Work Text:
CLOSED
It was written in red capital letters on a huge sign hanging on the door of the studio and the four boys were standing outside with the same expression of disbelief.
“That... is unexpected” Mafuyu said flatly, as a matter of fact, while Uenoyama's mouth was hanging wide open beside him.
Akihiko had already shifted in a half-annoyed mood when he snapped from his stunned state.
“Haruki, is that a bad joke ?” he asked through gritted teeth. The older member turned his head instantly “I don't know anything about this !” he protested in defense, fumbling in his pocket to pull out his phone from it “Usually, they're sending an email when something's wrong...”
“Mmh, it says they had a sudden power cut in the late afternoon. They are expecting some help from a technician tomorrow morning” Mafuyu pointed out, his attention directed to a small adding note under the handle's door.
“Whaaaat ?” the drummer slapped a hand on his forehead in utter defeat while Haruki's shoulders slumped.
“Although we finally accorded our schedules...” he added to the whole current disappointed mood.
It was indeed one of the worst timing ever. The winter break and new year's festivities dragged their practice and they already had to postpone their meeting three times this month. Talk about bad luck.
“Oi, Ue, snap out of it already. You're not helping us there...” Akihiko was trying to bring back the dark-haired boy to earth by poking his side over and over again.
“What do you expect me to do ?!” Ritsuka finally gave in and slapped Aki's hand away, impatience boiling inside him “It's just another wasted time here !”
“Stay calm, both of you !” Haruki interruped, sensing his bandmates dangerously on edge. They had to figure something out. He sighed heavily and looked around expectantly when he heard Mafuyu humming. It was a popular song he reckoned was broadcasted on the radio during the holiday. Haruki knew the boy was making a lot of efforts and time to study for the band. Including practicing every song he heard by himself. That's when the idea popped into his mind.
“Guys !”
All heads turned toward him in surprise and Haruki beamed at them “You will surely find it crazy but... you do know that all karaoke's room are soundproofed, right ?”
Akihiko's eyes widened instantly, understanding flashing his brain “There is one next to the station ! And it stays open until the middle of the night !”
“You're thinking of doing practice there ?...” Uenoyama frowned, not entirely convinced. Haruki shrugged back, a small reassuring smile on his lips.
“We can always try. It's still pretty cheap and we can at least work on the melody. You guys don't need much space or equipement anyway”
“Uhm, ok then...” Ritsuka nodded, still a little moody.
“I never went to a karaoke...” Mafuyu said out of the blue.
“Really ?” Akihiko eyed him and extended a hand to pat his messed hair “It's pretty fun you know !”
“Aki, we're not going there to play. Well, not like that...” Haruki scolded him gently, earning a little pouting look from the blond.
*
Haruki's decision clearly improved his bandmates spirits. Ritsuka's grumpy face disappeared as soon as they started elaborating a new melody for their next song. Akihiko helped setting a tempo with the karaoke's tambourine and his own snare, making an unexpecting set of drums, and Mafuyu showed them a few lyrics he wrote during the break.
It was the cheapest practice session they all had in their life, but at least, they made some progress and it cleared all frustration away.
When they reached the limits of their improvement for the day, they packed everything and ordered some drinks to go along with the conversation.
“So, we're all ok with this song for the next live right ?” conclued Haruki, satisfied.
“Yeah, I think we can make it in time.” Ritsuka said, looking at the notes he scribbled during the last two hours. He turned his head to Mafuyu who was taking a sip of his juice “Is it alright with you ?”. The boy nodded fervently, a shy smile on his lips.
“Niiiiiice !” Akihiko clapped his hands all of a sudden, drawing all attention on him. He grabbed the remote and wriggled it, a huge grin on his face “Now that we're done, how about enjoying ourselves a bit, while we're here ?”
“You can sing ?” Ritsuka raised an eyebrow, amused.
“Somehow, I want to see it too...” Haruki mumbled to himself. When he glanced at Mafuyu, he saw the boy's eyes lit up “I want to try !” he exclaimed in excitement.
“He he, alright, begginers first then !” Akihiko handed him the mic and fumbled across the song's selection.
“Not a pop song please...” Ritsuka sighed, arms crossed on his chest. Haruki chuckled at the boy's stubborn attitude “I'm sure anything would be pleasant with Mafuyu's voice, don't you think so ?”
Ritsuka's cheeks went pink all over and Haruki had to hold a wave of giggles. Such cute kids in love. He turned his head to the vocalist “How about the song you were humming a moment ago ?”
“Ah, right, I heard it too, the band's popularity skyrocketed in less than a week...” Akihiko mentionned with a hint of jealousy, finding that said music on the list.
“Uhm, I was trying to study the singer's changes of tone in it” Mafuyu said, twirling the mic nervously into his hands “Want to hear it ?”
The three boys nodded at once and Akihiko pressed the start button.
As always, Mafuyu's lovely voice was honey to their ears.
Even if the instrumental part wasn't that impressive and led by a rather classic tempo - good enough to be catchy though – everything seemed to be shouldered by the combined efforts of the well written lyrics and the impressive difficulty of the singing part. And Mafuyu was handling it so well. The score was almost perfect, reflecting his previous efforts on solo practices.
When the song ended, the boy turned toward his bandmates, hesitant.
“That was... unexpectingly good” Uenoyama admitted, his embarrasement covered by both of his hands hiding his face.
“Unexpectedly ? As always, so demanding of you” Haruki scoffed awkwardly “That was truly great !”
“And that's the day Uechi came to acknowledge he liked pop songs...” Akihiko teased without mercy. The dark-haired boy grunted as he slid his hands down his face.
“I would love to see you try the same accomplishment, though” he snickered back to Akihiko.
“God, don't challenge him...” started Haruki, but he was interruped by the drummer's high spirits as he announced loudly “I'm in !”
That, was rather predictable, thought Haruki. What wasn't though, was the fact that Akihiko picked the most difficult song with the hardest level. Ritsuka and Mafuyu were looking expectandly at the screen while Haruki frowned in suspicion.
And then it begun. Akihiko drew a breath in... and let out the nastiest false note he could manage. It resulted on an incredible chain reaction. Ritsuka guffawed shamelessly while Mafuyu was shaking with contained laugher, lips pinched, keeping his face as unreadable as he could. That wasn't Haruki's case. He litteraly fell on the sofa, clenching his stomach, a communicating and uncontrollable burst of laughter escaping his mouth endlessly.
It was obvious that Akihiko was just messing around but the way he gesticulated and the sounds he made while looking so serious were too much to handle for the other members. He even made it so far as winking at them occasionally, making a show of the love song he was actually butchering.
“S-S-Stop it already...” Ritsuka begged breathlessly between two waves of giggles, his face red as a tomato, tears threatening the corner of his eyes.
“Pfft-ha-wahahah-I-I'm d-dying-ahah” Haruki rolled on his side, his head burried into the fabric of the sofa.
They were unable to breath properly for three minutes – which seemed to last an eternity – and eventually, the torture came to an end, leaving Ritsuka and Haruki panting while Akihiko bowed proudly before them.
Mafuyu tilted his head “I... don't know what to say”. He was biting his tongue during the whole song and was grateful it was finally over, otherwise, the band would have needed a new vocalist.
“Kaji-san, that was so horrible, oh my god” Ritsuka managed to let out, his breath slowly coming back to normal.
“Oh, I actually put all of my talent in display here” Akihiko flashed a smug grin, actually quite pleased with himself.
“Give me back my abs...” Haruki objected, sitting up, a hand stuck on his stomach. Akihiko laid his eyes upon the bassist's cute flustered face and asked mischievously “Oww, want me to check you up ?”
“N-no thanks” Haruki squeaked instantly at the innuendo.
“Honestly, I'm relieved that you do have flaws somehow” Ritsuka pointed out.
“Oh, so you think you can do better ?” Akihiko looked at the boy with a glint of provocation lighting his green eyes and extended the mic toward him. It wasn't so hard to pull Ritsuka's trigger. The later huffed while taking it and scrolled the list of songs displayed on the screen. He was sensing Mafuyu's glances directed at him and puffed out his chest, determined to make a good impression. His choice settled on an old british rock song and it was clearly no surprise to anyone. Still, they were all stunned to hear him sing in english – with a weird japanese accent, right – but in an understanding way for them.
Akihiko whistled in appreciation and Haruki mumbled a frustrated “Genius...”. As for Mafuyu, he had stars twinkling in his eyes. When Ritsuka stopped singing, his boyfriend grabbed his sleeve “That was so great Uenoyama-kun ! Even so you're so bad in english class !”
This definitely got the two oldest ones into a laughing fit and Ritsuka's face darkened from ear to ear.
“I-I'm only memorizing what's important ! And I'm not so bad at it !”
“Didn't you had a re-take exam on that subject last summer ?” Haruki brought up slyly, watching the boy with a hand on his chin.
“Oh, I do remember it too” added Akihiko, imposing a final blow on Ritsuka's pride.
Mafuyu patted his shoulder in a comforting way “Don't worry, you still have passing grades after all”
“Yeah yeah, I'm warning you, I won't take any passing grade on this band's practice starting now” threatened Ritsuka as a cold revenge.
“Eh, so mean” Akihiko shrugged, unconvinced. Mafuyu smiled, not quite believing it himself.
“So, who's next...” Akihiko's look swept across the room to stop at Haruki's level. The man was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, sinking into his seat, in vain. Akihiko's smile widened “Haruki, you're very quiet, uhm ?”
Oh god. That tone. That look. It was definitely time for his teasing routine. Haruki braced himself and gave away a reluctant smile “I will skip my turn...”
Akihiko arched an eyebrow, staring intensely at him, as if he was trying to scan his soul and Haruki felt his ears heating up. But to his surprise, the drummer turned his head away and finally gave the mic to Mafuyu.
“Let's sing some random songs for the time remaining. The one getting the lowest score will be rewarded by a great embarrassing penalty”
The boys got fired up at once and started fighting about the rules and said penalty.
Haruki relaxed, watching them with fondness, his chin resting upon the back of his hand. Sometimes, he was feeling like he had three little brothers to take care of (well, mostly two actually, but Akihiko just had that attractive and cute childish side too). He smiled, his mind drowned in a calm bliss despite the fuss they were making.
Everyday was always filled with so much fun.
*
“It's already this late...” Haruki looked at his watch with a concerned face.
“Well, maybe I took it too far” admitted Akihiko, still chuckling as he reviewed the previous events in his head.
The two young boys left in a rush some minutes ago now, Ritsuka pulling Mafuyu by his hand in a hurry. They almost missed the last train but Ritsuka reassured them by a text, saying they got back to his home safely.
Things got out of control during their singing fight. Mafuyu still won by far, his natural talent obviously on top, but his face was clearly painted with enjoyment during all the process. Naturally, it ended with a heated duel between Ritsuka and Akihiko. Thing is, they were both bad loosers. And as to not give him, Akihiko started to nag Ritsuka everytime it was his turn to sing. He whispered awkward words into his ears, jabbed at his ribs and commented on every single mistake, driving him mad. Ritsuka tried his best to keep his cool but unfortunately, even with Akihiko's score reaching an adequate level with difficulties, the young boy still got the last place.
As for the penalty, it was one last song to perform with a perfect score on the hardest mode, choosen by Mafuyu and Akihiko: the Pokemon's opening.
And it went beyond everyone's expectations. It was so hilarious that tears of laughter were tickling Akihiko's eyes. Haruki had his second torturing fit of giggles. He hadn't suffered so much since last time Akihiko tickled him to death. Ritsuka's stern face while he did his best to get the highest score possible was priceless. He did it fifth times in a row to complete it before escaping at full speed while cursing Akihiko's guts.
“That look though... I will never forget it in my whole life !” Haruki said, ajusting the cushions on the sofa.
“Aaah, I feel you...” Akihiko approved.
Then, he reached out to him and shuffled a hand into his hair “It was a great idea, coming here. Good job” he grinned, face close.
Haruki's cheeks went pink instantly “Ah... thanks” he answered quietly.
Akihiko reduced the space between them and bumped his forehead to Haruki's.
“You didn't sang, though” he said, voice husky.
“I'm just... not good at it” Haruki argued, heartbeat already going a little too much out of control for his own taste.
“Hum, I'm not buying it” Akihiko backed off and reached for the mic. He put it in Haruki's hand, resting his own upon it “Guess what ? I just decided that you won't leave this place without giving it a try”
“W-why ?” Haruki frowned, his brain focusing on nothing but Akihiko's warm skin now. The taller man pulled him in front of the screen and moved to stand behind him.
“'Cause I stole your car's keys” he said as he wrapped his arms around Haruki's stomach in a sweet back hug and rested his chin on his shoulder.
“And it will cost you one little song if you want them back, it's pretty convenient right ?” Akihiko whispered into his ear, warm breath marking his skin with goosebumps of pleasure.
“You may be disappointed...” Haruki complained, hands gripping the mic.
“Nah, not happening, I'm confident” Akihiko was already scrolling across the songs with the remote.
“Must be great to be you-”
Akihiko put an index across Haruki's lips, silencing him for good.
“How about you save your breath for your performance ?” he ordered in a hushing voice. Haruki growled in defeat, his whole being feeling completely trapped in the man's gestures. Akihiko searched for the right song for a pretty long time. When he reached the foreign category, Haruki's face went white. Akihiko stopped, and the title highlighted on the screen set all alarms on into his brain.
“A-Aki, this one is...”
“What ? You're taking french classes, right ?”
“Even so !”
“I want to hear it” Akihiko tightened his grip and planted a soft kiss on Haruki's temple “Please”.
A shiver ran through the older boy, from head to toes. He was struggling against both embarrassement and delectation, and the balance between the two feelings was unsteady. He closed his eyes for mere seconds and took a deep breath, opening them again as the song started.
Actually, he didn't admitted it to Akihiko but he already knew it by heart... And he was used to study old french movies, watching them all in native language to get to know the prononciation better and make a fair judgement of the acting.
To his surprise, Akihiko was standing still and he could focus all his attention toward the song. He tried not to roll the “r” and to pronounce the “ou” sounds correctly but, oh God, what a difficult language...
When it ended, he sighed heavily, drawn out by the effort and watched the score expectantly. The gauge was filled with green almost to eighty percent. He did it. He cleared it.
“Ah ! I won !” he beamed, turning into Akihiko's arms to face him...
...and his mouth crashed right into the man's lips.
Haruki gasped in surprise, tilting his head nonetheless to grant a better angle for the kiss. Akihiko was ravishing his mouth with greed, almost like he was trying to pull out another song from him. His pierced tongue brushed his own with a languid move and soon, deep moans escaped their throats, dying in each other's mouth. Before breaking up for air, Haruki nibbled the lip piercing as a sweet reward. Akihiko grunted and slid a hand under Haruki's shirt, making his way up and up greedily.
“H-hey ! T-time out !” Haruki jolted and slapped gently the intrusive hand, panting heavily. Akihiko laughed softly, his forehead still resting against Haruki's.
“Sorry, I got carried away here” his cheeks were colored with a sweet pink hue “But I think I discovered a new kink”. He stared deeply into his boyfriend's brown eyes, a wide smile stuck on his lips.
“Ah ?!” Haruki blurted out, taken aback.
“Yep. You sounded reeeeally sexy, you know ?”
“I-I still have a lot to learn, though...”
“Then, feel free to practice everytime you want when I'm around” Akihiko winked and Haruki giggled, imagining the scene.
“Something's telling me I won't make any progress like this” he pointed out, raising a hand to rub the back of Akihiko's head. The short-haired man hummed in pleasure under the touch.
“Are you questionning my tutoring skills ?”
“Uhm. Maybe. Care to try once more ? I think I lost my keys again...” Haruki smiled, eyes glinting with envy as he leaned to meet Akihiko's lips once again.
It would be a shame to waste such a delicious mood. Everyday was so worst living nowadays.