens.

"Very shortly," the blond answered. "I would suggest checking your equipment."

Even though none of it was damaged, it was still something he always did, and it wasn't exactly a bad habit to get into. Keiko seemed to like that idea right away. She needed to do something and badly. Checking the tuning on the guitar would help relieve some of this nervousness.

"When are they letting the people in?" Haido asked, almost at once reverting back to the quiet timid person he was when this all started.

"Now," said Tohma, face never changing as Haido inhaled sharply, eyes darting to the door and letting go of Kenji's hand to rush to his equipment.

He felt his eyes widen. Kenji felt the first stab of nervousness, though it was so minor it only increased his determination and excitement. Still grinning, still happy, he bounced on the balls of his feet as Keiko and Haido rushed away.

"Is there any water anywhere?" He needed water to hydrate, and to clear out his throat. He wouldn't be able to hit some of the deeper notes, because it dropped his jaw too much and made him feel pretty gritty, but the more he got warmed up as they went on, the better he'd do.

Kenji knew it. There was no doubt in his mind that they could do this. He had confidence in Haido and Keiko to do their best, and he had confidence in their music. They would be great.

"At the bar." Taki had his arms crossed over his chest, and he didn't look away from the front door, where there was a slow stream of people filing in. More would come. "There's no bartender, but it's in the back."

It had to say something about Kenji's energy level, because he just grinned and nodded, all but skipping away with a happy, “Thanks!"

Tohma continued smiling as he watched Kenji's retreating form, and turned his attention to Haido and Keiko on the small stage area, both quiet and serious as they looked over certain things.

Still watching them, he spoke to Taki, not moving as people trickled in at an excitedly slow pace.

"It's not exactly formal, is it?" he mused, the corners of his eyes crinkling just a bit in amusement. "Usually we'd have them open for a larger band. We really haven't done anything by the book, have we?"

And some how, that question seemed opened ended. Able to be applied to many things that had happened over the time they had all spent working together. Tohma watched Taki just slightly from the corner of his eyes.

"I think I'm set, what about you?" Haido said under his breath to Keiko, although he was still checking and rechecking.

"Yeah, I'm good," she replied shortly. "We just need the spaz."

Haido smiled just slightly and glanced over at her. "What we were talking about before... I don't want to get in the way of your friendship. Feel free to kick me out anytime. Not literally," he quickly added on, and he saw Keiko's should shake in a slight chuckle.

Glancing up at Tohma out of the corner of his eye, Taki's look could almost be called sharp. But, the hint of a smile on his face canceled that, and he shrugged thin shoulders. "You know I can't do anything by the book, Seguchi-san."

He used the title with a coy sort of teasing, one that was almost malicious. It barely managed not to be, and Taki turned his gaze away from Tohma to look at the stage.

Who gave a damn if it wasn't traditional? Taki lived for the untraditional, and it was by the untraditional means that people found themselves shocked, intrigued. It made them by albums, it bought them publicity...

Opium NEEDED untraditional. They needed this.

"Ready?" Kenji skipped steps on his way up the stage, the water bottle in his hands already half gone. He'd spit it out into the sink, but the rest he was actually going to drink, because it would clear out his throat more then his mouth.

Either way, tonight was going to be one hell of a night.

Tohma pressed his lips together to keep his smile from growing wider. In all the time he had spent with Taki, hearing the formal title with such a tone was amusing. There was usually a nasty intention tacked on with that name, but not this time.

"Let's go over to the bar before this place is packed against the walls," he said, turning away from the band and heading to the bar.

It always felt the same when it happened. That first moment. Like he was cutting the strings and the puppets were left to become real, or to lay flat forever. There was always this point of no return. When he wouldn't be needed anymore.
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Author's Notes: If you can pick up anything from this chapter, you can tell just how things will probably turn out. Maybe not exactly. This is how things are going to be in their lives, more than the performance. Exciting! I think I'll upload that tonight just to get it over with. WOO!

Drop us a line.

~Subby