Things weren’t completely better there.
If things weren’t happening behind closed doors, I’d still think that the vocalist hated me. It had been he who had invited Itsuki and me over the last time, since he said his sister was out for the night. It still felt odd to be included, but he knew and understood. It sent shivers through me every time he bent to my will.
“Are you guys ready to rock!” Tatsuki came bounding into the room, fist held high in the air as he looked around.
It was hard not to smile at how enthusiastic these guys were. Tokyo Roadtrip had always been so stoic before a performance. There would come a day when I stopped comparing the two bands, but since this was all so new, it was not today.
Riku followed closely behind them. The whole band looked so damn cohesive. I still felt like the biggest sore thumb standing there in the middle of all of them. There was no way that I couldlet it show, not when both Yasu and Itsuki were now eyeing me with so much damn concern. I was bigger than this. I’d played a hundred shows before. This wouldn’t be anything new. All I needed to do was go out on that fucking stage and prove that I deserved to be there.
That was when Toshi decided to join us.
“Ah, Pink Cherry. Look at all of you. Are you ready to reintroduce your band to the world?”
Itsuki snorted a small laugh. “Reintroduce? Why would we need to do that?”
Toshi’s brow furrowed for a moment as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Because now you have a new bassist. The sound has changed.”
Had it?
“Nothing has changed. Everything has been seamless since Ryosuke stepped in,” Riku interjected, surprising me since he was normally so quiet. But it also felt good that this band had learned to appreciate me enough that they were willing to defend me.
Toshi smirked. It made my stomach drop.
“So you think. This is the true test. Your fans will know the difference.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” This time it was Yasu jumping in. I was once again struck with the desire to wrap him in an embrace, but knew it would destroy the facade that he hated my guts.
“It means nothing, Yasu-san. I’m just stating the facts that if any small thing is different, then your fans will notice. I’m glad that you all spent so much time practicing together prior to this show, but it doesn’t change the fact that Ryosuke is not Mamarou-kun, no matter how much we all wish he was.”
My stomach rolled because now Toshi was talking about me as if I weren’t even in the room. At no point had I tried toreplace their friend. It wasn’t the point of bringing me on board. Maybe all this atomicity that Yasu felt toward me was because of comments like that from Toshi.
The whole point was to keep Pink Cherry from falling through the cracks because one of their members had needed to step aside. What the fuck was this? Was Toshi trying to pit us against each other? Pit them against me?
Yasu’s eyes flashed with something close to anger before he looked between me and Toshi. It was as if any small progress I’d made with the vocalist was tossed right out the damn window with the statement.
Fuck Toshi. He was going to pay for putting that thought into the universe.
Chapter 30
Itsuki
My limbs vibrated as I waited for the lights to lift.
The screams of the crowd did nothing to settle the onslaught of emotions that were brought on by the discussion backstage. All I wanted was to pull both Yasu and Ryosuke aside, making them forget about the things that Toshi had said, but the damage had been done. The tension in the air was palpable, no matter how much I’d tried to redirect things before we took the stage.
The moment Riku tapped his drumsticks together to count out the beat, the crowd exploded into chaos. The lights lifted to show us on the stage, ready to put on the best show we could for them. My guitar felt heavy on my shoulder for the first time in my life, but I did my best to keep my trademark smile plastered on my face.
We could do this.
I strummed my fingers across the first chord of the song, making the fans scream even louder. Any doubt that had beenthere before seemed to vanish as we melted into our first song. It was as if nothing had changed. Yasu hit every note perfectly, and the crowd sang and danced along with him perfectly.
Since Toshi had tried to mess with our mojo, I wanted to scream, pull my hair out, but we were just fine without him saying anything. It was times like that when I wished Reiko had been with us for every show. Though she was in our contract, the label still didn’t always allow her access. We could have really used her today to stop Toshi from trying to fuck with us right before we went on stage.
We played the song perfectly. The crowd cheered as if nothing were amiss. Yasu lifted his hand to silence them. A hush washed over the auditorium as he smiled into the microphone. It was times like this that were my favorite. It was when my best friend was in his element because he was truly born to be an entertainer.
“Konbanwa!”
The crowd erupted again. Yasu waved his hands to calm them. I strummed a random note on my guitar, making them get rowdy once more. Yasu shot a playful smirk in my direction. I winked at him because that was our game. We knew how to keep the crowd coming back for more.
