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It wasn’t long before Yamada saw the tweet. Excitement bubbled in him and he was quick to DM his agent’s phone number to Eraserhead. He hadn’t collaborated with another artist in so long, let alone an artist so talented.
But those few minutes of excitement faded fast as he was ushered into a car and off to practice all day for his concert the next night. As far as he knew, Eraserhead would be at one of the following two concerts, so he had to have this perfect to impress him. He could do it. Easy.
~*~*~
Aizawa had never been whipped around this fast before. As soon as he had the number, his agent was calling and starting negotiations. Apparently ‘Present Mic’ had asked them to spare no expense, so his demands were met with open arms.
He was on a flight to California in a few hours. A private jet, courtesy of Present Mic’s agency, carried him to America in less than twenty-four hours. The jet lag was terrible, but Aizawa couldn’t help but be a little excited.
This could be something amazing for him. As much as he wanted to stay in the shadows, he wanted his music to do well. Maybe he’d just have to get a weird cat head or a space helmet.
Driving around Los Angeles was annoying, seeing as there was traffic everywhere, but they managed to get where they were going with just enough time.
Present Mic was holding a concert that night and they made it just in time to catch the last few songs. As they rushed into the concert hall, Mic’s agent met them.
“We’re so glad you could make it! Come on, he’s got two more songs in his set.” They were lead to a golf cart before being whisked away behind the scenes until finally, they were backstage.
Aizawa huffed out a sigh before he was looking at Mic on a screen, headphones on against the loud noise.
“I’m so glad you could all make it tonight! How are you feeling, listeners?” Mic’s excited voice was in his headphones, but Aizawa heard the crowd through them. They were screaming Mic’s name and some other things he couldn’t understand. Aizawa realized Mic was doing something with his hands as he spoke, as well as there was a separate screen just for a person doing a similar thing with their hands. Luckily for Aizawa, there were also Japanese subtitles, probably only there for his benefit.
“We have two more songs for you guys tonight! I’m not going to sign it, but my amazing translator is going to! Give it up for them!” The screaming was crazy as the person on the second screen waved happily and then did more things with their hands. It clicked all at once. Sign language. Mic was really considerate of his fans, wasn’t he?
Before he could think any harder on it, music began and Mic was clapping, exciting the crowd further. And then his voice broke out. He was gripping the mic stand, his eyes closed as he moved to the music. As the chorus started, his eyes popped open and he was smiling widely, dancing, or more like jumping, before he calmed down again for the verse.
That’s how the song went, calm for the verses leading into the chorus. He moved and danced and motioned with his hands before clinging to the mic stand and then rushing away all at once to the drum set.
Aizawa had to stifle a laugh as he started playing, a simple beat, but he got into it. Then, all at once he gave the drumsticks back and sang for a moment. Aizawa watched as he backed up before he jumped over the drum set, landing and rolling his body as he sang again.
The crowd went absolutely wild. He grabbed the mic and walked with it, putting everything into his performance before it ended suddenly and he stood there panting. Mic smiled widely as the applause was deafening, laughing and looking to his drummer as he signed something to the drummer.
Mic started moving back to the mic stand and put it back. “I was so worried I was gunna miss that jump.” Laughter. Aizawa found himself laughing a little as well. He found himself smiling. This man was infectious.
“Alright, alright, settle down. One more song and that’ll be all for the evening, but I’m so glad you listeners took the time to come and see me live! I know you spent a good bit of dough coming here and I just wanted to thank you all.” Mic moved back a little and bowed at the waist.
Aizawa was taken aback. He looked to his agent and then back to Mic. Was Mic Japanese? Shaking his head, he focused back on the scene in front of him. What song was he going to sing next? Maybe one Aizawa had heard?
“Okay! To close it down tonight, let’s end on a softer song maybe? What do you guys think? I think we need to end this whole thing with some love.” The crowd went wild as Mic placed the mic back in its stand and the music started.
He stood in place and began signing almost softly, moving to the music as he did so. When the chorus came, he had a new hand movement for every time he said ‘love’.
He watched as the crowd chanted the song back to Mic before he got to a certain part. “Sing with me now. We’ve got the same-” He let the crowd complete it before he was doing the same for that bridge and then going back to singing himself, sticking to the chorus to do the hand thing as the rest of the band sang the chaotic countermelodies and as the song ended, the lights turned off.
Mic’s agent tapped Aizawa on the shoulder and he grinned. “What did you think?” Aizawa nodded a bit.
“He puts on a great show, that’s for sure. Can I meet him?” Mic’s agent looked a little hesitant before his phone rang. He put a finger up for a moment and Aizawa nodded a little, used to the gesture even if it was considered rude.
He talked quickly in English and Aizawa realized all at once that Mic’s agent knew Japanese. He wasn’t really expecting that. Mic’s agent motioned him to follow and Aizawa and his own agent followed until they were back on the golf cart. Aizawa glanced at his agent.
“Where are we going?” His agent shrugged a bit before tapping Mic’s.
“Where are we going?” Mic’s agent smiled.
“Mic said he wanted to meet you. We’re bringing you to his trailer. He’s still trying to come down a bit.” Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. Did this guy do drugs or something? He didn’t want to work with someone like that.
They were at Mic’s trailer quickly, but all the lights were off. There was no noise inside and a big red sign on the front door reading ‘DO NOT DISTURB.’ Aizawa huffed a little. That seemed pretentious.
Mic’s agent quickly whipped out his phone again and made a quick call. After he spoke for a moment, the lock on the trailer clicked and he looked to Aizawa and his agent.
“Please try to be quiet. Sometimes Mic has some sensory overload after concerts and needs to come down from it. He still wants to meet you, but he might be a little out of it.”
Aizawa felt like a bit of a jerk now for his earlier assumptions. Mic’s agent went in first before he was fumbling in the dark. Aizawa waited where he was left, trying to see for a moment before he gave up. After a few moments, Mic’s agent flicked on the lights and he motioned Aizawa inside.
Mic gently took off the blindfold he was wearing and smiled a little, looking tired and elated all at once. Aizawa noticed his eyes again as well as how pretty his hair was as he smiled. Mic knocked on the wood next to the sofa as he stood and the person that had been signing earlier came out of the back with a few water bottles in their hands.
“Hello!” They gave Mic a water before handing out the rest of them.
Mic finally turned to Aizawa. “It’s really nice to finally meet you, Eraserhead! My name is Yamada Hizashi, or Present Mic, and this is Bailey, my interpreter. You’ve met my agent, Hiroshi, as well. I’ve asked you here to talk a lot of business, but small talk isn’t my strong suit. Instead, I’ll get straight to the point. Let’s write an album together!”