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When Mutsuki saw Eiji for the first time in the last two years that he had been away for America, he was very ecstatic to see his friend again. The news had reached them eventually that Eiji had come back home in a wheelchair with a gunshot wound on his abdomen and of course, that worried their band more than ever.
Their band, Prayer X, consisted of four members with Eiji being the new lead vocalist, Mutsuki as the guitarist, Tadashi as the bassist, and Kazuma as the drummer. Back then, before Eiji even joined, it was just them three that performed in events instrumentally. However, after Eiji's apparent injury from pole vaulting, Mutsuki had offered him to join the band or at least give it a try considering that he had heard from his girlfriend that "Ei-kun is very great at singing."
Mutsuki never had the chance to hear him sing though because Eiji had left to American with a photojournalist named Ibe. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and the months turned into two whole years before Eiji had come back but Mutsuki noticed how… depressed Eiji looked, which confused him so.
Wasn't America supposed to liven Eiji up? Then why did he come back even more down in the slumps?
Sure, Eiji was smiling and laughing but Mutsuki had always been good at reading people. He knew Eiji was putting on a mask just to avoid everyone from getting worried— his girlfriend was like that too after all. He wasn't indifferent to such things, but Mutsuki never pushed.
It had been a full year since Eiji's return and the annual summer concert was coming up and Prayer X was one of the bands that was invited to perform in front of many people at the bar that Tadashi is working at. Initially, Mutsuki thought that this would be a great opportunity for Eiji to finally express his thoughts and feelings through a song and everyone else agreed that Eiji should be the one to write his own lyrics.
Eiji, of course, agreed.
However, the day of the performance was approaching fast and though the band was practicing, Eiji still came in empty handed when being asked about his lyrics. He wasn't being pressured by any means, Eiji knows this. But deep down, they all knew that it would have been great if they could debut their first vocal added music to this concert.
"I don't know what to write." Eiji would say when he was alone with Mutsuki, "I tried to write something. But every time I do, it just… it just didn't sound right."
Mutsuki nodded. He somehow understands this considering it may be challenging for Eiji to write his own lyrics. It took a while for Mutsuki to finally finish composing the instrumental for this song so he didn't want to be so hard on his friend.
"Don't worry, Ei-kun." Mutsuki smiled and patted the dark haired male on the shoulder, "We can still perform the music without vocals. Your skills in guitar are improving, yes? I assume you also took the time to practice in America?"
Mutsuki didn't miss the way Eiji's face fell at the mere mention of the country but it was a brief moment before he nodded and smiled softly, though the smile never reached his eyes as it normally would.
"Yes, I did."
Whatever did happen in America, Mutsuki thought.
It was the night of the performance and everyone was getting ready. The club was already packed and bands from other schools and cities were already here, mingling with others and preparing their own instrument. However, Mutsuki, Tadashi, and Kazuma stood there quite anxiously as they waited by the door.
"He will come, Mutsuki, he's just running late." Kazuma would say and patted Mutsuki's back and as if on cue, Eiji made his way inside, his hair looking slightly disheveled and his cheeks flushed as he panted— he must've ran all the way here.
"Eiji! Ah, you're just in time. We thought you wouldn't make it." Tadashi beamed as the three approached the dark haired male. Eiji smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I took a nap and I panicked when my sister woke me up. I missed my alarm." Eiji explained, earning chuckles from his bandmates.
"That's alright, Ei-kun. We're just glad you made it. We're actually the last performers. Did you invite anyone to watch?"
"My sister and Ibe-san will stop by a little later. Ibe-san will take a video of our performance and send it to my friends back in America. I hope you guys don't mind."
Tadashi waved his hands dismissively, "That's fine. As long as this Ibe-san sends us a copy of the video, of course. It'd be great if we could upload it on our Youtube channel."
"Ah, I'll make sure to tell Ibe-san that." Eiji smiled.
Once Kazume and Tadashi walked away to God knows where, Mutsuki approached Eiji who took his guitar out of the case and began to tune it.
"Ei-kun." He started, "Did you finish the lyrics to the song?"
Eiji looked up at Mutsuki and opened his mouth before closing it and shamefully hung his head low, a light flush displaying on his cheeks as he shook his head. Mutsuki hummed in response and ruffled Eiji's hair before smiling at him softly.
"Don't look so down. I told you we can still perform instrumentally, didn't I? Don't worry about it, maybe next time you can finally convey your feelings." Eiji stared at Mutsuki wide eyed, his own dark eyes becoming glassy with unshed tears before he nodded.
"Thank you, Suki-kun." Eiji responded with a smile.
The night dragged on with music playing and people just having a good time singing and drinking. However, when it was time for Prayer X to go on stage, Mutsuki took note of how pale and nervous Eiji looked. Putting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, Mutsuki smiled down and wished Eiji good luck, to which he smiled gratefully under the strobe lights.
"And last, but certainly not the least, the crowd's favorite— Prayer X!" The emcee announced and out came the band and positioned themselves at their spot with Eiji standing in front of a microphone. Mutsuki was about to ask one of the staff to remove it when Eiji looked at him and gently shook his head.
Confused, Mutsuki stayed put and with a signal from Kazuma's drum sticks, the band began to play just as the lights on the stage began to illuminate on them and the spotlight hitting the four boys just right.
Mutsuki effortlessly played his guitar but he stole glances at Eiji confusingly and worriedly because he had no idea what his friend was planning to do and Tadashi along with Kazuma sensed Mutsuki's uneasiness.
What's he going to do? Mutsuki thought.
And then, Eiji's voice suddenly blared through the microphone, his voice sounding as melodic as his girlfriend had described but there was something powerful about the way he sang— he sang with his heart and his eyes had never held so much emotions before that Mutsuki was almost certain Eiji was in tears while he sang.
But then he took the time to hear the lyrics while his fingers skillfully played his guitar.
Whatever happened in America, Mutsuki thought, it must have impacted Ei-kun more than anything.
"Omoi egaitemo darkness falls in time
Fukai oku ga aru streets aligned
Dou yatte koko ni kita no kamo wasurete shimatta."
Eiji had never told his experience in America to anyone— maybe he never told a living soul about it. But Mutsuki could see how much it changed Eiji more than his injury ever did. Though Mutsuki didn't know whether that change is to be ruled out as something good or bad.
He got lost into the music and it seemed as if his fingers were moving on their own, flowing with how Eiji was conducting the whole song with his voice and emotions that he was now pouring freely, for everyone to hear and it seemed as if that Mutsuki wasn't the only one that was moved by Eiji's soulful singing.
Tadashi and Kazuma were too considering how fired up they looked. Mutsuki would steal glances at his friend, they thin sheen of sweat could be seen on his forehead and if Eiji's cheeks were tear-stained, Mutsuki chooses to ignore it.
"Mitsukatte nakushite
Wakaranai mama de
Fate somehow brings me hope inside my heart!"
This was Eiji's feelings that were bottled up for a year since he got back. Thoughts and emotions that may have haunted him in his dreams and in broad daylight. And Mutsuki knew right off the bat that Eiji's lyrics weren't prepared, they weren't written beforehand and maybe that's why the ones he had written before didn't quite sound right.
Maybe it's because it didn't need to be pre-written.
Maybe it just needed to flow right out of his mouth all of a sudden.
The lyrics were a huge impromptu, all three of them realized but it worked so well with the instrumental. The music stirred all kinds of emotion inside Mutsuki. Sadness, passion, longing, regret, anger, and happiness.
And they hoped. They hoped that somehow, their music— most especially Eiji's lyrics moved the audiences as much as it moved them.
"Okotte waratte naite nante shimatta tte
Fate somehow brings me hope inside my heart!"
When the band finished playing, Eiji stood there in the middle of the stage looking breathless yet somehow relieved and the same goes for his bandmates. But what caught their attention was the silence in the audience, they all stared at the four of them in awe before they all erupted in cheers.
Eiji stood there, panting, looking a bit surprised and confused that this was the reaction that they got after he suddenly sang and spat out words that he didn't even prepare on paper beforehand. Eiji's bandmates tackled him and engulfed him in a group hug, all cheering and laughing and Mutsuki couldn't help but ruffle Eiji's hair.
"Ei-kun! What the hell was that, that was fucking amazing!" Mutsuki shouted through the cheers.
"Yeah, Eiji, we thought you didn't write anything but then you pulled through, that was mind blowing!" Tadashi added.
"Wow! That was a wonderful performance, you guys! I think everyone here enjoyed it!" The emcee beamed and the crowd erupted into more cheers and kept chanting 'More, more, more!'
"I'm afraid that would be the only vocalized song we will perform as it is the first one we produced. Eiji here recently joined our band and he's our new lead vocalist." Kazuma explained when the emcee held the mic towards him and the crowd clapped and cheered for Eiji causing his cheeks to flush a faint color of pink.
"Well, all of us here can all say that the song has moved us. What's the title of the song, if you don't mind me asking?" Kazuma opened his mouth to answer when Eiji suddenly intervened.
"Found and Lost." His answer caught the emcee's attention and held the mic out towards Eiji this time.
"The title of the song is Found and Lost."
Mutsuki had always been passionate with music. It helped him convey his thoughts and feelings when simple words cannot possibly do it enough. This night was proven to be one of the very reasons why Mutsuki didn't regret forming and joining a band with his friends.
"You're right. Ei-kun sings really well." Mutsuki would smile down at his girlfriend, squeezing her hand gently as they walked out of the club.
And if they heard the sounds of someone's wails and saw Eiji in the arms of a tall blonde man who had his arms wrapped around the dark haired male, neither of them said anything. They stood there for a moment, watching and listening to Eiji weep in the arms of the mysterious foreigner.
"I thought you left me, Ash!" They heard Eiji say accusingly at the man in a heavily accented English.
Smiling softly, Mutsuki leads his girlfriend away from the scene and walks away to let his friend have his moment with the very reason why he overstayed his welcome in America.
Found and lost and found again, it seemed, Mutsuki thought happily.