Transaction

Disclaimer: We only own the characters of the made up band Opium!

Author’s Notes: There’s not much to this chapter. You just see more interaction of how Tohma’s control with the band affects Taki and so on. Sorry if it’s not as entertaining for you guys.
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Transaction
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Chapter Nine
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Taki remembered this process. For once, he could sympathize with Kenji. It was hard when there were problems in the tune that couldn't be helped with vocals. They sometimes took hours to work through, and Kenji's temperament was going to set him on edge for hours afterward.

They were going to need to give him something to do. Soon.

He watched through dark eyes as Haido leaned over his synth again, saying something in rushed tones to Keiko. An easy agreement was made, and he leaned back again.

The song started again, at the same place as before. Haido was improvising now, shifting dials to try something new, something a little darker to match up with the guitar as his fingers danced over the high keys to mimic the rain drops from before.

Tohma cocked an eyebrow as Haido changed the song a bit. Keiko was still playing her part, and while this new tone matched a little better, it wasn't in synch.

"Nice touch, but still off. Keep it and try again," the blond said as he pushed the intercom button down.

Releasing it, he looked at Taki. "What do you think? About the change your synth player threw in."

Keiko was starting to get frustrated now. Tohma shrugged and hit the button again.

"If you want, we could have someone count out the time for you as you play to get it right. If you'd rather not, just play it again on your own and get it right," he offered, releasing the button.

Seemed as though this group thought the hard work was over.

"Changes to the song won't help them if they're still off beat." Taki shook his head, watching as Kenji sat down somewhere behind Haido. It was better that he was sulking and quiet then loud and in the way. It would just be hard to get him to work when they were through.

Haido seemed to have reached the same conclusion that Taki had, and this time, he actually went around the synth to talk to Keiko. This conversation took longer, and he was punctuating his words with his hands.

Kenji's eyes followed them, but he didn't get up or add anything. Hey, what did he care? He obviously wasn't needed.

The agreement came, and Haido went back to the synth. He turned dials, and started to reset it completely, tuning it the way he wanted to. It would be practically improvisation, and he hit the record button on the synth, just in case.

That would record it to the keyboard's drive, if not the entire systems. They wouldn't lose it if this worked.

Keiko talked with Haido in a bored manner, clearly sick of having to repeat the same chords over and over again. She kept nodding and nodding, getting more frustrated.

But the guy had a point.

Keiko looked at him, they were in agreement. She started in on the first chords and took it from there, Haido was supposed to come in on the next eight count. She hoped they eventually got it right.

Tohma watched carefully. "He's not very quiet once he starts playing, is he?"

Haido came in half a note sooner then before, dropping an entire section of raindrop notes and coming in with something completely new. It was still the same rhythm, the same notes, really, but they went low, then high, slowing down just enough to match the guitar and the vocals no one was singing.

He'd obviously heard the song a lot.

Taki shook his head. "No... Music is the only thing I've seen bring that kid to life." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Taki stood. "What do you think? This change going to help?"

It gave the song a different sound, but they'd need to hear Kenji's vocals to be sure it would work. That was the problem with changing music. Everything had to come together, or the project was dropped.

This could easily get the song dropped and pushed back, not that it was a high priority anyway.

Tohma thought about it for a moment, listening to the new sound. Coming in earlier certainly helped, and the changes could hide better any off moments. No band was absolutely perfect, of course.

"It works better," the blond finally said.

He leaned over hitting the intercom button yet again. "That will do. Sonoda-san. Vocals if you would."

He let go and crossed his arms, looking thoughtfully at the group before him. Could they do it? Well... would they do it?

Oh, vocals now? Kenji snorted as he stood, slipping past Haido and Keiko toward the microphone. He took it up in one hand again, glancing at Keiko, then Haido.

Taki raised a brow, actually a little impressed. "He listens to you better then he does me." He commented, glancing at Tohma out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't wait until Kenji was comfortable in the building and around Tohma.

Then Tohma would get the same crap he did.

Taki watched as Haido shook out his hands, as if they were cramped. He would have to check on the player. He didn't want those hands to break, or any other thing. They couldn't afford it, even signed with NG.

"Have you told some stories about me, Taki?" Tohma asked teasingly.

He wasn't at all impressed that he got responses. Though it might wear off after a while. Seeing as one should always be comfortable where they worked, Tohma liked to make sure his employees were no exception to that rule. Once in that lull, Tohma found his authority meant little.

Keiko looked slightly relieved at no longer having to work out the same stuff and having Haido get in her face. She eased into a smile as she looked and made sure every one was ready.

Tohma pressed the button. "Start from the second chorus, please."

Taki shook his head no, "They only know I've worked with you before because of ASK." That was a hard time for him to remember. He didn't want to remember it, not now. Not when he had another chance at something knew. "The only stories they know are the ones that are published."

He turned to face Tohma, this time, expression saying clearly that it was a good thing they only knew the published stories. Taki had some stories for them that could keep them up at night, if they'd seen the reality.

As far as the public, and Opium, were concerned, ASK had fallen apart because of inner-band feuds. And that was all they needed to know, until Taki deemed it necessary that they hear anything else.

Tohma looked at Taki with a blank face. He stood by everything he'd said to the ex singer. He hadn't thought his actions had been too much, or that Taki hadn't deserved it.

"Hm, well, all for the best then," the blond said flatly.

He looked back at Opium, who were giving one last check with each other. Keiko nodded to a beat to herself and on a count, she started playing the first few chords. Everything was working so far.

"Would you like to take a seat, Taki?" Tohma asked politely. "I noticed your legs tend to be... oversensitive, shall we say?"

Just as Kenji's had before, Taki's anger flared in the same manner. At first, his eyes went wide with the shock that Tohma would even... even suggest... And then they narrowed as he reminded himself that he was dealing with the ultimate bastard from hell. He should have expected it.

"I'm fine." Taki ground out through gritted teeth, anger-narrowed eyes turning back to the band. He noticed, through the fog in his mind, that they were starting at the beginning of the song. And he found that he just didn't give a damn.

Already. So early in the job, too. What a disappointment.

Kenji listened to the changes, the way the song felt to him. It was different, but still somehow alike. He glanced back at Haido as he sang, much of his attention focused on the dark haired man behind him.

Sensible, work-focused Haido. Music was the only thing he knew about him. They'd met in a music class, and their entire friendship was based around the band. Kenji's curiosity about him was only growing.

"Of course," Tohma said smoothly, taking a seat himself. "I'd just rather not have you standing this whole time."

The blond glance at the clock. Half an hour, a little more. Depending on how many songs there were, Tohma would preferably like to work on nearly half the songs before letting them break. Though, when he meant work on the songs, he wanted them perfected. Ready to be recorded, if not done so already.

"After all, I may be working them for quite some time. You, of course, are more than willing to take any breaks as need be, Taki," Tohma said sweetly. "Since you have me around, I can handle things while you're not around. I just want to make sure you're comfortable working here again, Taki."

Keiko glanced at Kenji who always should've been happy when he was singing. But... his attention was on something other than his words. How odd...

Taki's fingers curled into fists in his pockets, and he didn't care how obvious it was. That was it. He knew Tohma was doing it on purpose, rubbing in the fact that Taki had signed a contract that willingly gave away half of his control over Opium, that put him back under the very bastard he'd been avoiding.

Tohma was doing it on purpose, but he couldn't help his reactions. Not when Tohma was so good at pushing the buttons he had kept covered until then.

Dammit.

Kenji's voice stopped for the instrumental 'solo,' which was really Haido and Keiko playing together. He was clearly distracted, either listening to the music or thinking thoughts that were too deep to be shown on his face.

Whichever it was, he jerked himself back to reality in time to swing the microphone back towards his mouth and start up on the second chorus, which he'd heard so many times now he almost hated it.

If Tohma had been keeping score, it would've been an obvious lead in his favor. But he liked things that way. He liked the lull things went through, the nice little calm, and then the upset all behind the mask of a smile.

It was thoroughly entertaining.

But now it was time for that lull to come over between them once again. Tohma waited patiently, watching Opium from behind the glass, hands folded neatly in his lap.

Keiko was mostly focused on her instrument during the solo, but she was able to catch how Kenji nearly missed his entrance back into the song. What was going on with him today?

Taki hadn't sat down in hours, and he could feel it in his joints as he moved. They'd gone through the song until it was perfected, even though it was supposed to be a warm up. He could hear Kenji grumbling as the band left the room for their break, going on about how it seemed like they would never get a break, and how he was so sick of that song.

Kenji wasn't the only one, but Taki let it pass. He was sick of a lot of things in this room.
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Author’s Notes: Yet another chapter that’s just leading up to the good stuff. This one was just a set up chapter for what’s to come. You’ll see.

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~Subby