Chapter Text
There was much to prepare before the BoW and a detail that could not be forgotten was the new song they would use to go against IDOLiSH, and Minami was determined to make this song the best one till date of ZOOl, if not the most important one.
And by showing the lyrics and the melody that the song would have, his teammates once again confirmed that Natsume Minami was the best composer of all. The melody with a certain touch of danger and with multiple rhythms and combinations of tones, mixed with the lyrics that, unlike other compositions, stood out that resistant and full-of-value side of them, but also mixing it with the strong sense of security of the group, give as a result a song that would be, for sure, a success for this Black or Withe.
The song wasn’t exactly like Poisonous Gangster or Zone of Overlap, it was something different, though not completely. The single lyrics seemed to express everything the group felt, as well as all the strength they had after going through so much together. It represented that feeling of greatness and strength, combined with courage and a passionate desire to win, to reach higher levels, to be good rivals in the Black or White. Of course, the melody that Minami had created stood out all those feelings and gave even more strength to the lyrics of the song.
Minami highlighted a couple of words of the lyrics and put the sheet in front of the center of ZOOL with a small smile. Haruka, from his side of the table, raised an eyebrow, waiting for the elder to tell him what he intended. “Isumi-san.” Minami said while rewinding the song's tune to a specific part. “Would you mind singing this?”
Haruka didn't doubt it much more than a second, following the words on the paper and reminding the way Minami had sung before a part of the lyrics, he coordinated his voice with the melody once Minami gave him the signal that he could sing.
Haruka's voice rang along with the music, giving the room's atmosphere a sudden and impressive change at the same time. Although this environment dissolved once the center of ZOOL stopped suddenly, tilting his head at the paper in front of him. “Can we repeat that?”
Minami let out a soft laugh, for him to hear the song he had just composed with the most powerful voice of the whole group was a real delight, he couldn't wait to hear how the others sang it. He rewound the song again and turned his gaze full of expectation to Haruka.
The center of ZOOL, on the other hand, got up from his chair with the only purpose of standing next to Touma and, without a word, he placed the paper with the lyrics on the table in front of both, probably so that the two could see it with ease. While Minami found the time of the song that Haruka wanted to repeat, the younger member of ZOOL told his leader what he thought his part of the song should be.
“This part is mine and the next one should be yours.” Touma nodded at the words of his center, in his mind he reviewed the words written on the paper and tried to combine them with the part that Minami had sung before as a sample. “Follow your center.” Haruka gave a slight blow to the head of his partner, only doing that in the most harmless way, in order to tell Touma to concentrate on the song.
Touma laughed at the comment and answered firmly, without any shame: “Always.” And Haruka, at a comment as embarrassing and simple as it was, made a face as he felt his cheeks warming, he clicked his tongue and kept his sight fixed on the sheet in front of them. He ignored the fact that his blush was still there and concentrated on waiting for Minami's signal.
Although on this occasion Minami's signal was slightly different from a simple Now or Start. “Are you ready?” Minami released at the right moment when the melody seemed to stop and just before Haruka's entrance in the lyrics.
Again, Haruka began to sing his part together with the music. Touma, beside him, noticed the slight movement that Haruka made with his fingers on the table to mark the rhythm of the song, he didn’t understand why the youngest did this, but thought that, probably, it was only to stay focused. In the exact second in which ZOOL’s center completed his part, Touma made sure to start singing the piece that his teammate had indicated. He thought he saw Minami smile from his place on the other side of the table and he also felt Haruka say something to the other two members of the group.
Touma didn’t understand what Haruka had said, because his head was focused on not getting wrong when reading the lyrics and following the rhythm of the song, so when he finally finished his part he didn’t expect in the least for the other three members to continue with the next part of the song.
“Minami.” Haruka called once the four managed to order the beginning so that the melody and lyrics sound the way Minami originally intended. ”What about trying the chorus?” Although Haruka had formulated the sentence as a question, his determined and full of energy tone let his colleagues notice that it was actually a statement, and who was Minami not to please his center?
“I also want to try.” Torao said, but although he had some determination in his voice, he also had an expression of excessive confusion on his face. "But how are we singing the chorus?" The older member of ZOOL looked at his composer who tilted his head slightly. “I mean, it’s different from the parts we already sing.”
It was really a good reason to present confusion, because, although Minami had sung a part as a sample of the idea he had of how the lyrics should sound, from the chorus they had only heard a couple of pieces and, thanks to the music, it was obvious that it wasn’t a tone so simple that would get out of just a sample of sing.
"Let's just start with the basics." Touma said when he saw Minami's gaze on the lyrics sheet in his hand, it seemed like he was fighting with more than one idea in his head. "How do you want it to sound, Mina?" The question got Minami to look up at the leader of ZOOL.
Minami had a concrete idea of how the chorus should sound, but when he heard his teammates sing the beginning, several more ideas had appeared in his head and, probably, they could also sound good. “How do you all want it to sound?” Minami knew that asking that question was both a bad and a good idea, since although he wanted and was curious to know what his bandmates wanted, he was also aware that hearing more ideas could make the original idea he had blend with others and, although this could improve the song in some way, it could also cause the four of them to have to stay there much longer than expected.
“Let me try something...” Haruka said with extreme slowness while looking for the point of music at which the chorus began. He received curious looks from the other three that caused him a strange feeling of nervousness, although this feeling was gone as soon as he began to sing the lyrics of the song in the way his instinct told him to.
Minami looked closely at the center of ZOOL, noticing the energy that Haruka put on each Bang! that was at the beginning of the chorus, as well as the softness that he putted to certain words. Definitely, the composer thought, he must have a solo in the song. Of course, he didn't say this out loud, because it really wasn't necessary yet.
“Something like that?” Haruka asked the rest of his teammates after finishing his demonstration, the ZOOL center saw Torao cheering him by clapping his hands, but he didn't know if it was sarcastic, with Torao it was difficult to know many things. Haruka chose to look at him with slight confusion instead of giving him a threatening look because, as it was already mentioned, the youngest of the members of ZOOL did not know if those applause were malicious.
“You are missing something.” Torao said from his seat crossing his arms, Haruka noticed that Torao's habit of resting his feet on the table while keeping his arms crossed and an expression of I'm right and nobody will tell me otherwise, had been exchanged for moving his feet to the composer's lap, although with the same action of crossing his arms and the arrogant expression.
These two, Haruka told himself, they are surely up to something. Or so the center of ZOOL thought, seeing how the composer's smile didn’t change even with the closeness that Torao provided. But frankly that wasn’t the point being at the time, so Haruka only sighed, directing his expectant gaze at Torao. “What’s missing in your opinion?” The center of ZOOL asked crossing his arms and raising his head, almost in a gesture of defiance.
Torao's slight arrogant smile did nothing but increase, without thinking much more, he took the sheet of the lyrics that contained the chorus, sitting in the right way in his seat and, without the proper music to the chorus, or rather, without any music, he began to sing his version of that part.
Torao's voice was, in many ways, different from Haruka's, but that didn't mean he had no talent. Minami appreciated how much the elder seemed to try not to be mistaken, although of the three, Torao was the one who had the most mistakes in this type of case. The slight mistakes didn’t take away the brightness he had, at least not for Minami, because he knew that if Torao practiced it, he would probably achieve perfection in the chorus.
There were clear differences between both versions of the chorus, but, of course, Minami wrote on his mind the sense of danger combined with the assurance notes that reflected certain words of the chorus in Torao's voice, that mixed feeling was one of the many that he should and wanted to reflect in this song, mainly because it was not only a song by ZOOL, but because it would be the one they use in Black or Withe.
At the end of Torao’s part, Haruka continued with his arms crossed, but a grimace of almost false annoyance appeared on his face. “I can do that!” He said pointing to Torao and the paper of the lyrics he held.
“No one doubts it, Haru, no one doubts it.” Touma got between the two once he saw Torao rise from his place ready to, at least, challenge the center of the group.
Both Torao and Haruka looked at him, it was an expression that Touma defined as intrigue, or that was the most logical thing to suppose for him. Turning in the direction of the composer of ZOOL, he found that all the members were expecting something from him, since they all had the same look. “Uh, is something wrong?”
“Touma should have a rap part.” Haruka said in Minami’s direction, although it was more a command than an opinion, and, again, who was Minami not to please Haruka?
“I had already thought about that~” Minami said looking for a specific sheet among all the disaster that was now on the table. When he finally found what he was looking for, he handed it to Touma with a few words of great weight to the leader of ZOOL. “I expect a lot from Inumaru-san in this part~”
Touma took the paper and, at the end of those words, he smiled, completely determined to reach Minami's expectations, because after Endless, it had been proven that Touma's voice was ideal for that kind of melodies, and ZOOL’s leader knew that if something was enjoyed by the composer of the group was for the rest of ZOOL to sing his songs. “It will be unforgettable!” The leader of ZOOL declared with a contagious enthusiasm for the rest of the group.
“Then...” Haruka said to no one in particular. “The chorus?”
Minami got up from his seat with a couple of papers in his hands, although standing was short-lived, since all Minami did was sit on the table and look at the rest of his teammates. That look wasn’t either something good or bad, it was simply one of Minami's many smiles accompanied by his bright eyes overflowing with determination. “Would you mind line up in front of me? I think I have a couple of ideas to try.”
The rest of ZOOL didn’t take long to do what Minami indicated, and once the three were staring at Minami and with the lyric sheets in their hands, the composer spoke a slight warning that, with the tone he was using, it was heard more like a malicious joke. “This will take a while.”