![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
radhajTitle: 20
Pairings: none
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The band has belonged to itself for 20 years now. I wrote the fic though.
Warnings: nope
Summary: Twenty occasions when it was kind of implied
20
1991
“Really? Bass strings?” Tetsu stared critically at the ten or so packets of thick, rolled up strings he just unwrapped, and then threw them onto the small pile of twenty or so similar other packets that he received previously. Turning to face his rather sheepish-looking bandmates that all got him the exact same gift for his birthday he raised an eyebrow, “If that's all the creativity you three can muster up combined, we might have a bit of a problem. How can anyone expect us to write good songs with imagination like that?”
“Well...” the drummer spoke, collecting all the attention of the rather annoyed looking bassist to himself, “I guess it's just that we all went for something practical. Money isn't really lying around on the ground for all of us right now,” he explained, raising an arm to rub the back of his neck in discomfort.
“Thank you, Pero,” the leader answer dismissively, with a sigh, “I don't want to seem ungrateful, it's just...”
“Yes, yes, you like your birthday. We kind of noticed by now, with you not shutting up about it for the whole week,” Hiro poked fun at him lightly, and Tetsu scrunched up his face with mock offence and poked out his tongue at the chuckling guitarist.
“Well, look at the bright side,” Hyde spoke, plopping down near the birthday boy, and picking up one of the see-through packets to hold it against the light, squinting and trying to find just the right spot in front of himself so that the circle of the strings would fit snugly around the round lamp, “You really won't need to buy any for a while.”
Tetsu snorted, starting to gather up all the packets and looking around for something to put all of them into.
“You can say that again. Bass strings don't even break often at all,” he muttered, finally grabbing a nearby stray bag and throwing all of the stuff into it. He jumped up with slight startlement, however, when one more flew into it out of nowhere and looked up when he realized it must be the one that Hyde had taken earlier.
“Well, see?” the singer spoke, smiling back at him lopsidedly now. The bassist wasn't sure if the curve on the long-haired man's lips was because of honest cheer or because of amusement the vocalist felt at the dark spots that had to be dancing in front of his eyes now after staring straight into the light, “That means we have just given you possibly years of playing bass in L'Arc~en~Ciel.”
The bassist suddenly froze at that. This was more than just a careless comment – this was a promise. Until now, they had always been in such a tentative state about this band of theirs and they never spoke about how long it could possibly last.
This... was actually not a bad present at all.
1992
“I think we all should do it.”
“What? No? Who fucking does that with one pitiful candle? Just blow it out already, you're the leader!”
“Oh, you insulted the poor candle. What a meanie. Look, it's crying now.”
“It's not crying, idiot, the wax is getting onto the cake. Blow it out now or you'll ruin the food.”
“Oh alright, spoilsport,” Tetsu answered grouchily and with one quick puff from his mouth the tiny flame went out.
“Finally,” Hyde grumbled beside him, pushing him away without ceremony, a knife already in his hands. The candle was quickly thrown to the side and the vocalist started cutting.
“We didn't even sing “Happy birthday, dear Laruku”,” Tetsu complained jokingly, “This doesn't feel festive at all.”
“Who gets all excited over one year anyway? And we have food, everyone's happy,” Hyde muttered back at him with half-a-thought, concentrated on his task. The cake was tiny, and he was probably plotting how to get away with cutting himself a bigger piece without any of the other three noticing, “We'll celebrate for real when we hit ten. I'll even sing if you want. Now give me the tissues, will you?”
Tetsu blinked again, and then grinned, handing the vocalist a burgundy-coloured paper tissue for the singer to put a piece of the cake on.
“I'll hold you to that at ten years then,” he promised in a whisper.
1993
“Happy birthday Ken!”
“Thanks guys...”
“I know the last year was difficult to you, but...”
“Forget about it, Tetchan. Just promise you'll have this band of yours going for a while and I'm fine. Otherwise... well yeah, I'm kind of low on fall-back plans.”
“Of course.”
1994
“No. You just want an excuse to get a cake,” Tetsu's voice help no argument.
“But we could gather together, and reminiscence, and make speeches about how we'll now be topping the major charts because we're such a great band that will gather dozens of "number ones" in the following years, and...” Hyde's voice was pleading and he was using puppy eyes. Fortunately, the leader was looking away from him.
“You said it wasn't much of a celebration when it was a one year anniversary of the band, and now you want to celebrate something like the first album?”
“But... the cake...”
“No.”
1995
“...and I'm happy to say that in the year since this young band had joined the family of our label, it has done nothing but surpass out expectations again and again. I think I talk for all of us when I say we look forward to years more of working together. Let's raise our glasses for that!”
1996
Tetsu blinked the shimmering points away from his eyes, trying to make them focus on Hyde and Ken running around on the other side of the club, trying to... What were they trying to do with that broom and an empty bottle of wine? And were those boxing gloves? How did they even...
“Those two are completely plastered,” he slurred out, taking another swig from his beer can.
“Look who's talking,” he heard the sharp answer from the drummer who was sitting beside him.
“Well, look who's talking about who's talking,” he shot back again, though he thought it was a bit uncharacteristic of him himself. He never usually drank like this.
“I have an excuse, it's my birthday,” Sakura answered again, “And you, mister leader, should know better. How can I continue trusting you to lead this band far into the bright future after I've seen you conducting yourself in such an irresponsible manner?”
“Big words for a drunk man,” the bassist answered again, covering a stray yawn, “Don't worry. Even drunk I have a better business head than most of so called leaders of other bands.”
Sakura whistled, awed at Tetsu's self-confidence, but didn't argue.
1997
“Remind me to never again let you guys sing for me” Hyde spoke, exaggeratedly uncovering his ears after his three bandmates were finished their intentionally horrible rendition of “Happy birthday”.
“It was just to prove to you once again that no one but you can actually sing for this band,” Sakura explained innocently, “A show of appreciation, if you will. For what you've been doing so good for so long, and what you'll hopefully keep on doing for even longer.”
Secretly, Tetsu also winced in his mind as well. Yes, they tried to do it as badly as possible on purpose, but Gods... That was painful.
1998
“Hey, isn't it exactly a year today since...” Ken spoke up suddenly, only to be shut down by Tetsu's sudden glare in his direction.
“Thank you for keeping up the good mood by bringing those lovely memories up, Ken-chan,” Hyde spoke what was obviously on the bassist's mind as well.
“Hey, chill out,” the guitarist spoke defensively, “I just thought I'd point it out and say that hey, a year has passed, we obviously survived through it. And if we got through that, I think it's safe to say we're good to go for many years more.”
1999
“How can we celebrate her birthday if you're not even entirely sure it's really today?” Hyde asked sceptically, looking down at what Ken was doing with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “
“Shut up!” the guitarist shot back, as if the singer probed a really sore spot, “So I can't find her passport, big deal. I wouldn't forget things as important as that!”
“But you just said a minute ago you were unsure if it wasn't on the 15th...” the vocalist protested, but shut up when the lanky man now crouching on the floor turned back to glare at him.
“Stop doubting me and better think of how you will congratulate her.”
The singer shrugged, giving up, and looked back to see what the rest of the people in the living room were doing. Yukihiro was rather gingerly sitting on the edge of an armchair and quietly inspecting the guitarist's music collection. He still reverted to being shy in situations such as this. Tetsu, on the other hand, was rather boldly rearranging the books in the bookshelf.
“You obviously had these sorted by alphabet already, Ken. What was the meaning for that if you didn't keep the order later on?” the bassist chose that moment to talk, “And what's with the cat hair everywhere. I swear, I don't have a cat allergy but I would develop one if I had to stay here even for just a couple of days...”
“Well, so I'm not a clean freak like you and Hyde,” the guitarist answered, still obviously annoyed after the earlier conversation with the singer, “Bad luck. I'm in your band, so you're stuck with my untidy ass for a long time yet, whether you like it or not.”
Tetsu and Hyde looked at each other then, raising their eyebrows at one another, but suddenly the guitarist running somewhere between them, chasing a furry blur.
“Elizabeth, here you are! Come here, I bought you some special fodder and I put it in the bowl there. And those fools also came to wish you happy birthday too...”
2000
“Sooo... I hate to be the one to point it out, but the world didn't end,” Ken said, wiping away some sweat from his forehead as they got ready to leave the venue finally. The live had been good.
“I guess we're stuck doing this for quite a while more then,” Tetsu answered him with a wink. Nobody was complaining.
2001
“Happy birthday dear Laruku! Happy birthday to you!”
Scattered applause could be heard in the room once Hyde finished the song, the members and the few of the staff in the studio at that point celebrating the round anniversary of the band in a rather private and unofficial setting. Suddenly, the vocalist turned to glare at Tetsu, but the bassist just shrugged.
“I told you I'd remember it,” he said casually and Hyde huffed.
“You'll sing it on thirty then.”
2002
“I don't know if you actually realized, but it has now been a year since our last live. Fans are worried.”
“If any of them have doubts that we actually intend to get back together and continue with the band then they're sorely mistaken. And the most important thing is that we know it anyway.”
2003
"I think, Yukki, we just have to get used to the idea of having joined birthday parties for as long as we're in the same band. Which means... for a very long time."
2004
"Why are we making this big of a deal out of thirtienth anniversary of all years?"
"Hyde likes the number. Just humour him."
"Does that mean the next time he'll be so pumped about it will only be on the 666th year? That's relieving I guess."
"What, you don't expect us to last that long?"
2005
Tetsu didn't exactly like it how attentively Hyde was looking at him while the bassist was opening the present the singer gave him, nor the cheeky smile that was dancing on the vocalist's lips, not completely suppressed. And as soon as he had unwrapped the package, he knew what it was all about.
“Seriously, Hyde?” he asked incredulous, though, he had to admit, he found it a bit funny himself as he put the uncountable small packets to the side.
“I just thought you must have run out by now, so I got you some more for the next few years,” was the small man's explanation, but then he was extending another nicely wrapped present to the leader, “But don't worry, I also got you this.”
2006
“If barely anyone remembers now already, then I say this now – we're not performing it during our thirtieth anniversary. Just like we're not performing it tomorrow,” Tetsu said after a long time of thoughtful silence between them.
The other members, all scattered around the room and still trying to catch their breaths before the break was over, nodded in agreement. That had been... awkward.
2007
The mood between them was unusually serene, even while they each sipped on their champagne (except for the main person himself, who, as always, had opted for a soft drink instead). They had been reminiscing together for the past two hours at the very least. The occasion somehow put them in the mood for that, and the privacy of the “celebration” allowed them freedom to bring up even the things they wouldn't want staff to know as they teased each other. They blushed, and they laughed, and they made fun, but by now the anecdotes had run out and they were just enveloped in a thoughtful silence together, each sunken in the thoughts of what this signified to them.
“Ten years, huh...” Yukihiro broke the quiet again, citing the number that was on all of their minds, “Truly, there had been a period in my life when I would have never believed I'd find a band I'd want to stay in for ten years.”
“And now?” Hyde was the one to ask, curiosity in his voice. The drummer seemed to consider the question for a while.
“And now I can't imagine not continuing this for ten more. Or twenty. Or until I can't hold the drumsticks in my hands anymore because they're trembling too much from old age.”
2008
Yukihiro was not the only one looking at the cake suspiciously. Ken was beside him with just the same confused expression on his face.
“I hate to seem like I'm not thankful, or something,” the drummer started carefully, “But didn't we just do this less than a year ago?” he pointed out the obvious, and Ken nodded beside him in complete agreement.
“We didn't have cake then,” was Hyde's answer as he worked on lighting all the candles. It was so ridiculous that it actually worked in shutting the two men up for a bit.
“It's just so we know we actually don't miss the most appropriate date,” Tetsu gave his own explanation, “Last year it was the unofficial one, now it's the official one... We want to be on the safe side rather than miss a date as important as this. And, well yeah, Hyde wanted cake.”
All of them shut up abruptly as Hyde suddenly straightened out to his full (not very impressive) height and cleared his throat, obviously asking for attention.
“Reminiscence,” he stated with a straight face, “Reminiscence, reminiscence. Some touching speech. More reminiscing,” the others were now staring at him as if he had lost his mind, “A hundred more years, blah blah. Reminiscing.”
He stopped then, nodding to himself as if satisfied and completely ignored the flabbergasted expressions of his bandmates.
“Now that we got all that out of the way already,” he said then, clapping his hands together in apparent glee, “Let's eat.”
2009
"So, it's now been two years since we released Hurry XMass for the first time and, guess what?"
"...don't tell me we're releasing it again?"
"Exactly. Don't worry, just a couple more times or so and we're done. Wouldn't want to seem like we're just greedy for money by re-releasing it for as long as the band exists. Even I would get sick of it after releasing it so many times, and people would catch on."
"...I think you're too late with that. They already figured it out."
2010
"What the?..." Ken trailed off when he came into the room to find his bandmates and a few of their staff with campagne glasses in their hands and an obvious vibe of celebration in the air. Another glass was suddenly pushed into his own hand by someone and he looked around in puzzlement, "Did I miss something? What are we celebrating?"
"It's been three months since you got into golf," Tetsu was the one to enlighten him, "And you still haven't got bored of it. It's a rare enough occassion to mention it, we thought."
"Oh ha ha," the guitarist laughed fakedly, but raised the glass to his lips anyway, only to frown, "Is this lemonade?" he asked, appaled. Though he should have realized what with Yukihiro holding the same glass as everyone else that it couldn't have been alcohol.
"Well, can't have us getting drunk when we have work to do," Hyde explained this time, sipping his own drink with an amused smile, "Otherwise you won't even be able to play guitar. You know, that other hobby that you actually managed to hold for a bit longer than others without giving up on it?"
"And the one that he'll hopefully continue with long after he'll get bored with golf," Yukihiro quipped up, "Wouldn't want Laruku to be out of a guitarist in a month or so."
"Oh ha ha," Ken repeated himself, but inwardly agreed.
2011
The sound of rain was very distracting, for all of them. Hyde kept on trying to glance outside, his face wound with worry and guilt because of the fans waiting out there in the rain for them. The shouts and general noise of the people however (blended into a completely illegible howling) was a far more familiar sound and compensated the rain and the wind somehow.
“Everyone's ready? We have five minutes before you have to get into the cars,” a random staff member poked their head in to announce and the members all nodded, not one of them actually speaking up to answer. The staff member seemed to feel uncomfortable at that (when will he ever get used to the fact that this was just how they were?) and left again. Tetsuya seemed to take that as a cue and stepped a bit into the middle of the “room” extending his hand forward. The others soon joined him in the pre-live tradition, Ken slightly awkward as he still had a stylist pretty much glued to him, fussing over his hair. But the woman left in a few more seconds and they were staring at their joined hands, waiting for the leader to speak.
Or maybe not. All of them knew what should be said, after all, all of them repeated it in their heads. This was a big landmark in their lives, but it was hardly the end. This was just going to be a live – another one, like so many other they already had, and like so many they'll hopefully still have. There was hardly a need anymore to talk.
“Let's have a good live,” Tetsu said simply, and they were off.
Pairings: none
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The band has belonged to itself for 20 years now. I wrote the fic though.
Warnings: nope
Summary: Twenty occasions when it was kind of implied
20
1991
“Really? Bass strings?” Tetsu stared critically at the ten or so packets of thick, rolled up strings he just unwrapped, and then threw them onto the small pile of twenty or so similar other packets that he received previously. Turning to face his rather sheepish-looking bandmates that all got him the exact same gift for his birthday he raised an eyebrow, “If that's all the creativity you three can muster up combined, we might have a bit of a problem. How can anyone expect us to write good songs with imagination like that?”
“Well...” the drummer spoke, collecting all the attention of the rather annoyed looking bassist to himself, “I guess it's just that we all went for something practical. Money isn't really lying around on the ground for all of us right now,” he explained, raising an arm to rub the back of his neck in discomfort.
“Thank you, Pero,” the leader answer dismissively, with a sigh, “I don't want to seem ungrateful, it's just...”
“Yes, yes, you like your birthday. We kind of noticed by now, with you not shutting up about it for the whole week,” Hiro poked fun at him lightly, and Tetsu scrunched up his face with mock offence and poked out his tongue at the chuckling guitarist.
“Well, look at the bright side,” Hyde spoke, plopping down near the birthday boy, and picking up one of the see-through packets to hold it against the light, squinting and trying to find just the right spot in front of himself so that the circle of the strings would fit snugly around the round lamp, “You really won't need to buy any for a while.”
Tetsu snorted, starting to gather up all the packets and looking around for something to put all of them into.
“You can say that again. Bass strings don't even break often at all,” he muttered, finally grabbing a nearby stray bag and throwing all of the stuff into it. He jumped up with slight startlement, however, when one more flew into it out of nowhere and looked up when he realized it must be the one that Hyde had taken earlier.
“Well, see?” the singer spoke, smiling back at him lopsidedly now. The bassist wasn't sure if the curve on the long-haired man's lips was because of honest cheer or because of amusement the vocalist felt at the dark spots that had to be dancing in front of his eyes now after staring straight into the light, “That means we have just given you possibly years of playing bass in L'Arc~en~Ciel.”
The bassist suddenly froze at that. This was more than just a careless comment – this was a promise. Until now, they had always been in such a tentative state about this band of theirs and they never spoke about how long it could possibly last.
This... was actually not a bad present at all.
1992
“I think we all should do it.”
“What? No? Who fucking does that with one pitiful candle? Just blow it out already, you're the leader!”
“Oh, you insulted the poor candle. What a meanie. Look, it's crying now.”
“It's not crying, idiot, the wax is getting onto the cake. Blow it out now or you'll ruin the food.”
“Oh alright, spoilsport,” Tetsu answered grouchily and with one quick puff from his mouth the tiny flame went out.
“Finally,” Hyde grumbled beside him, pushing him away without ceremony, a knife already in his hands. The candle was quickly thrown to the side and the vocalist started cutting.
“We didn't even sing “Happy birthday, dear Laruku”,” Tetsu complained jokingly, “This doesn't feel festive at all.”
“Who gets all excited over one year anyway? And we have food, everyone's happy,” Hyde muttered back at him with half-a-thought, concentrated on his task. The cake was tiny, and he was probably plotting how to get away with cutting himself a bigger piece without any of the other three noticing, “We'll celebrate for real when we hit ten. I'll even sing if you want. Now give me the tissues, will you?”
Tetsu blinked again, and then grinned, handing the vocalist a burgundy-coloured paper tissue for the singer to put a piece of the cake on.
“I'll hold you to that at ten years then,” he promised in a whisper.
1993
“Happy birthday Ken!”
“Thanks guys...”
“I know the last year was difficult to you, but...”
“Forget about it, Tetchan. Just promise you'll have this band of yours going for a while and I'm fine. Otherwise... well yeah, I'm kind of low on fall-back plans.”
“Of course.”
1994
“No. You just want an excuse to get a cake,” Tetsu's voice help no argument.
“But we could gather together, and reminiscence, and make speeches about how we'll now be topping the major charts because we're such a great band that will gather dozens of "number ones" in the following years, and...” Hyde's voice was pleading and he was using puppy eyes. Fortunately, the leader was looking away from him.
“You said it wasn't much of a celebration when it was a one year anniversary of the band, and now you want to celebrate something like the first album?”
“But... the cake...”
“No.”
1995
“...and I'm happy to say that in the year since this young band had joined the family of our label, it has done nothing but surpass out expectations again and again. I think I talk for all of us when I say we look forward to years more of working together. Let's raise our glasses for that!”
1996
Tetsu blinked the shimmering points away from his eyes, trying to make them focus on Hyde and Ken running around on the other side of the club, trying to... What were they trying to do with that broom and an empty bottle of wine? And were those boxing gloves? How did they even...
“Those two are completely plastered,” he slurred out, taking another swig from his beer can.
“Look who's talking,” he heard the sharp answer from the drummer who was sitting beside him.
“Well, look who's talking about who's talking,” he shot back again, though he thought it was a bit uncharacteristic of him himself. He never usually drank like this.
“I have an excuse, it's my birthday,” Sakura answered again, “And you, mister leader, should know better. How can I continue trusting you to lead this band far into the bright future after I've seen you conducting yourself in such an irresponsible manner?”
“Big words for a drunk man,” the bassist answered again, covering a stray yawn, “Don't worry. Even drunk I have a better business head than most of so called leaders of other bands.”
Sakura whistled, awed at Tetsu's self-confidence, but didn't argue.
1997
“Remind me to never again let you guys sing for me” Hyde spoke, exaggeratedly uncovering his ears after his three bandmates were finished their intentionally horrible rendition of “Happy birthday”.
“It was just to prove to you once again that no one but you can actually sing for this band,” Sakura explained innocently, “A show of appreciation, if you will. For what you've been doing so good for so long, and what you'll hopefully keep on doing for even longer.”
Secretly, Tetsu also winced in his mind as well. Yes, they tried to do it as badly as possible on purpose, but Gods... That was painful.
1998
“Hey, isn't it exactly a year today since...” Ken spoke up suddenly, only to be shut down by Tetsu's sudden glare in his direction.
“Thank you for keeping up the good mood by bringing those lovely memories up, Ken-chan,” Hyde spoke what was obviously on the bassist's mind as well.
“Hey, chill out,” the guitarist spoke defensively, “I just thought I'd point it out and say that hey, a year has passed, we obviously survived through it. And if we got through that, I think it's safe to say we're good to go for many years more.”
1999
“How can we celebrate her birthday if you're not even entirely sure it's really today?” Hyde asked sceptically, looking down at what Ken was doing with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “
“Shut up!” the guitarist shot back, as if the singer probed a really sore spot, “So I can't find her passport, big deal. I wouldn't forget things as important as that!”
“But you just said a minute ago you were unsure if it wasn't on the 15th...” the vocalist protested, but shut up when the lanky man now crouching on the floor turned back to glare at him.
“Stop doubting me and better think of how you will congratulate her.”
The singer shrugged, giving up, and looked back to see what the rest of the people in the living room were doing. Yukihiro was rather gingerly sitting on the edge of an armchair and quietly inspecting the guitarist's music collection. He still reverted to being shy in situations such as this. Tetsu, on the other hand, was rather boldly rearranging the books in the bookshelf.
“You obviously had these sorted by alphabet already, Ken. What was the meaning for that if you didn't keep the order later on?” the bassist chose that moment to talk, “And what's with the cat hair everywhere. I swear, I don't have a cat allergy but I would develop one if I had to stay here even for just a couple of days...”
“Well, so I'm not a clean freak like you and Hyde,” the guitarist answered, still obviously annoyed after the earlier conversation with the singer, “Bad luck. I'm in your band, so you're stuck with my untidy ass for a long time yet, whether you like it or not.”
Tetsu and Hyde looked at each other then, raising their eyebrows at one another, but suddenly the guitarist running somewhere between them, chasing a furry blur.
“Elizabeth, here you are! Come here, I bought you some special fodder and I put it in the bowl there. And those fools also came to wish you happy birthday too...”
2000
“Sooo... I hate to be the one to point it out, but the world didn't end,” Ken said, wiping away some sweat from his forehead as they got ready to leave the venue finally. The live had been good.
“I guess we're stuck doing this for quite a while more then,” Tetsu answered him with a wink. Nobody was complaining.
2001
“Happy birthday dear Laruku! Happy birthday to you!”
Scattered applause could be heard in the room once Hyde finished the song, the members and the few of the staff in the studio at that point celebrating the round anniversary of the band in a rather private and unofficial setting. Suddenly, the vocalist turned to glare at Tetsu, but the bassist just shrugged.
“I told you I'd remember it,” he said casually and Hyde huffed.
“You'll sing it on thirty then.”
2002
“I don't know if you actually realized, but it has now been a year since our last live. Fans are worried.”
“If any of them have doubts that we actually intend to get back together and continue with the band then they're sorely mistaken. And the most important thing is that we know it anyway.”
2003
"I think, Yukki, we just have to get used to the idea of having joined birthday parties for as long as we're in the same band. Which means... for a very long time."
2004
"Why are we making this big of a deal out of thirtienth anniversary of all years?"
"Hyde likes the number. Just humour him."
"Does that mean the next time he'll be so pumped about it will only be on the 666th year? That's relieving I guess."
"What, you don't expect us to last that long?"
2005
Tetsu didn't exactly like it how attentively Hyde was looking at him while the bassist was opening the present the singer gave him, nor the cheeky smile that was dancing on the vocalist's lips, not completely suppressed. And as soon as he had unwrapped the package, he knew what it was all about.
“Seriously, Hyde?” he asked incredulous, though, he had to admit, he found it a bit funny himself as he put the uncountable small packets to the side.
“I just thought you must have run out by now, so I got you some more for the next few years,” was the small man's explanation, but then he was extending another nicely wrapped present to the leader, “But don't worry, I also got you this.”
2006
“If barely anyone remembers now already, then I say this now – we're not performing it during our thirtieth anniversary. Just like we're not performing it tomorrow,” Tetsu said after a long time of thoughtful silence between them.
The other members, all scattered around the room and still trying to catch their breaths before the break was over, nodded in agreement. That had been... awkward.
2007
The mood between them was unusually serene, even while they each sipped on their champagne (except for the main person himself, who, as always, had opted for a soft drink instead). They had been reminiscing together for the past two hours at the very least. The occasion somehow put them in the mood for that, and the privacy of the “celebration” allowed them freedom to bring up even the things they wouldn't want staff to know as they teased each other. They blushed, and they laughed, and they made fun, but by now the anecdotes had run out and they were just enveloped in a thoughtful silence together, each sunken in the thoughts of what this signified to them.
“Ten years, huh...” Yukihiro broke the quiet again, citing the number that was on all of their minds, “Truly, there had been a period in my life when I would have never believed I'd find a band I'd want to stay in for ten years.”
“And now?” Hyde was the one to ask, curiosity in his voice. The drummer seemed to consider the question for a while.
“And now I can't imagine not continuing this for ten more. Or twenty. Or until I can't hold the drumsticks in my hands anymore because they're trembling too much from old age.”
2008
Yukihiro was not the only one looking at the cake suspiciously. Ken was beside him with just the same confused expression on his face.
“I hate to seem like I'm not thankful, or something,” the drummer started carefully, “But didn't we just do this less than a year ago?” he pointed out the obvious, and Ken nodded beside him in complete agreement.
“We didn't have cake then,” was Hyde's answer as he worked on lighting all the candles. It was so ridiculous that it actually worked in shutting the two men up for a bit.
“It's just so we know we actually don't miss the most appropriate date,” Tetsu gave his own explanation, “Last year it was the unofficial one, now it's the official one... We want to be on the safe side rather than miss a date as important as this. And, well yeah, Hyde wanted cake.”
All of them shut up abruptly as Hyde suddenly straightened out to his full (not very impressive) height and cleared his throat, obviously asking for attention.
“Reminiscence,” he stated with a straight face, “Reminiscence, reminiscence. Some touching speech. More reminiscing,” the others were now staring at him as if he had lost his mind, “A hundred more years, blah blah. Reminiscing.”
He stopped then, nodding to himself as if satisfied and completely ignored the flabbergasted expressions of his bandmates.
“Now that we got all that out of the way already,” he said then, clapping his hands together in apparent glee, “Let's eat.”
2009
"So, it's now been two years since we released Hurry XMass for the first time and, guess what?"
"...don't tell me we're releasing it again?"
"Exactly. Don't worry, just a couple more times or so and we're done. Wouldn't want to seem like we're just greedy for money by re-releasing it for as long as the band exists. Even I would get sick of it after releasing it so many times, and people would catch on."
"...I think you're too late with that. They already figured it out."
2010
"What the?..." Ken trailed off when he came into the room to find his bandmates and a few of their staff with campagne glasses in their hands and an obvious vibe of celebration in the air. Another glass was suddenly pushed into his own hand by someone and he looked around in puzzlement, "Did I miss something? What are we celebrating?"
"It's been three months since you got into golf," Tetsu was the one to enlighten him, "And you still haven't got bored of it. It's a rare enough occassion to mention it, we thought."
"Oh ha ha," the guitarist laughed fakedly, but raised the glass to his lips anyway, only to frown, "Is this lemonade?" he asked, appaled. Though he should have realized what with Yukihiro holding the same glass as everyone else that it couldn't have been alcohol.
"Well, can't have us getting drunk when we have work to do," Hyde explained this time, sipping his own drink with an amused smile, "Otherwise you won't even be able to play guitar. You know, that other hobby that you actually managed to hold for a bit longer than others without giving up on it?"
"And the one that he'll hopefully continue with long after he'll get bored with golf," Yukihiro quipped up, "Wouldn't want Laruku to be out of a guitarist in a month or so."
"Oh ha ha," Ken repeated himself, but inwardly agreed.
2011
The sound of rain was very distracting, for all of them. Hyde kept on trying to glance outside, his face wound with worry and guilt because of the fans waiting out there in the rain for them. The shouts and general noise of the people however (blended into a completely illegible howling) was a far more familiar sound and compensated the rain and the wind somehow.
“Everyone's ready? We have five minutes before you have to get into the cars,” a random staff member poked their head in to announce and the members all nodded, not one of them actually speaking up to answer. The staff member seemed to feel uncomfortable at that (when will he ever get used to the fact that this was just how they were?) and left again. Tetsuya seemed to take that as a cue and stepped a bit into the middle of the “room” extending his hand forward. The others soon joined him in the pre-live tradition, Ken slightly awkward as he still had a stylist pretty much glued to him, fussing over his hair. But the woman left in a few more seconds and they were staring at their joined hands, waiting for the leader to speak.
Or maybe not. All of them knew what should be said, after all, all of them repeated it in their heads. This was a big landmark in their lives, but it was hardly the end. This was just going to be a live – another one, like so many other they already had, and like so many they'll hopefully still have. There was hardly a need anymore to talk.
“Let's have a good live,” Tetsu said simply, and they were off.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 04:01 pm (UTC)I liked the brief description of how they celebrate every year and how Hyde's always eager for cake XD Oh Hyde... you and food
The 2009 part was so funny. I wonder if they're going to release Hurry X-Mass again this year... hopefully not. I'd much prefer a brand new single
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Date: 2011-10-27 08:45 pm (UTC)I was really in the mood for poking fun at Hyde/food while writing this one I suppose XD
I'm pretty
hopefulsure by now that they won't be releasing it again this year. They would have announced it by now I guess? Although... what do we know >_>Thank you for reading and commenting :)
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Date: 2011-10-28 04:49 pm (UTC)LOL well, that is easy to do since he's such a food monster
Oh I wouldn't be so sure... I feel like we can't be positive they're not going to re-release it until late November. The ideal Christmas gift from them would be
shirtless photosan announcement for the release date of their albumYou're welcome :)
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Date: 2011-11-01 05:22 pm (UTC)seriously though, I hope the news about an album come soon...
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Date: 2011-10-27 09:08 pm (UTC)Happy 20th anniversary to the boys and thanks to you for writing this.
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Date: 2011-10-28 12:07 am (UTC)Thank YOU for reading and commenting :)
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Date: 2011-10-28 08:25 am (UTC)Beautiful ^^
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Date: 2011-10-28 11:53 am (UTC)Thank you :)
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Date: 2011-10-29 08:26 pm (UTC)I laughed so hard at 2006, haha! I'm in pain! XDDD
I love it all ♥
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Date: 2011-11-01 05:23 pm (UTC)Ah yes. I feel bad for them about it actually XD I really like the song. If I had been there, I would have been one of the handful actually rocking out XD
Thank you again! ♥
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Date: 2011-11-03 06:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-03 10:13 am (UTC)Thank you for reading and commenting!