What had my hair standing on end?
The way Itsuki set his guitar down... no, not set it down. He basically threw it down before he bounded across the roomto throw his arms around Toshi, who instantly tensed at the contact.
“Toshi-sama! Did you bring me a new friend?”
God, he was always so bubbly, and I wanted to pull him off our manager, direct him back to his instrument and show him how to care for it properly.
But it had always been that way. There was a pull there when it came to Itsu. Maybe it was because he was so innocent and caring. I was always worried that people would take advantage of him, but he was damn talented with that guitar, so it was a no brainer to add him to our roster.
Toshi carefully extracted himself from Itsuki’s embrace before making his way into the room. It was always hard to figure out what was going through his head and whether or not he was impressed with us. The man gave no indication, his face remained still. If it weren’t that we’d been working with him for years, I would have sworn he was a robot.
“Pink Cherry...” My eyebrows raised as Toshi addressed us by our band name.
He never did that, and it was strange. If he was doing it because of Ryosuke, I didn’t need this guy. Nope. We could go without a bassist. Plug in some background synthesizer or something. Or hell, play a recording of Mamarou for the rest of our careers... but that also meant no new music.
Toshi waved in Ryosuke’s direction and I tried really hard to suppress an eye roll. Tried, but failed. Yes, I was being an asshole. I’d earned the right at that point.
“This is Ryosuke. He comes highly recommended by the label. His former band was a little more on the wild side, and perhaps you’ve heard of them.”
“Tokyo Roadtrip, right?” It wasn’t often that Riku spoke up in situations like this, so we all turned to look at him.
Ryosuke visibly tensed next to me. “Yes, that would be correct,” he said slowly, eyes narrowing as he studied my bandmate.
Riku set his drumsticks down, the loud clang of the wood hitting the snare drum filling the room that was suddenly too quiet to be comfortable.
We all knew what had happened to their band.
Sometimes fame did stupid things to people, but we all knew that it was a bold point in all of our contracts that drugs were a no-go. When the news dropped that the band had gotten caught with a bag of hallucinogenic pills, it rocked the entire company. We all had to be subjected to a month of routine drug testing. It didn’t matter that most of us had no reason for them to suspect us. All it took was Tokyo Roadtrip slipping up, and we all had to pay the price.
When everyone continued to say nothing, Toshi cleared his throat. “I get why you all might be reluctant because of that. Please rest assured that the reason Ryosuke is here is that he is the only member of the band that tested negative for drugs and remains clean to this day. He has proven himself time and time again. I only hope that all of you will give him a chance as well.”
Chapter 5
Ryosuke
It wasn’t like Toshi explaining things made it all better.
Had I been intentionally trying to provoke Yasu? Sure. The guy had been downright adorable in the way he’d instantly put his guard up with me... but it was a guard that was now solidified as he scooted across the room, arm draped protectively over the shoulder of the man with long dark hair that had hugged Toshi.
They all looked wary.
I took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling, saying a silent prayer that I could save the situation. Because of my old bandmates, I expected people wouldn’t be so trusting. While American music was known for its sex and drugs, Japan frowned upon all of it. Well... maybe not the sex. Fan service was a thing, though it wasn’t something I often engaged in. It often felt forced, and I didn’t need girls screaming about my perceived sexuality.
“Before you all form an opinion...” I looked around the room and found an old bass sitting in a corner. Maybe it was poorform that I hadn’t brought my own today, but I thought I was only meeting these guys. It wasn’t in my plans to sell them on my skills, but I knew it would help.
I made my way across the room and picked up the bass guitar from where it sat on the stand. Yasu instantly started toward me, but the long-haired man he’d escorted back to the group held him back. Maybe it wasn’t something I should touch, but I’d ask about it later.
The amp squealed as I plugged in the instrument.
Thankfully, it was tuned as I strummed my fingers over the chords. When the room fell silent, you could feel the tension. It was so damn thick you could cut it with a knife. My throat ran dry as I played the opening chords to one of Pink Cherry’s top hits. Of course, I’d heard of the band. It was hard not to when they were under the same label.
The low bass line filled the room with a haunting sort of melody. It was one of my favorite songs by them. The reason I liked it, it was a little harder than their usual sounds. It combined a lot of angst with neediness. Yasu’s lyrics had tugged at me, talking about wanting people to understand the deeper parts of himself that no one ever saw.
I hummed the melody as I kept playing the bass line. It wasn’t the prettiest thing to listen to without the rest of the music, but when I closed my eyes, I was surprised when a guitar joined me. When I opened my eyes, the long-haired guitarist that Yasu had pulled away earlier was watching me carefully as he plucked at his strings.
He nodded at me in wordless understanding as I continued to play the song. It was hard to fight the small smile that tugged at the corner of my lips as the lyrics tumbled free.
There was a reason I was not the vocalist. I was decent at singing a little back-up, but I could never be the shining star. My voice was scratchy and hoarse from disuse. Hatchi, the vocalistfor Tokyo Roadtrip, had said he’d liked listening to me. Said I sounded smoky and smooth, but I didn’t agree. I sounded as if my vocal cords had been rubbed raw with sandpaper.
