Hyde gives another large yawn- trying hard to pay attention to what Kaz was saying, head bobbing up and down in a nod of agreement. Unfortunately, being awoken at two am and never going back to sleep had taken a large toll on the vocalist. He had awoken to find a particular soloist next to him in bed and himself stripped to nothing. He’d immediately screamed- ‘like a girl’ Ju-ken had stated later- and attempted to leap out of the bed. Gackt hadn’t let him leave with the blanket however and he’d been facing a very bare soloist. Hyde had flipped further out, screaming about rape and how Gackt was going to join for this. The younger man had simply chuckled and asked that Hyde simply return to bed.
“Hyde?” Arimatsu asks and Hyde yanks his head up from resting on his chest.
“Yes- yes- it’s a great idea!” Kaz sends him an extremely dark glare- obviously having been trying to get his attention. “S-Sorry Kazu-kun.”
“Lovely to know that you enjoy hearing me talk, Hideto.” The vocalist winces slightly, opens his mouth to speak before his eyes land on Ju-ken. The bassist’s eyes are sparkling mischievously and Hyde clamps his mouth shut, shaking his head.
“Sorry… no sleep…” He murmurs and Kaz shakes his head again, going back to his speech about the music. Hyde felt a bit of anger boiling up at the bassist’s amusement at his predicament, considering he was part of it. He was the one had taken lovely blackmail pictures of the two of them. Hyde hated the bassist now. Even more so after Gackt had come clean, stating that it was simply a joke and that Ju-ken had the pictures.
“Hideto!” Kaz’s voice breaks into his thoughts and the vocalist realizes he’s lying on the ground. He blinks upwards at the worried faces of his band mates.
“Ow.” Hyde states as the pain in his head and back finally register.
“Damn, what the hell Hideto?!” Hyde winces slightly more at the anger in Kaz’s voice. “We thought you had a heart attack or something!” A heart attack- really?
“I’m fine.” Hyde pauses a while as he yawns, “Just… really tired.”
“Well, we can see that.” Was the simple statement from the guitarist and Hyde feels like hitting his head into the ground again.
“Sorry that my nights are spent sleeping on couches Kazuhito.” Kaz’s eyes drift over to Ju-ken, who looks away guiltily, Hyde getting up slowly with a couple winces.
“No bed last night?” There’s a pause.
“Not for long.” Hyde admits, eyes also moving to the band’s bassist. “Why do you ask?” The vocalist’s eyes move back to Kaz.
“Ju-ken- wasn’t he at your place last night? You have more than one bed.” Silence fell and Hyde’s eyebrow rises slightly at Kaz and his eyes move to look at Ju-ken.
“Well… I might’ve gone somewhere else…”
“He took me to Gackt’s and the pair of them played a prank on me.” The vocalist crosses his arms and watches Ju-ken begin to flounder.
“He would’ve done it with or without me.” The bassist defends himself and Kaz immediately frowns.
“The pictures- give them here. Now.” Kaz holds his hand out and Ju-ken sighs, dropping a camera into the guitarist’s hand. That worked out well… Kaz immediately turns the device on and blinks. “Wow.” Or not? Kaz’s eyes move up to him and there’s a pause.
“What?” Hyde asks, feeling at a loss.
“You sleep that deeply?”
“When I haven’t been sleeping at all? Yes.” Hyde rubs his head softly, feeling more annoyance rise up in him.
“All right, I’ll delete the pictures … Haido-kun, go ahead and lay down for a bit, I think this is an early day.” Kaz shakes his head before blinking. “You were really asleep?” The camera tilts at an angle within Kaz’s grasp and Hyde growls, reaching out and snatching the camera from Kaz.
“I’ll delete the pictures.” He glares at Ju-ken and begins away, Kaz actually looking mildly abashed. He’s partially down the hallway before he turns the camera’s screen towards himself to look. There’s a pause as the screen flickers to life and shows one of the last pictures taken. “What the hell is wrong with you two?!”
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Hyde reaches out for his phone, glaring at the number again. He’d locked himself into the recording studio as of last check, two hours ago. The music production wasn’t going so well by this point as the vocalist, while adept at guitar was sorely lacking in his bass and drum skills. Kaz was still outside the door; Hyde could see a tuft of the guitarist’s hair still sticking up. Hyde had thrown a fit at seeing the pictures and video that Ju-ken had taken and he’d attempted to avenge his damaged pride.
The vocalist takes a deep breath before actually answering, feeling much better than he had earlier. “Moshi moshi.”
“It’s getting late. I heard you had someone to meet that should be apologizing to you.” Kaz’s voice is quiet and Hyde sighs, relenting.
“Fine.” He begins making ready to leave and pulls his jacket on and continues packing everything else up.
“Good.” There’s a pause. “Do me a favor and make sure that girl is okay? Ju-kun is extremely worried about her.” Hyde blinks as he sees the tuft of hair outside begin moving and it disappears away.
“A-All right, I’ll do that.”
“Be sure to let me meet her after that.” Kaz sounds happy as he speaks, “I hear she’s a good, nice person.”
“If Gackt lets me.” Hyde receives a chuckle as he finishes cleaning and packs up what he was working on.
“Okay- see you later Hyde-kun.”
“Ja ne.” The vocalist responds before hanging up and finally exiting the studio. He takes a few deep breaths and continues out of the building and towards where Gackt’s practice was, pulling his jacket’s hood up against the rain. Miserable weather.
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Gackt knows that he must be obviously distracted to the rest of his band, as he continues to try and hold both his lyrics and the melody in his mind. He gives another wince as he hits a wrong note once again and You shoots him another worried glance. A pair of eyes sitting nearby belong to L’arc~en~Ciel’s vocalist also seems worried, the vocalist sitting backwards in a chair, head resting on the back. He continues singing, pulling his voice back in tune by focusing solely on the melody. You is suddenly in his vision and he blinks at the frown on the guitarist’s face. Gackt’s voice falters and dies away.
“You sound like a robot. We’re taking a break and when we come back, have your issue fixed.” The guitarist simply walks away and Gackt gives a sigh. Chachamaru pats his shoulder and offers a smile before moving away. Hyde gets up and moves over to him.
“Gacchan…”
“Just thinking about what’s going on…” Gackt shakes his head before blinking, removing his phone from his pocket, the device buzzing loudly and Hyde blinks.
“Who is it?” The older man pauses, “Miyu?” Gackt’s head shakes softly again and a look of confusion comes across the taller man’s face causing L’arc~en~Ciel’s vocalist to lean in again.
“I don’t know the number. It looks foreign.” There’s a slight pause before he answers, “Moshi moshi?”
“What are you doing?” You asks before Gackt sets the device to speakerphone, a curious Hyde still standing in front of him.
“Moshi moshi, Gackt-san desu ne?” A female voice questions.
“Hai sou desu. Dare desu ka?” Hyde blinks at Gackt’s direct question in surprise.
“Kore… taisetsu… It’s not important!” She gives up on Japanese and jumps to English, seeming highly upset. “Where’s my sister? I can’t contact her. She’s in danger.” Gackt had gone still and Hyde felt a sense of dread rising within him. “Is she with you? Is she safe?” The phone hits the ground as Gackt takes off running, the soloist slamming into the door and there’s a resounding thud as it bounces off the wall. A call of Miyu’s name echoes back to the studio as Hyde grabs the dropped phone and gives chase out into the rain.
The younger man is internally berating himself as his feet splash through puddles gathering the streets, pressing his body to run as fast as it can. The water is just another obstacle; just like the people he’s dodging around and through, not bothering to waste a breath on them. The pathway is laid out in his mind, a fifteen minute walk there. He’s willing himself to make it in less than three. Horrible images dash through his mind of her battered body growing cold in a dumpster or a river somewhere. His feet slide on the wet pavement, pain shoots up through his knees and is promptly ignored. His hands push off of the pavement, shoving him, stumbling for a second, back forward. Why didn’t I listen? Thoughts of her answer to asking him what made her come to Japan drift through his mind. About how nervous she had really sounded when she had stated “That’s… not really important.” The way her eyes had drifted to the left when she had spoken about getting a job here from her former Los Angeles home. Pain darts through his shoulder as he comes too close to a wall, dodging a couple walking with an umbrella. He’d kept his suspicions to himself however, since she had allowed him much the same for privacy. He can feel a stinging sensation in his eyes, sliding around another corner, landing hard on his side and immediately scrambling up to his feet. He’s deeply regretting the decision.
The building comes into view and Gackt continues willing himself forward, fear driving him faster. He slides into the building and pauses only slightly, dripping water onto the floor. “The elevator is slow…” His feet pound up the stairs, now slick soles sliding across the landings. If she was hurt or damaged or even dead, it was his fault for not watching over her. He was sure Syra would agree to this, the upset woman’s voice echoing through his mind, asking for her sister again and again. The railing slams into his ribs as he dodges past a door opening, the hit reverberating through the railing, the vocalist sucking air back into his burning lungs. He was really regretting not driving to her work and inquiring where she was that day she hadn’t called. He had thought it had been too forward of him to do.
The soloist comes to a stop in the hallway, heart hammering in his chest as he pulls more air into his shaking body. He begins moving down the hallway, hands searching for the key that he’d begun to keep on him. His legs are shaking with exhaustion as he quickly unlocks the door and pushes it open. “Miyu?!” He calls immediately and moves more into the apartment. He can make out a shape lying across the floor in the bedroom but instinct tells him to duck. A knife embeds itself in the frame of the bedroom door loosely and Gackt turns to face the man standing in the kitchen entrance. “Who are you?” His body naturally takes on a fighting position, considering the hostility he had already faced. His body is still aching from the run.
“You him- aren’t you?” The man steps forward, short tousled brown hair having spikes in every direction, some blond like an unfinished dye job. His eyes are bloodshot and the irises a dark green as they follow Gackt’s movements.
“Him who?” The soloist questions as he glances back towards where he can see Miyu on the floor. Who is this? Some ex-boyfriend? Is… is this who she was running from? He refocuses in time to dodge a swing at his head and feels his hair move with the air displaced. With a quick upward movement, he catches his opponent in the jaw, sending him reeling backwards. It’s all right Mi-chan… I’ll save you. His opponent pulls himself back up quickly and launches himself at Gackt with a flurry of swinging blows, surprising the soloist who can only block and dodge. The bloodshot eyes focus on his again, the man looking almost like a rabid dog and a realization comes across Gackt’s mind. Shit- he’s on something- this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought. A couple blows find their way through the vocalist’s defense and a groan of pain leaves his lips. Gackt wings an elbow into the depraved man’s stomach to create breathing room between himself and the other. His opponent comes back without delay and into a set of waiting palms that shove him off-balance despite sending Gackt himself back a couple steps, exhaustion beginning to rack his body from his run. The man swings around and grasps the vocalist’s calf, yanking the weakened limb out from under him. Gackt hits the ground hard and feels hands grasping at him and the bloodshot eyes come into view again. The soloist jerks his head forward, feeling pain crawl through his skull as it connects with the other man’s head. A fist connects with his jaw and a groan of pain slips out as he knees his opponent multiple times, hands grasping at the brown-haired man’s clothing. There’s a snap as the vocalist’s necklace breaks and Gackt’s knuckles break open on the strung out man’s face.
“I’ll kill you!” Spit splatters his arm and face as more blows land across his body. Gackt’s legs and arms ache in agony as he returns the blows; despite feeling more strike his face and upper body. He’s almost sure that blood is running into his mouth from his nose, tasting a strange flavor. The man begins drawing back and Gackt takes advantage of the situation, pulling his opponent in close again and hooking an arm around his neck tightly. Just a few seconds. Blows arch back into his upper body and continue as he clings desperately to the hope of knocking him out. The soloist gives a loud shout as teeth sink into his arm and an elbow rams into his stomach. Despite the pain, he pulls his arm tighter until the blows slowly come to a halt, the body of the crazed man falling limp. Gackt lets the man slip to the ground as he falls back, landing even more exhausted on the ground. He gives another groan of pain and struggles up to his feet, staggering over to where Miyu lay unconscious. The bruises were glaring against her skin and the vocalist wipes blood from his nose before reaching and pulling the woman into his arms, dropping to his knees beside her.
“Mi-chan?” He manages out around his heavy breathing, holding her face softly, his entire body shaking. “Mi-chan, wake up…” Her eyes are lightly shut, dried blood streaked across her bruised face, one eye swollen and her lips busted. He feels more relaxed as her breathing, slow with slight catches from pain, continues. He begins to lift her up to leave when a white hot pain runs down through his shoulder, his knees slamming hard back into the ground. The soloist swings wise with one arm, missing the man as the knife grates against the bones in his shoulder and a scream of pain is pulled from his lips. He holds Miyu closer to him, trying to ignore the pain seething through his body and the bloodshot eyes staring at him with the idea of death behind him, the knife dripping red on to the floor. A sense of terror quickly wells up in Gackt’s chest, watching as the man’s eyes move down to the knife before back up to the singer. Fuck. He quickly begins moving for his only option, moving to sweep the man’s legs before there’s a sickening thud and crack. The hopped-up man lands in a heap, blood running from his head steadily and Hyde, standing right behind him, drops a heavy small statue, it giving a resounding thump as it hits the floor.
“Oh fuck- did I- I just kill him?” The vocalist looks suddenly pale and extremely shaky, breathing heavily, holding a hand to his mouth in shock. Gackt gives a relieved smile at seeing L’arc~en~Ciel’s vocalist before he can hear more people rushing into the apartment.
“Gaku!” You’s voice calls for him but a softer one grabs his attention, even over Hyde beginning to ask himself over and over if he had killed someone.
“G… Gacchan?” The soloist’s eyes drift back to the woman on his lap, his one arm still tight around her. Her eyes are hazily focused on him and he gives an exhausted but happy smile.
“Hai Mi-chan… I’ve got you, you’ll be okay now.” She gives him a pained smile. He leans in and presses a kiss to her lips, ignoring the pain still screaming through his body. When he draws back, he finds that she’s passed out again and he presses another kiss to her head, leaning his against it as he hears the wail of sirens getting closer.
