Crawling out from under my warm blanket was a chore. The cool air of the room hit me, causing goosebumps to break out across my skin. As we got closer to winter, I needed to reconsider the way I slept in my tanks and boxers. Then again, I made that realization year after year and never once changed my habits. Itwas a problem, and I knew that. I’d rather freeze than change what was familiar and normal.
At least I was awake now.
I walked down the hall to the toilet and relieved myself before making my way back to my room, pulling my phone from the charger. Itsuki’s text mocked me. I knew that it shouldn’t bother me so much. I had no claim on him. So what if he got to know the new guy... but it did bother me?
Once I was dressed and ready for the day, I went into the kitchen and set up the rice cooker. At least it didn’t take too long to run.It was one of the few things that I couldn’t fuck up. Reiko was still sleeping, and she was always grateful when I got breakfast started before she was up.
Opening the fridge, I pulled out a couple of eggs and cracked them open over a hot pan. Not only could I not fuck up the rice, but I was surprisingly good at frying an egg. Maybe it was because I was so focused on making them so damn perfect. The yolks would be silky smooth while the whites would maintain their perfect color.
It was such a stupid thing to be proud of, but it was the small things in life that made you proud, right? Who cared that I had a super successful vis-kei band with multiple top-performing albums. I could fry the fuck out of an egg.
When the rice cooker beeped to let me know that it was done, I scooped a healthy amount of the grain into two bowls before placing the perfect eggs on top of them. That was when Reiko made her appearance, her long dark hair a tangled mess as she rounded the corner and blinked at me, commanding her kitchen. It wasn’t all that often that I took over there, but on the rare occasion that I did, it was a treat.
“Ohayogozimasu,” she mumbled as she collapsed into a chair. I set her bowl in front of her. Her stomach let out a loud rumble, making both of us laugh.
“Did you sleep okay?” I asked as she broke her egg yolks over the rice and blinked up at me.
“I would have slept better had you pulled your head out of your ass last night.”
I huffed, digging into my breakfast.
It was my own damn fault for bringing it up. Then again, it hadn’t even been direct. When I’d gotten back from walking out after our argument, Reiko had disappeared into her room and didn’t come back out for the rest of the evening.
Instead of continuing the conversation, I did what I did best and ignored the situation. Once my bowl was empty, I rinsed it in the sink and headed back to my room to get ready for the day.
Ryosuke was a problem that wasn’t going to go away overnight.
Chapter 8
Ryosuke
My bass was slung heavily over my shoulder as I entered the building. While my meal with Itsuki had been pleasant, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with a certain vocalist and his bad attitude again.
Itsuki had said he’d try to talk some sense into him—that wasn’t what I wanted either. It sucked that I’d spent so much time trying to clean up my image only to end right back at square one. People formed incorrect opinions of me without ever getting to know me or who I really was.
Maybe that’s why I’d enjoyed spending time with Itsuki. He’d taken the opportunity to form his own judgment. He talked to me, and even when I tried to explain things, he said that it hadn’t mattered. The fact that I was still there when my bandmates weren’t, spoke louder than anything. He was right—I needed to stop worrying so much, but Pink Cherry had been doing so well, I didn’t want to fuck things up for them either.
When I entered the practice room, no one was there yet. Maybe it was my chance to redeem myself from being late the day before.
I wasted no time in pulling my bass from its case and setting it up. The room filled with a discordant sound as I tuned the strings. There was something about the way the sounds twanged in and out of pitch that set my nerves at ease. It was familiar and simple.
“What are you doing here?” I bristled at the now-familiar, disapproving tone.
Sure enough, Yasu stood in the doorway wearing tight jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt that made his slight muscles stand out perfectly. He was the last person I should be checking out considering how much he seemed to dislike me, but I couldn’t help it when someone so beautiful was in my presence.
Thinking that Yasu was beautiful was dangerous, and the last thing I needed to be doing.
I needed to listen to what Toshi had said. Keep my nose to the grindstone, make great music, and soon enough everyone would forget about all the other shit... maybe.
I mean, hopefully.
It couldn’t follow me for the rest of my life. But maybe that’s what they’d meant when everyone had told me to be careful when you choose to be in the public eye. People had a hard time letting go of even the smallest issues.
“I’m here for practice.” The words came out gruffer than I’d intended, but he rubbed me the wrong way. That seemed to set him off because we were right back to where we were the day before.
Yasu stomped across the room, pulled my instrument from my hands, and pointed at the door. “We don’t need you.”
I sighed before standing and taking my bass back. No one, and I mean that, absolutely no one, touched my baby like that. It hadbeen my very first bass I’d bought when I knew I wanted to make music a career. I’d be damned if some jackass was going to yank her around like that.
