Chapter Text
Megumi is, and this is putting it politely, pissed the fuck off.
“You’re kidding, right?” he says, scowling at their (now-ex) vocalist.
Kenji gives an indifferent shrug. “Not gonna lie, you guys suck. I thought you were better but I realised there’s been no improvement and you guys are just bringing me down.”
“That’s such a dickhead thing to say,” Nobara says, frowning at him. Junpei sits next to her, hands around their cup of tea and staying quiet. They never were one for confrontation but it would be nice to have their opinion on the subject, even if all they would do was agree with Nobara.
Kenji had been their vocalist and lead guitarist for at least three months after approaching them at one of their gigs, and had slotted in perfectly with them, his light voice suiting their indie rock style well. Megumi had appreciated him, especially when Kenji provided input into how his basslines could be improved further. Nobara and Kenji got along like siblings, bickering and bantering often, and Kenji had helped Junpei with their guitar, boosting their confidence. It didn’t matter now, though—not when Kenji was acting like this wouldn’t fuck things up for them.
“It’s the truth,” Kenji says, adjusting his guitar bag’s strap over his shoulder. “You guys should have no problem finding someone new.”
“We literally have a gig in three days, what the hell are we supposed to do?” Megumi says, irritation bubbling under his skin. He’s trying to keep his cool, he really is, but it’s a bit difficult when this has come out of the blue. It takes everything in him to not leap off their couch and choke Kenji out.
“Not my problem anymore,” Kenji says with another shrug. “Have a good one.” He gives what feels like a mocking salute and leaves without another word. The door shuts behind him with a final thud. Megumi clenches his jaw and heaves a breath through his teeth.
Junpei, voice quiet, finally says, “What the fuck.”
Megumi grunts in annoyance and stands up. “This is so stupid. ‘You guys are bringing me down’, what a bunch of shit.”
“Well,” Nobara says, absentmindedly tracing over one of the roses on her sleeve tattoo. “Now what?”
Junpei sips from their cup and furrows their brow. “We won’t have enough time to find someone and have them practise our songs enough in time.”
“Pretty inconvenient timing,” Megumi says, tonguing the inside of his cheek. He runs his hands down his face and makes sure to avoid his bridge piercing and nose ring while at it. He doesn’t need to add another inconvenience to his ever-growing list. “For fuck’s sake. We’ll just remove the songs that needed him on it. Replace them with the instrumental songs we have and let Yuki-san know what’s going on.”
Nobara and Junpei both nod. Kenji’s sudden departure has made things a whole lot more difficult than needed, especially with the short time frame they have. It’d be better for them to change their songs to the instrumental pieces they already have, rather than trying to find someone new and overwhelming them with information.
“You know what this means, yeah?” Megumi says to Junpei as they’re packing their guitar in its bag.
“Huh?”
“We don’t have a lead guitarist. So either you’ll have to stick purely to rhythm or learn the lead parts.”
Junpei’s eyes widen. “I… what?”
Nobara comes over and leans her bony elbow into Megumi’s shoulder. She’s on her tiptoes, wobbling just so she can reach. “We believe in you. Whichever one you choose, we’ll do our best to back you up.”
“Ah. Um, thank you.”
Nobara nods and huffs in annoyance when Megumi shakes her off. “We’ll go talk with Yuki-san so she knows what’s going on,” she says. “Hopefully it isn’t too much of a bother to change our set list this close to our performance.”
“It’s something that was out of our control, I’m sure she’ll understand,” Megumi says, shoving his feet into his combat boots. “Let’s go, Noh.”
Nobara complains as she puts her shoes on but accompanies Megumi as they walk to the small bar they play their gigs at. Junpei had only come around for a quick practice session but after Kenji left (literally), there was no point in continuing. The bar is dimly as always and isn’t too busy, seeing as it’s only been open for around an hour, but there are already a few usuals flitting around; Megumi has seen most of them in the crowd whenever they play. One of them includes a guy with light pink hair currently talking to the bartender.
Megumi looks around for Yuki, expecting the tall woman to be easily seen, but no such luck. He frowns. Nobara sticks beside him, scanning the general area before huffing.
“Why don’t we just ask someone?” Nobara says, hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow at him. “It’ll make things a whole lot easier.”
“Or we could just find Yuki,” Megumi replies, still looking for her.
Nobara rolls her eyes. “I’m gonna look for her in the bathroom.”
Megumi wants to ask why Nobara thinks she would be in the bathroom but decides not to, instead making his way to the bar as Nobara leaves him on his own. The bartender gives him a quick up and down glance while polishing a glass, eyebrow raised in question.
“What can I get for you?” he asks. His uniform is as neat as ever, white shirt pressed and without a single stain, slacks tidy from what Megumi can see. He’s usually on duty while they’re playing, dark hair in two spiky… buns (?) on either side at the top of his head, tired eyes and a black strip across his nose. Megumi wonders if it’s a tattoo or a stylistic makeup choice.
“No drinks. I’m looking for Tsukumo Yuki.” The bartender’s eyes narrow minutely. “Regarding the upcoming gig for Sixth Eye in three days.”
“I see.” He puts the now polished glass under the bench and jerks his head towards one of the doors before wiping down his bench. “She’s in the back right now. Yuuji, can you fetch her?”
“Got it!” Yuuji, as Bartender had addressed him, swings his legs off the chair and dashes to the door that had previously been pointed out. It leaves Megumi standing awkwardly at the bar with the bartender, who has now moved onto stocking one of the fridges, glancing up at Megumi from time to time. Megumi drums his fingers on the bar gently, tapping out the beat to one of their songs and willing down the irritation rising in him when he’s reminded of Kenji. The stupid bastard has been on his mind far too often as of current, leading to unfavourable distractions. Yuuji returns not long after with Yuki in tow, chatting away. “Here, nii-chan.”
The bartender gives Yuuji a small smile and dips his head in greeting at Yuki, who blows him a kiss.
“Ah, Fushiguro! Nice to see you,” Yuki says, wrapping a friendly arm around him. She smells like vanilla and faintly of alcohol. “What’s up?”
Megumi’s face scrunches up with annoyance. “Kenji’s… left. So we have to change our set list.”
Yuki blinks at him in surprise. Her expression quickly morphs into sympathy. “That sucks. Let me find the list, yeah? Ah, is it just you here?”
He shakes his head. “I came with Nobara but— oh, here she is.”
“Hi Yuki-san,” Nobara greets, letting herself be pulled in for a hug, Yuki swaying them side to side with it. Yuki dips behind the bar after they let go, rummaging around. The bartender puts one of his hands underneath the bar, Yuki hitting her head on his hand instead of the wood. He barely winces at the action, even when Yuki inhales sharply from the sudden hit. She grins at him as she rises up with a clipboard in her hands.
“Okay. Let’s see, which ones are you taking off?” Megumi points at them and rewrites the ones they had chosen, most of them instrumental. Yuki frowns. “Some of your most popular ones aren’t on the list, is that okay with you?”
Megumi lifts his shoulder in a shrug. “There isn’t much we can do. Junpei hasn’t got the courage, Nobara has to focus on the rhythm and I don’t sing.”
“You could,” Yuki says, tapping her pen on the clipboard and tilting her head at him. “You have a decent voice, no?”
Megumi shakes his head. Yuki laughs.
“We’ll figure something out,” Nobara says, peering at the finalised list. “This is all we can do for now.”
They call Junpei on the way back to let them know what’s going on. Junpei is quiet for a moment, before saying, “Okay. That works, yeah. We can do that.”
It isn’t often they have to tell Yuki about a change in lineup—most of the time, it isn’t actually required. A lot of the time, some bands swapped around members or set lists multiple times before coming to a conclusion. However, seeing as they played at the bar quite often, they started letting Yuki know in advance which songs they would be playing so the future audiences could also be in the know.
They spent the next two days getting in as much practise as they can with everyone’s schedules—Megumi has a few assignments that need starting, Nobara’s trying her best to wrangle her group project members together, and Junpei is trying to balance school, work, and their band at the same time—and decide it’ll have to do.
Megumi lets Nobara help with his makeup, choosing a simple outfit of loose pants and a plain white shirt with some chunky sneakers. Nobara wears a sleeveless shirt so she can show off her tattoo, paired with a slit skort and her favourite platform Mary Janes. Junpei arrives in a plain dark blue sweater and some jeans, guitar bag on their back. Sound check lasts about an hour, Yuki offering them snacks and drinks while they wait for the bar to officially open. They always prefer to do their sound check before the bar is open—it helps with nosey or annoying people who want to interrupt them when they’re just trying to make sure their instruments sound right and the levels aren’t off. Nobara almost got them banned from the bar one time for trying to punch someone who was messing around with her drum kit. Muta, the sound guy, lets them know everything is up and running and should be all good for their performance in an hour.
It’s definitely odd, performing their songs without a vocalist. Megumi’s muscle memory keeps urging him to fill in backing vocals where the main vocal is nonexistent. Nobara’s drumming is harder than usual—she must be taking her anger out on the poor things. Junpei’s playing feels off, almost lagging behind, but Megumi can’t dwell on it too much. They’re all distracted from Kenji’s sudden departure and having to change their set list so close to their performance, to the extent that their playing is sloppy and nowhere near their usual standard.
Nobara slumps on the floor backstage after their performance, tapping her drumsticks against her temples in annoyance. “Well,” she sighs, looking up to where Megumi is packing away his bass. “That was ass.”
“Tell me about it,” Junpei whines, head in hands. “I thought I was gonna throw up. It feels almost exactly like when we started.”
“We’ll be fine,” Megumi says, throwing his bass bag on his back. “Shit happens. Pack up, we can go out for noodles.”
Nobara perks up immediately. “Are you paying?”
Megumi rolls his eyes and sighs. “I suppose. Think of it as a ‘you made it through an awful performance, congratulations’ kind of meal.”
Yuki manages to find them before they leave, helping Nobara pile her drum kit up in the back of Junpei’s (or rather, their mother’s) car. “You guys did good out there today, given your circumstances. Come back anytime, yeah?”
Megumi nods. “Thanks. We’ll let you know if we have any plans.”
She gives them a final salute before they’re off. Megumi scolds Nobara when she tries sprawling out in the backseat, Junpei too focused on driving. She grumbles at him but sits up, watching the streets and lights go by. Megumi takes the time to reflect on their piss poor performance, still annoyed at Kenji for his departure but telling himself that he’ll need to get over it eventually. They’ll have to get it over it. The first step would be finding a vocalist that fits their sound and gets along with them well, like Kenji did—
Megumi shakes his head. Junpei glances at him quickly before their eyes return to the road.
—
“See you when I see you!” Junpei calls from their car, Nobara and Megumi waving goodbye.
“It’s so nice having a friend with a car,” Nobara says, tapping a beat out on Megumi’s shoulders while he unlocks the door. “Public transport is so gross sometimes.”
Megumi doesn’t acknowledge her, or correct her by saying it technically isn't their car, too busy trying to get the key to fit in the damn lock. It finally clicks after way too long, Megumi shoving the door open with a grunt. They really need to get that door fixed at some point. Their landlord has been meaning to do it but with old age comes forgetfulness, apparently.
“I’m gonna shower and go to bed, see ya,” Nobara says, already gone. Megumi still raises his hand in acknowledgement anyways, digging through the fridge for a cold drink. It’s probably too late to be drinking, but one should be fine. He pauses. Never mind—he sounds like his father. He puts the can back and makes his way to his room, wiping his makeup off and scrolling through his phone while waiting for the bathroom to be free.
junpei:
> when was our next practice session again?
nobara:
> ? did we decide on a day?
< Not yet.
< We should try finding a vocalist first.
Junpei’s typing bubble appears and disappears for a while before their message comes through.
junpei:
> i think i might know someone?
—
Megumi’s used to waking up early. It’s a habit that’s been ingrained in him ever since he was younger, rising almost at the same time as the sun—if not with the sun, then only a few hours after it. He’ll do his morning jog, get home and have breakfast, do any housework that’s been put off from the day before, then start cooking lunch (or Nobara’s breakfast, depending on what time she wakes up). He might not be the best chef, but Nobara’s long gotten used to his cooking, even giving him (unhelpful) tips every once in a while.
Nobara’s still asleep even when he’s finished cooking lunch, so he looks back at Junpei’s message. i think i might know someone? It’s hard to guess who it might be, considering Junpei doesn’t really hang out with people other than him and Nobara, but if it helps their band out then it’s fine. He sighs and leans his head back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He should be using this time to do his assignments, or start writing new lyrics for when their vocalist eventually joins their band (if they even decide on joining), but it’s hard to write lyrics when you don’t know the person who will be singing them, and even harder when you had a weird situationship with the previous vocalist. Ugh.
Nobara eventually gets out of bed at around two, shuffling to the bathroom and spending a while in there before joining Megumi, yawning and grumbling good morning. Megumi grunts in response, scrolling on his phone searching for inspiration. She sits at the other end of their couch, tossing her feet in his lap and eating the leftover breakfast (lunch) Megumi had made. It’s amicable silence, something they’ve both grown accustomed to. Nobara can yap when she really wants to, but Megumi finds it nice when she sits with him quietly instead of talking his ear off.
“Any word from Junpei?” she says, munching on a bit of slightly burnt salmon. Her hair is done up in two little space buns, a headband holding her hair back from her face. “About our maybe vocalist?”
Megumi shakes his head, tapping out a beat on her shin. She makes a little hm noise, still chewing thoughtfully.
“To be honest,” she says after swallowing, “I’m surprised they know people other than us. Like, we’re almost always together.”
“Maybe a roommate,” Megumi says, still scrolling. “They do have a life outside of the band, you know. And probably other friends.”
“Yeah, but I thought they still lived with their mother…” Nobara trails off, tapping a chopstick to her mouth. She shrugs. “Whatever. As long as the person they have in mind isn’t shit, then I have no problem.”
Nobara finishes eating, cleans her dishes and disappears to her room once more, most likely to work on some coursework. Megumi starts cooking dinner around an hour later, mind preoccupied with lyrics and upcoming vocalists. His phone lights up when he’s cooking, a message from their group chat.
junpei:
> yuuji said he can give vocals a try :D
nobara:
> yuuji?
junpei:
> my friend, the one i was telling you about before
> i don’t think he’s ever performed before but he’s pretty extroverted so he should be ok
< How is he vocal wise?
junpei:
> um
> not sure, but i can try get a video of him or something?
nobara:
> not like karaoke, right?
Junpei doesn’t reply. Megumi returns to cooking with even more questions than before. The name Yuuji sounds vaguely familiar, but he can’t place where he’s heard it before. He messages Nobara to let her know there’s stir fry if she wants any, to which she replies with a thumbs up.
junpei:
> no, not karaoke
> he has a decent voice and he’s really nice
> i think you guys would really like him
< Did you get a video?
junpei:
> …
> i knew i was forgetting something
nobara:
> good going
junpei:
> sorry :(
< It’s fine. We can meet him some time and see how we feel, both personality wise and vocal wise.
junpei:
> ok
> should i bring him along to our next practice session?
Nobara sends a thumbs up. Megumi figures it’s time to hit his inspiration booster, rummaging through his drawer for his lighter. It’s almost like Nobara is summoned when she hears the balcony door slide open, accompanied with the quiet flick of Megumi’s lighter. She flops down in the beanbag next to where Megumi is leaning against the banister, exhaling smoke into the evening air. She holds a hand out to him; he shakes his head, taking another hit.
“C’mon,” she whines, still waving her hand at him. “I promise I can be normal this time.”
Megumi raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “You’ve said that the past three times. What makes you think this time will be any different? Should I call Maki-san in advance and let her know you’re trying to steal weed from me again?”
Nobara huffs and rolls her eyes at him, even when he holds the joint out to her. “I’m not gonna have a bad trip, trust me on this one.”
She only manages to take two inhales before she’s gone, slumped over in the beanbag and staring at the sky. Megumi finishes off the joint, carefully disposing of it and dragging Nobara’s body back inside and dumping her on the couch, fetching her a cup of water so she doesn’t complain later.
“D’you think he’s… good?” Nobara asks, now staring at the ceiling. “Junpei’s friend.”
Megumi shrugs, even though she isn’t looking. “I guess we’ll find out when we meet him.”
Nobara makes an undignified hnnn sound as a reply. “Mmmegumi. Can you. Tell your cousin that I wanna date her.”
“Tell her yourself,” Megumi says, going into the kitchen and looking for something to eat. There’s leftover pizza from who knows when, half a cucumber, a box of noodles and a cup of yoghurt. He goes for the yoghurt. Nobara and Maki have been circling around each other for the longest time now; Nobara keeps complaining to Megumi about how Maki isn’t noticing any of her advances, even though Maki has been reciprocating them clearly. Nobara’s just too dense to notice at times, especially when she’s so starstruck by Maki and all of her achievements.
Nobara grumbles, rising up from her slump and staring at the cup of water in front of her with a blank expression before slowly drinking it. It always amuses Megumi greatly whenever Nobara gets high with him, considering she doesn’t do it very often and Megumi does it almost every other day. She’s always much slower than usual, giggling at things that aren’t funny to begin with, and somehow always finds a way to make the conversation about Maki.
“I hope he’s nice,” Nobara says, curling up on the couch. She’s already passed out when Megumi goes to check on her, laughing quietly and tugging a blanket up over her. He double checks the doors are locked before shutting the curtains and turning on a lamp so she isn’t entirely in the dark when she wakes up. He messages her that he’s gone to bed, just in case she wakes up and panics about him leaving her again. He echoes Nobara’s earlier sentiment in his head. He hopes Yuuji is nice.
—
“I managed to get a video,” Junpei says when they meet up. “Yuuji was busy today, though, so he couldn’t make it in person.”
“That sucks,” Nobara says, spinning on her drumming stool. “Is he like, one of those ridiculously busy people or something?”
Junpei scratches the back of their neck, wincing. “Um… kinda? He always seems to be doing something whenever I message him, but then he’s also never doing anything when I go to his house?”
Nobara squints her eyes in confusion.
“But I got a video! He’s playing the guitar in it too, if that helps.”
Megumi doesn’t expect much. He’s never heard of this Yuuji person prior to Junpei, has never seen any photos or videos of him, and has zero idea of what he could sound like. He doesn’t expect the laugh at the beginning of the video, accompanied with Junpei saying c’mon, Yuu, just do it! Yuuji’s face isn’t in the video—the video’s black, actually, probably from Junpei not wanting to show his face or something.
“Okay, okay, fine,” Yuuji says, plucking out a few notes on the guitar. His voice has a light tone, the inflections oddly charming. “You’re pretty demanding about this, Junpei.” He says nothing more after that, the soft sounds of guitar strings being plucked filtering through the speaker and into the air. Yuuji’s soft voice accompanies the notes, humming a simple melody to a popular song that’s been going around lately. It isn’t anything revolutionary, but it’s enough. The video (audio) only lasts around a minute, Yuuji’s laugh ending it again before it abruptly cuts off.
There’s an extended period of silence. Junpei clears their throat awkwardly. “So um… what do you think?”
Nobara nods. She twirls a drumstick between her fingers absentmindedly. “He’s good. He needs to open his mouth when he sings, though, so we can hear what he’s actually like. And bring him in so we can see what he’s like in person.”
“How good is he under pressure?” Megumi asks, leaning back onto his hands. One of the main things they really need to keep an eye out for is whether Yuuji can perform well not only in front of them, but in front of crowds as well.
Junpei forms a few chords on their fretboard, not strumming or plucking the strings but letting the chords ring out in silence. “It took him a bit of coercing to sing just that little bit, but that’s probably because it was out of nowhere. If I told him about us, then I think he would be more agreeable.”
“Don’t pressure him,” Nobara says, pointing her stick at them.
“I won’t!” Junpei says, putting their hands in the air. “Like I said, he’s very agreeable. He’s actually almost a pushover.”
“Bring him over sometime,” Megumi says, standing up and wrapping his bass strap around his neck. “We can see how he is then.”
“Okay!” Junpei says, standing up as well and looping their strap around their neck too.
Nobara’s sticks bang against each other loudly as she counts them into a song.
—
Almost a week passes before they’re able to have another practice session. They usually aimed for at least three a week, but with the mid-trimester break coming up, it was like their lecturers had all decided to dump multiple assignments on them before the break actually started. Junpei’s constant messages of how tf do i do this ＞︿＜ combined with Nobara’s just as confusing answers made Megumi almost feel bad for them.
(“You aren’t even in the same class,” Megumi had said, delivering a plate of bunny apple slices to Nobara’s desk, “what if your answers are wrong?”
“I did this paper last year,” she’d said, stretching her arms above her head before reaching for a slice. “They just reuse the same shit, trust me. If not the same dataset, then most definitely the same methods. It’s a beginner paper, anyways, Maki-san told me.”)
Junpei messages before their practice session that they’ve finally managed to get Yuuji to come in.
“About time,” Nobara says, fiddling with her shoelaces. “We’ve been meaning to meet him for how long now?”
“You can’t control someone else’s schedule,” Megumi says, tuning his bass. “Like Junpei said, he’s busy.”
Nobara raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him, waving him off. She immediately perks up once she hears voices coming from down the hallway, one of them softer and placid, the other loud and excited. She looks to Megumi, jerking her head to the door. “That must be them now.”
Sure enough, Junpei opens the door, laughing at something before ushering the other person inside. The first thing Megumi notices is how the room instantly lights up just from his presence. The guy’s ridiculously tall, too, and it’s not like Megumi is short by any means, because he’s literally average height, but this guy? He’s gotta be at least 6’2, maybe even taller. He’s almost a whole head taller than Junpei, for crying out loud. Megumi’s slightly annoyed at how fucking hot this guy is, like seriously. Tall, handsome, cute, kinda dumb (from what he’s heard), apparently good with his fingers and oh, if that doesn’t do something to Megumi. Nobara glances over at Megumi, her eyes darting over to Junpei’s guest and back to Megumi, wiggling her eyebrows with a smug little grin. He gives her a deadpan stare, his self-imposed rule echoing in his head.
“Um,” Junpei says, gesturing awkwardly. “This is Yuuji.”
Yuuji waves. “Hi! I’m Itadori Yuuji, I’m 21 and I like movies and tall women with big butts like Jennifer Lawrence!”
Nobara barely holds back her laugh. “You— this is our first time meeting and that’s your introduction?”
Yuuji rubs a hand on the back of his neck with a sheepish laugh. “Should I not have said that?”
She shakes her head, though she’s grinning at him—probably at his introduction. “Kugisaki Nobara, drummer.”
“Cool!” Yuuji says. “How long have you been playing for? Do you play any other instruments? Hey, who’s your favourite drummer?”
“One question at a time!” Nobara says, though she’s clearly relishing in the attention Megumi thinks she doesn’t need. “Ahem. Since I was six. I play a bit of piano, but not as well as Memi over here. As for a favourite, that would be myself, obviously.”
“So cool,” Yuuji says, his eyes finally making their way over to where Megumi is still pretending to tune his bass. He raises his eyebrows and tilts his head. “You are?”
Megumi coughs. “Fushiguro. Bassist.”
Yuuji blinks at him like he’s expecting more. He looks to Nobara and Junpei when Megumi adds nothing else. “Um. Nice to meet you, Fushiguro. I like your piercings.”
“Thanks.”
Nobara rolls her eyes at his introduction but doesn’t press him any further. “Anyways, Junpei. You finally managed to bring him here.”
“I know right,” Junpei says, carefully taking their guitar out of its bag and making sure it’s tuned properly before strumming a chord. “Yuuji, do you wanna tell them how or should I?”
It’s an odd thing to say, but Junpei says a lot of random stuff sometimes that both Megumi and Nobara don’t understand. Half the time they’re references to obscure films, the other half it’s just Junpei being Junpei.
“Oh,” Yuuji says. “My brother had someone over last night and I didn’t wanna deal with that so Junpei offered their place to stay the night.”
“I’m just lucky I live near the studio,” Junpei says, plucking a simple melody. It sounds like the one Yuuji was playing in the video they showed to Megumi and Nobara.
Megumi squints at Yuuji. He’s eerily familiar, two markings below his eyes that look like scars, light pink hair with an undercut. It finally clicks. The bartender and Yuki, and— “I’ve seen you at a few of our shows before.”
Yuuji blinks at him in confusion before nodding. “Yeah! I’ve been friends with Junpei since high school, and I wanted to support them. I made sure to go to every show after I found out they were joining a band.”
Nobara looks between Yuuji and Megumi, giving Megumi a long look before she gets up from behind the drum kit. “Well, congrats. Now it’s time to see how well you sing.”
It takes Yuuji a while to choose a song, but when he finally does, the three of them give him a backing track. Yuuji, to Megumi’s pleasant surprise, doesn’t look nervous in the slightest. If anything, he looks right at home with the microphone in hand, nodding his head to the beat. He holds his phone in his other hand, eyes on the lyrics and waiting for the right moment to start singing. When it finally comes, Yuuji’s voice rings out in their studio, his voice sweet and light. It’s just like the video, flowing through the notes without any trouble, his breathing steady.
Megumi finds himself fingering his bass with more intensity than needed, his fingers flying over the fretboard. He hasn’t played like this in a while, hasn’t been struck by someone’s vocal’s since Kenji—
Nobara gives Megumi another Look, her eyes darting between him and Yuuji once more. He frowns at her, mouthing, Knock it off. She shrugs, performing an over the top drum fill and smashing the cymbal with finality. Junpei and Megumi’s instruments taper off, along with Yuuji’s singing. There’s a moment of awkward silence, Yuuji clearing his throat before hesitantly asking, “Was that okay?”
Junpei is already cheering, clapping Yuuji on the back. “That was great, Yuuji! I told you you’d be fine.”
Nobara nods in agreement, folding her arms across her chest. “Definitely. Say, do you have any experience in performing for crowds?”
The corners of Yuuji’s lips tug down slightly before he shakes his head. “Uh, not a whole lot, but I should be okay! My dad and brothers always said I was the type of kid who wanted attention.”
Nobara laughs loudly. Megumi rolls his eyes and shakes his head, turning his amp’s volume down so he can pluck out a bassline to a song he’s been practising by himself. She looks to him, tapping on her snare when she asks, “And what are your thoughts, Memi?”
“My thoughts are that you should call me my proper name,” he says, giving her an unimpressed stare. She waves it off, already used to his behaviour. “It was good.”
“Is that all?” she asks, her snare drum roll stopping. Without the rolling drums, Megumi’s bassline grows louder. He knows what she’s trying to do—she’d already noticed it the second Megumi saw Yuuji. “Don’t be shy, I’m sure Yuuji is the type to enjoy being praised.”
“Stop being weird,” Megumi snaps, halting his bass. “It was good. Let’s get back to practice now, okay?”
She makes a face at him but sighs. “Whatever. Junpei, have you figured out the chord arrangement?”
“H-Huh? Oh, yes, I have a few ideas for it.” They rummage through their bag for their notebook containing their band’s songs, along with any little tidbits of inspiration Junpei manages to conjure. “Here, I think we can do this…”
Megumi manages to tune out their conversation, but the bass strings start feeling wrong beneath his fingertips. The air in the studio room grows stifling, everything too loud in his ears. “I’m going out for some air,” he says to no one in particular, slinging his bass off and laying it in one of the provided holders.
“Take care,” Junpei says, watching Megumi leave the room hurriedly. He doesn’t give them a response, too busy navigating the winding hallways to get to the damn exit.
Most of the time, he appreciates the winding layout because it means people are less likely to wander into another room accidentally, but right now? It’s a hassle, something he wishes had never existed in the first place. He finally manages to make it to the one of the exits, throwing the door open and squinting at the sun. He’s lucky the studio isn’t located on a busy road; he allows himself to slump down on the stairs, his head against the wall.
He knows that Nobara was just messing with him before, but there was such a thing as going too far—something she failed to realise at times. Sure, he and Kenji may have had an on-and-off relationship that partly contributed to his departure, but that didn’t mean it had to happen again. Megumi didn’t want it to happen again. The fact that it had happened in the first place was already bad enough, but the fact that it had happened twice was… well.
Yuuji didn’t deserve that. They’d only just met and Megumi already knew that if he made a move on Yuuji that he’d end up falling harder than he wanted to. Nobara had already noticed it, and even if Junpei was a bit dense at times, it definitely wouldn’t take long for them to notice, either.
He exhales into the sky, letting his eyes fall shut. It’s uncharacteristic of him to suddenly get up and leave, and he knows he’ll have to return eventually. He hopes Nobara won’t prod at him when he returns, in that way she often does.
The door opens beside him. Yuuji pokes his head out, looking around and scratching his head in confusion.
“Down here,” Megumi says, fiddling with one of his rings.
Yuuji jolts in surprise, his head whipping down to where Megumi is still sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. “Oh! I didn’t see you there!”
“I can see that,” Megumi says, standing up and dusting himself off. “Did Nobara send you?”
“Hm? Oh, no. Her and Junpei are talking about some… stuff. Not bad stuff, but more like complicated stuff that I don’t really understand. Composition and all that, you know.”
Megumi raises an eyebrow at him. Does that mean Yuuji came out here on his own volition? Maybe he’s just the kind of guy to do that. He seems like the kind of guy to do that—seek out a newly met stranger in an attempt to befriend them. “You didn’t want to join in?”
Yuuji grimaces. “I don’t really know a whole lot about that kinda stuff. Like I could probably learn it real quick if I wanted to, but the two of them seemed pretty… in their own world.”
Megumi would need at least five hands to count the amount of times he’s tried talking to Junpei, only for them to be in their own world while scribbling out composition notes and sheet music. It makes sense that Yuuji wouldn’t want to get involved in that. “Hm. So you came looking for me by yourself?”
Yuuji blinks at him, the tips of his ears vaguely pink. He gapes a few times like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “I, uh. Yeah— yeah! I got worried when you ran off when we seemed to be doing fine—”
“It wasn’t that,” Megumi says, going back inside and making sure Yuuji follows him before the heavy door slams shut. “It’s more the fact that Nobara was—” He cuts himself off. Yuuji doesn’t need to know the whole reason he ran off; it’s childish, after all.
Yuuji tilts his head in confusion, akin to a puppy. Megumi shakes his head, waving a hand. It’d be better if he didn’t know.
“Let’s just get back to practising. You have a lot to catch up on.”