Chapter Text
The lights were, to Senku, a little much.
Holding his hand up to shield his eyes, he surveyed the small basement concert venue that Taiju and Yuzuriha had, after hours of pleading and arguing, managed to drag him to. A bar to his left was mildly populated, patrons trickling over every so often. The standing tables scattered throughout the closer end of the room held a couple people each. The lights were dimmer here, so Senku couldn’t make out all of their faces, but some of the people surrounding the tables looked a little sketchy. Ultimately, Senku trusted Yuzuriha, and you’d have to be dumb to mess with them while Taiju was right there.
The stage at the far end of the room, however, was lit with swirling lights, bright pink and green. As Senku glanced over, the lights flickered to different shades of purple. A man who appeared to be the bassist - taller, broad shoulders, dark brown hair cropped close, a simple, hole-riddled black t-shirt and jeans with sturdy, heeled boots - was making some adjustments on the amp while chatting with some girls who were huddled close to the stage. He could make out some figures towards the back of the stage, but the bright lights in front of them only gave away their silhouettes, nothing more. According to Yuzuriha, this band had blown her mind when she saw them last week and she absolutely had to share it with Taiju and him. He understood why she would bring Taiju along - their crushes on each other became more transparent every day - but he couldn’t exactly grasp why she was so adamant that Senku join them. Sure, he had listened to music before, but he wasn’t particularly attached to it. In the end, despite the effort it took Yuzuriha and Taiju to convince him to come, he was grateful he was here. Maybe this was his chance to prove to his old man that he wasn’t as boring as he accused him to be.
“C’mon,” Yuzuriha said, dragging Taiju and Senku along. “We should get a closer spot, this place is going to fill up quickly.”
Senku snorted. “What, you’re not going to buy a drink or something? What’s the point of that fake ID, then?”
Yuzuriha rolled her eyes in mock frustration, but her sneaky smirk gave her away. “Obviously to be here, dumb-dumb.” They squeezed into a spot about fifteen feet away from the stage, Senku on the left, Taiju on the right, and Yuzuriha excitedly vibrating in the middle. There wasn’t much else to do - Yuzuriha had made sure that they got there in time to get a fairly good spot, so they’d be standing there for another 20 minutes. Senku looked down to see that she was still holding him and Taiju’s arms. “I’m really glad you guys came with,” she said finally. “It’s gonna feel good to share this with you.” Taiju flushed as he and Yuzuriha exchanged soft smiles, and Senku couldn’t stop the swell of pride in his chest as he looked at his two best friends. Yeah, he supposed it would.
Asagiri Gen was ridiculously proud of the turnout tonight.
Even with ten minutes before the show was due to start, he could see that there would be more people than last week. It felt like a breakthrough to finally be picking up some momentum. Still, he couldn’t quash the nervousness that bubbled in his guts. Had he warmed up enough? Would Kitaro actually remember the bassline this time? He had saved it well enough last week, but it still wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. He huffed anxiously, wishing he at least had his cards to fiddle with in the meantime. Obviously, his fear was getting the better of him, because he didn’t even notice Ryuji, their lead guitarist, until he clapped him on the shoulder heartily, making him jump.
“Gen, I could hear you overthinking from across the room,” Ryuji grinned down at him. Gen quickly hid his fidgeting and wiped his face clean of emotion.
“Ah, Ryuji-chan, I can’t help it,” Gen teased, waving his hand dismissively. “When I think of you messing up those chords again I almost have a brain aneurysm.”
Ryuji shoved him playfully and chuckled. “I’d love to keep giving you brain damage, but it’s almost time to go. Got everything checked off?”
“Mic’s adjusted, outfit’s fine, Takeo’s still sober enough, and everyone’s shoes are tied. I think we’ll be set.” He could hear a quiet ‘hey!’ from where Takeo was seated at the drums, making Gen snort. He busied himself with his nails, not wanting to meet Ryuji’s eyes. It felt nice to be around people who were aware of his mannerisms, but only to an extent - it always unnerved him when people knew his routines and thought processes so intimately. He didn’t have enough of an upper hand that way.
Ryuji nodded. “Oi, Kitaro,” he shouted in the direction of the stage. Kitaro looked up from where he was kneeling at the front of the stage. The small crowd of girls in front of him wilted when his attention was taken from them. “Time to go, dumbass.” Kitaro grumbled unconvincingly. Gen knew they had a soft spot for each other, having been friends since grade school. Kitaro was never good at acting angry toward Ryuji. He chuckled and stepped into the pink light of the stage.
In all honesty, Yuzuriha was completely right about the band.
From the very first measure - probably from the first time he actually saw them all, Senku was captivated. The songs they played - mostly original songs, with a few covers thrown - were upbeat and wild, and though they were practiced and refined, the underlying sense of urgency, anger, brutality, was impossible to ignore. It was almost overwhelming. At the climax of one song, the lights cut out entirely, before a bright white light illuminated the band’s silhouettes from behind, creating a sort of halo effect. For such a small band, it was surprising - someone had obviously spent hours designing and testing the effects.
The band members were all energetic and engaged, and their looks were certainly helping, too. Aside from the bassist he had seen flirting earlier, there was the drummer, a shorter man with light, curly hair that went to his shoulders; the lead guitarist, a little taller than the bassist, with black hair styled in an undercut and an air of casual confidence; and- well.
They worked well together, each of them acutely tuned-in to the others’ actions, but none more so than the lead singer. Admittedly, he was super hot. He was a slim man, maybe a little taller than Senku, with gripping two-toned black-and-white hair pulled back into a short ponytail. His hip-length, wave-patterned haori fluttered around him as he danced across the stage. His high, clear voice was beautiful and he had clearly spent a lot of time training it, making the times when he put a little grit into it even more enthralling.
His sense of performance was another beast entirely. The singer drifted around the stage with complete control, carefully timed and practiced movements driving the audience wild. During one particular harmony, he and the guitarist got so close on the same mic that their lips were almost touching, and even though Senku could feel himself blushing, he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He could tell that the singer was well aware of his effect on other people, a discerning, practiced glint in his eyes as he assessed the crowd. He was gorgeous, talented, charismatic, and entirely dedicated to his craft. On paper, he and Senku would get along fantastically.
The issue was, he infuriated Senku.
When he finally introduced himself - Gen - and the band - FAE - after the first couple songs, his words were so trained, so filtered, it pissed Senku off unlike anything else. Rationally, Senku knew that each of the band members were putting on a persona to some degree, but when it came to Gen, it was almost as if his persona was a protective layer over his very bones. The extent that the falsehood was ingrained in him made Senku - it made him-
Well, it was extremely intriguing. Maddening, of course, but Senku was never very good at restraining himself when it came to mysteries. Each time the persona slipped - almost always intentionally, Senku estimated, as Gen seemed too comfortable, too in control of the stage to genuinely slip up - it just made him hungry for more. He wanted to strip away that protective layer and get to the bottom of Asagiri Gen as soon as possible.
After the final song, they went back into the small rooms that the bar had to change and clean up, each with a desk and a mirror and a couple hooks on the wall. There was also a sink in the corner that Gen didn’t entirely trust, so he usually left it alone. There were three rooms, so Ryuji always made sure that Gen had one to himself, which he was always grateful for. Having a little privacy was a lifesaver after a long show, especially when he needed to just take off his binder and breathe. That wasn’t to say he was particularly tired or irritated today - it was an amazing crowd, that Gen was sure of. They responded beautifully to everything Gen gave them, eating up his presence like it was their first meal in weeks. He always made sure to go out after each show and chat, meet some fans, and have a few drinks. Gen relished the additional attention, and maybe he would even find someone to spend the night with.
That’s what he told himself, anyway. In truth, visiting with fans after a show was what he felt they were owed - it was a small way for Gen to thank them. Their shows always seemed to attract interesting people, too, so Gen usually found one or two new entertaining people every night. He felt the excitement bubbling in his stomach and took some deep breaths before being interrupted by a knock at the door. “You ready to go, Gen?” Ryuji’s voice called from the hallway.
“Of course, Ryuji-chan!”
As he predicted, there were lots of interesting people with this crowd. Gen flitted around the bar, drink in hand, stopping every so often to strike up conversation with a new group of people. The vastness of human experience had always intrigued him, and the folks who gathered at this bar were consistently a great way to observe this. He had chatted so far with a band of young programmers who just happened to stop in after work, two lawyers on their first date who were definitely in love with each other, and even a young woman who was an acrobat who had just gotten done with training. He sighed pleasantly, satisfied with tonight’s haul of entertainment, before his eyes landed on another booth.
“Now, aren’t you three a little too young to be in here?” He asked coolly, revelling in the shocked look on the three kids’ faces as their heads whipped around to look at him. The young girl stammered, glancing at the other two frantically. Gen chuckled and slid into the booth beside a young man with peculiar hair. “Relax, I’m not gonna snitch. Just here to chat.” They let out a collective sigh of relief, the girl giggling nervously. Gen leaned in, taking a sip from his drink. “Hey, I recognize you. You’ve been to the last three shows, always up front. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Gen.” He noted the way the loud young man next to her scooted closer, almost protectively. Cute.
The young woman’s eyes lit up. “Wow, I can’t believe you remember that! There’s always a pretty big crowd here, I didn’t expect you to be able to pick my face out! I’m Yuzuriha, and these are Taiju and Senku, my best friends.” She gestured to them. Taiju seemed to be quickly warming up to Gen because of Yuzuriha’s excitement, while Senku appeared… almost irritated. Cute.
Gen’s eyes narrowed. “Well, well, you two are new here. Not a fan of crowds, Senku-chan?”
Senku smirked over the rim of his glass - water, Gen observed. This group was too much. “You sure got comfortable quickly.”
“Oh? Are you uncomfortable, Senku-chan?” Gen’s eyes glinted and he smiled sharply at the young man, who sat up straighter in turn, meeting Gen’s eyes challengingly.
“It’s going to take a lot more than that to make me unc-”
“Gen! Time to head out,” Ryuji called, making his way over to the table and interrupting Senku in the process. Gen checked his phone quickly, eyes widening upon seeing that it was already almost two in the morning.
“Ah, I have to go.” Gen sighed. “You guys aren’t familiar with the area, are you?” Yuzuriha and Taiju shook their heads, while Senku stared into his glass.
“How’d you know?” Yuzuriha asked, eyes wide and trusting. Cute.
“If you were, you’d know not to drink the tap water,” his fingers danced on the rim of Senku’s glass experimentally. “Tastes like shit, right?” Senku looked up, studying Gen’s face, before glancing away suddenly. Gen pulled a marker and a pad of paper out of his pocket - he’d always hoped someone would want an autograph, but he supposed this would do, too - and wrote carefully, ripping the sheet off and sliding it to the center of the table. “If you need help getting home, or even if you just want to talk, feel free to text me. Now shoo, can’t have you staying up past your bedtime, now, can we?”
Yuzuriha took the paper carefully, almost as if she didn’t believe it was real, before Gen’s last words caught up to her. “Hey, we’re not babies!” she yelled. Gen chuckled, turning around to walk towards Ryuji and waving the group of high schoolers off. Very cute.
“Meet any fun people tonight?” Ryuji asked as soon as Gen caught up to him. Gen was sure he heard a hint of knowingness in his question, but was too emotionally exhausted to tease him back.
“Mm,” he hummed affirmatively. “A few.”