Chapter Text
“No, No, No, No, No!!!!”
The producer slapped his hands on the mixer and groaned a few times for good measure. Shoyo sighed behind the mic and removed the headphones. He knew the moods of his producer well enough to know when it was better to give up.
The problem was Shoyo related to the frustration. They had been in the recording booth the whole morning already, but everything he did wasn’t good enough. He knew this better than anyone. He wasn’t a great singer. He never had been.
It wasn’t his singing that made him famous, it was his amazing guitar skills. Endless hours of practice made him the player he was today.
And yet, his success was always explained away by his apparently genius level of guitar playing. Shoyo more than once had to laugh when he read yet another article claiming him a genius. Not that it was a laughing matter.
It was like it never occurred to the press that in order to be good at something, you actually had to practice. Which Shoyo did. Day after day. Album after album. Song after song. Until he was nationally known as the upcoming instrumental guitar player of the decade.
The only reason he wasn’t already internationally known was the simple fact that he didn’t sing. Some magazines claimed that he didn’t feel comfortable. Or that he’d found his niche in instrumental music. The actual truth was that Shoyo couldn’t sing.
But it was never a problem before. Until Fujimoto decided that it was.
Hence the recording session and subsequent temper tantrum of said producer. After a few more ‘fucks’ and ‘shits’ and unnecessary hits to the poor mixer table , he seemed to have calmed down and took a deep breath.
“You okay there?” Shoyo decided to test the waters.
If this went on, then he’d have to stay longer. Which Shoyo wanted to avoid at all costs.
He wanted to enjoy his lunch break with a tasty meal and not spend it in the recording studio, thank you very much. Fujimoto stared at him but nodded his head in the end. The producer dramatically took another deep breath and brushed his hair out of his face.
“Let’s try again.” He kept his eyes closed as if seeing Shoyo would shatter all his dreams. Which Shoyo’s singing voice probably did.
That’s why Shoyo tried to ignore the murmuring behind the mixing table that sounded suspiciously like ‘even if it doesn’t matter anyway’.
To prevent himself from hearing more, Shoyo put on the headphones as quickly as possible. He studied the paper in front of him. Words swam in front of his eyes. He’d written them himself. But they were terrible.
Don’t get him wrong, he always had a certain idea or theme in mind when he composed songs. He was always able to say it with his guitar. But he couldn’t bring it into actual words. Something about finding the right words in the right order to express what he felt or wanted people to feel was incredibly hard. When he thought about what he expressed with his guitar, only ‘whaam’, ‘whoosh’ and ‘bam’ seemed to fit the emotions swirling inside him. And that wouldn’t make for good lyrics.
A beep indicated that Fujimoto wanted to talk to him, so Shoyo looked up. Through his headphones he could hear his producer asking if he was ready.The question sounded tortured. He wasn’t alone with that sentiment. Shoyo was already cringing when he thought about having to sing the next few lines again.
But then his song started. The song he wrote. It was a while ago in the park where he always liked to enjoy time alone. He would sit down and just play his guitar, writing down ideas for a new song when he had some.
The music expressed exactly how he always felt doing that. Free but captured. Free to play but caught up in the industry. Free to feel the nature around him but bound to time, the next meeting already moving closer.
Shoyo heard his own guitar playing in the headphones and recognized that same feeling. It was an incredible song if he could say so himself. The melody, the rhythm, the flow. But something was missing. And deep down Shoyo knew that vocals would compliment the melody perfectly.
Definitely not his own though, because as soon as he started singing, the happy feeling was over. The grimace in Fujimoto’s face only added to his suffering. It wasn’t even a bad try this time. He just wasn’t made for singing.
In the end, they were able to record enough to call it a day. While Shoyo packed up, Fujimoto talked to himself. Something about autotune and fixing it up nicely.
The thought of having a ton of autotune on his song made Shoyo angry but it couldn’t be helped. However, now that Shoyo reached a certain status and reach, vocals were expected. This made itself known in sales, concerts, and internet engagement.
So, Fujimoto’s dream came true and Shoyo’s manager was able to persuade him to add vocals. What the producer didn’t count into the equation was Shoyo’s horrible voice. And his inability to write good lyrics.
Which led them to the current situation in which everyone was unhappy. Packing up the rest of his stuff, Shoyo got ready to flee the studio. It was a shame. He had always loved to be in a studio, recording the result of endless hours of composing and practicing. It wasn’t like that anymore and the place he associated with achievement, proudness , and happiness slowly became a spot where he wallowed in despair and was tortured with his impossible and incompetent singing voice. It was true that he started taking singing lessons but so far he didn’t get better. And the time spent practicing singing was even worse than his time in the recording studio.
Fujimoto waved him goodbye, still complaining about the session, and Shoyo quickly went up the stairs to the lobby. Looking around to find his manager, he was just about to pull out his phone when he discovered him lounging on one of the random chairs scattered across the hall.
Like always, Suga had this careless attitude following him around. He was humming along to a song on his phone. He wasn’t wearing sunglasses like he should when he was out in public.
“Shouldn’t you be disguised?” Shoyo stood before Suga and pulled one earplug out of his manager’s ear.
Surprised eyes looked up at him, widening as soon as he recognized him.
“Now what would be the fun of that?” A smirk appeared on his face and Suga pulled out the other earplug and put them away in his bag. Shoyo sighed and let Suga tousle through his hair. “It’s cute that you’re concerned about me.”
“You could at least wear a hat or something. If they recognize you, we will be swarmed.” Now Suga full out laughed at Shoyo. The audacity. “I think this would be because of you. You’re already way more famous than I ever was.”
Shoyo didn’t say anything. He had to agree that being approached by fans was something that happened nearly every time he went out and the fangirls (and fanboys) were numerous and very dedicated to their tasks. If some of them were there because of Suga, it wouldn’t really make a big difference anymore.
Which meant that once again Suga knew better. It wasn’t known why he stopped making music. There was never an explanation from Suga or his manager. He just disappeared from the business. So imagine Shoyo’s surprise when he showed up one day at the studio and asked Shoyo if he needed a manager. The newly popular musician couldn’t believe his ears.
Suga was known in the music scene for a while and made a name for himself for being able to sing to a bunch of different genres and working with a lot of different musicians. Of course, Shoyo could only agree to it. After hiring him, Shoyo found out that he was great at organizing too.
He never regretted hiring him. Suga wasn’t only the perfect manager, looking for opportunities and finding possibilities for Shoyo to expand. He was also a reliable mentor, helping Shoyo along the way. When Shoyo got more and more popular and had to hire an agency, it was Suga helping him choose. Thanks to him, Shoyo was able to do what he loved doing without getting put in a random boyband. And it paid off.
But even Suga couldn’t prevent the whole disaster with the vocals.
As if he knew what Shoyo was thinking about and tried to distract him, he jumped off the chair and stretched his back out. “Come on, let’s go. I must warn you, though. They already found you. And not because I didn’t wear a disguise. Which further proves my point that you’re already way more famous than me.”
Shoyo nodded and followed Suga towards the door. He heard the screaming before he saw the fans and lowered his head a bit. He wasn’t in the mood to interact.
“Don’t worry, the car is right in front of the doors.” Suga whispered, successfully calming Shoyo down a bit.
Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, Shoyo stopped in front of the door. Suga glanced at him and as soon as Shoyo nodded, opened the door. The screaming instantly got louder and now the people belonging to those voices could be seen as well.
Shoyo forced a smile onto his face and waved, which in turn made the people around him scream even louder. When he finally sat down in the car and drove away, he was even more tired than after his session.
“Exhausting day?”
He nodded and let out a sigh, leaning back in his seat. “I just don’t understand why it’s that important that I sing on my songs. I’m clearly not cut out for it.”
“Because it sells.” Suga helpfully supplied.
“If I could sing well. Which I don’t. I can’t say that I see any sense in it.” They had probably argued about it a million times already. Up until now, it never changed the outcome but Shoyo wouldn’t give up. Maybe this time he would manage to convince his manager to talk to the agency.
To his annoyance , Suga didn’t even grace him with an answer and occupied himself with his phone. Maybe if he tried another route.
“Or you could sing for me. That would sell. With you being a famous singer. And it would actually sound good.” This was another suggestion he proposed quite a few times already. The results were about the same every time, too. But Shoyo wasn’t someone to give up easily.
“I’m not famous anymore.” At least he answered this time.
Still, Suga’s eyes stayed glued to his phone. Shoyo rolled his eyes. Two can play that game. “You’re retired. That’s not the same.”
The question of why exactly his manager retired was on the tip of his tongue but he was able to hold back. He asked a few times before and never got an answer out of him. The only thing he managed to achieve was that Suga’s mood worsened. And if there is one thing that lets Shoyo stop trying, it’s someone suffering because of it. Especially Suga.
“I retired for a reason.” Suga stated and finally looked up from his phone, focusing in on Shoyo’s eyes. “I know you’re not a fan of adding your own vocals but please just do it. You’re not going to change anybody’s mind about it. Not even mine.”
And with that, the discussion was over. Shoyo let out a huge sigh to at least let Suga hear that he wasn’t happy with it. He was almost sure that he could see the twitch of Suga’s lips trying to form a smile.
The rest of the car ride he stared out of the window, enjoying how everything looked golden in the autumn light. Some random melody played in the back of his mind, he promised himself to write it down as soon as he was home.
“We’re almost there.”, the driver told them, already slowing down. Shoyo knew, he was looking out of the window after all. They crossed the security gate and finally stopped in front of the entrance. It was a really good agency, Shoyo could be proud to be part of it. He only managed to get in because of Suga.
This time , no fans were outside of the vehicle, thanks to the gate they passed before. “How long is the meeting going to take?” Shoyo inquired. He had had enough work for today and just wanted to go home. Or have a beer. A beer actually sounded even better.
“An hour. Give or take. Maybe they’ll let you go a bit earlier.”
Shoyo hummed and they both wandered up the stairs and into the room where they were supposed to meet. Daichi already sat there, sorting through way too many papers for it to only take an hour.
“Oh, hello Hinata-kun.”, Daichi greeted him happily. Then he seemed to notice the manager because he added, way less enthusiastically, “And Suga.” Suga didn’t seem to be bothered by it and grimaced, half-heartedly waving at Shoyo’s boss.
The meeting took 70 minutes and Shoyo’s brain was fried with information. They started planning his new tour and how he would debut his new song. Because Shoyo was singing, it needed extra care in planning. Why it needed 70 minutes on a Friday evening is anyone’s guess.
Just as Shoyo was about to leave and give up on the beer he originally planned, he spotted Tanaka hanging around the front door. The rapper seemed to be waiting for someone. Shoyo asked himself for who but it quickly became obvious that he was waiting for Shoyo.
“Hinata! There you are. Did Daichi talk for hours again?”
Shoyo grinned and gave Tanaka the special handshake they had created and practiced with each other.
“How do you know?”
Tanka grinned too and shrugged his shoulders, slinging an arm around Shoyo’s shoulders. “I had a meeting before you. He was already sighing when I left the room. Pulled out way too many documents out of his huge bag. Did you fuck something up?”
A third voice added, “He didn’t. And I’m warning you two. If you do something unprofessional tonight, you have a problem with me.”
Tanaka stopped walking, turned around and smiled his sweetest smile at Suga. “Don’t worry so much. You’re like my mum.”
“I’m your manager.”
“You sure are acting like her.”
Suga blinked a few times, shook his head and concentrated his gaze on Shoyo. “Do you understand what I mean? No emergency meeting tomorrow. I want to sleep in.”
Shoyo nodded but felt his face get warm. Why did Suga always know when he wanted to drink a bit too much? Tanaka obviously was a lost case to their manager because the only thing he got was a threatening glare.
As Suga retreated, Tanaka whispered: “Sometimes I think he hates me.” Shoyo snorted but shook his head. “He just worries about you. It’s not easy to manage two musicians at the same time and you’re kind of high energy.”
“I’m high energy? Have you seen yourself?” Tanaka had his eyebrows raised and half snorted his question. Shoyo didn’t answer because what was the point. He knew well enough that he was energetic and maybe not the easiest to be around.
“No answer is an answer as well. So, are you okay with coming to Puzzle? Kiyoko will be there too.”
Shoyo would love to go. Puzzle had amazing drinks and the atmosphere was nice too. Not to mention the fact that it was a bar with high security Shoyo and Tanaka could visit without being swarmed by fans all the time. It was always a nice distraction to just enjoy being with friends and feel like you’re normal.
“Not gonna lie, sounds amazing. I don’t want to intrude though.” Even though Tanaka seemed like the type of guy to get crazy and get with all the girls, he was happily in a relationship with Kiyoko. If it was up to him, they would be married. If it wasn’t for her rational thinking, they would have been married after the first date.
„What are you saying? You never do. And Kiyoko even brought a friend today. Maybe you‘ll like her. According to her she‘s really cute but a bit shy. Your type right?“
With that, Shoyo got pulled along while Tanaka rambled on about this cute friend of Kiyoko. Apparently, she was the perfect date for Shoyo, whatever that meant. Internally Shoyo sighed. Not that he had anything against a cute girl but he just didn’t have the time for romance right now. He could almost feel the disappointment of the girl when he inevitably had to turn her down.
Kiyoko was already seated at their usual table when they entered. Tanaka immediately changed into Kiyoko Mode and grew heart eyes. It was only when they wanted to sit down that Shoyo noticed a small girl sitting next to Tanaka‘s girlfriend. That had to be her friend.
Tanaka was right, she really was cute. Small, blond hair, cute face. Exactly Shoyo‘s type. Under different circumstances this would have worked if her character was as good as her looks.
She made space on the bench for Shoyo and Tanaka sat on another chair right next to Kiyoko. The girl didn’t say a word to anyone but waved shyly. Looks like Shoyo had to be the one to start the conversation, especially because Tanaka and Kiyoko were already talking in hushed voices to each other, forgetting the fact that they weren’t alone.
„Hi, I‘m Hinata Shoyo.“, he introduced himself and beamed at her. Maybe she would be a little less nervous now. She responded with big eyes and a small voice: „I know.“
Oh wow. So that‘s how it‘s going to be? Before Shoyo could think about what to answer, the girl next to him (who still hadn‘t told him her name) was loudly apologizing, nearly slamming her head on the table. Oh, now she actually slammed her head on the table.
Shoyo started panicking too and tried to calm her down, with little success. He started contemplating if he really did something wrong when the torture finally stopped.
„Yachi relax.“ Kiyoko wasn’t a woman of many words but the words she did say were enough. The girl, Yachi, calmed down and took a deep breath. Glancing from Kiyoko to Yachi a few times, Shoyo made eye contact with Tanaka. Who was holding his hand in front of his mouth.
Did he know what Shoyo did wrong? He was about to ask when he noticed a few tears forming in Tanaka‘s eyes. The bastard was just holding back his laugh! It must have shown on Shoyo‘s face because now there was no holding back for the rapper anymore.
„Why are you laughing?!!“ This prompted Tanaka to laugh even more and even Kiyoko hid a smile behind her hands. Yachi seemed unsure but tried to laugh with them. Shoyo rolled his eyes and turned to the girl next to him.
„So you‘re Yachi?“ The small girl nodded and finally was able to speak up without apologizing first: „Yes, Yachi Hitoka. I just meant that I know you because of your songs before. But not you as a person.“
Shoyo waved her words away and a smile appeared on his face again. „Don‘t worry about it. It‘s alright.“
The tension left her whole figure and they were able to have a normal conversation after that. Soon the first round of drinks arrived and after that, not even Yachi was nervous anymore. The four had a great evening and Shoyo and Yachi hit it off after the rocky start. It got so far that Tanaka started teasing them for how close they were. They waved the accusations away but Shoyo could see the blush in Yachi‘s face.
Four rounds later, Tanaka and Kiyoko decided to go home for the night, leaving Shoyo and Yachi to themselves. Which suited them just fine , because for the last hour , the two lovebirds were only occupied with themselves anyway.
Drunk Kiyoko was entirely different from sober Kiyoko and gave Tanaka all the attention he craved. Which made him very happy but Shoyo and Yachi felt a bit… left out.
Another three rounds later they had a hard time forming sentences, hardly able to communicate at all. But by then, they were able to talk without many words anyway, so it was alright. Shoyo felt like there was some special connection between them. They could kind of talk about anything and nothing. It was really refreshing.
Accidental touches happened over and over again. It was two o’clock in the morning when Yachi took a look at her watch and gasped. She ’d just missed the last train home. In his drunken state Shoyo completely forgot his intentions of not dating and invited Yachi home with him.
She hesitated for a few moments but then agreed. Slinging an arm around her shoulders, he led her outside of the bar and together they walked to Shoyo’s apartment.
They were talking about their favorite restaurant in the city (it was Onigri Miya for both of them) when Shoyo noticed something about his company. “Your hair kind of reminds me of that one girl in ‘Stranded’.”
Hitoka quickly turned her head to Shoyo and squeaked. “You watch ‘Stranded’? No way, that’s like my favorite series right now! You don’t mean to tell me I look like Muraki?”
Shoyo nodded energetically. “Muraki! That’s her! You look just like her but way prettier! And I have seen her enough times to be a fair judge, it’s my favorite series as well!”
“Stop it. I’m not prettier than her.” Hitoka’s cheeks reddened and she looked away. Shoyo just grinned and pulled her closer again. “You definitely are!.”
After blushing even more, she thanked Shoyo and then tried to change the topic. “In the last episode they moved to the mountains. I was so angry. Why would you even leave the beach?”
“Right? The beach is so much better! You can swim, play beach volleyball and make music.”
“I mean, you can make music everywhere. But I know what you mean. The beach is so much more fun. What kind of music do you like besides your own?”
For a moment Shoyo had to think. It was a hard question. Being involved in the music business didn’t make it easier. He got to know so many nice artists, it was hard to stay loyal to one specific genre. “As long as it’s good, I’m a fan. I especially like artists who sing in a special way that affects me.”
Hitoka nodded, agreeing with Shoyo. “I like guitar the best.”
Laughing at her answer, Shoyo nudged Hitoka’s side. “You have to say that because of me.” Hitoka grinned back and shrugged. “You saw through me. But I do generally like guitar the best. Usually it’s even better when they sing to it.”
Hitoka couldn’t see how Shoyo grimaced because it only lasted for a second and he quickly changed the topic again after that. Soon they were talking about their favorite sport, which was volleyball. Never would Shoyo have guessed that he would like the girl so much as he did when Tanaka first talked about her.
Soon enough they reached his home and Shoyo searched for his keys while Yachi looked around at the neighborhood. As a popular musician Shoyo was earning a nice amount of money and his apartment was evidence of that. Even if it wasn’t the cheapest, he didn’t go all out. It was still homey and humble.
The two of them sobered up enough to be embarrassed when Shoyo let the key fall and had to bend over to get it again. When he finally managed to open his door, they were freezing. The night air was fresh now and an icy wind blew.
“Well, welcome to my home!”, Shoyo declared and quickly showed Yachi around. After the short tour they went back to the living room and stood around, not quite sure what to do. It was Yachi who was brave enough to take the next step. She stepped closer and looked up into Shoyo’s face. A shy smile appeared on her face and Shoyo just had to smile back. He also stepped closer and took her face into his hands.
“I like it when you smile.” He could feel her face getting warmer under his hands and chuckled. Her own hands made their way up to his arms and held them. “I like yours too. And I like to make you smile.” This made Shoyo smile brighter. Yachi was a really nice person. He really liked her. That’s what made him close the distance. Halfway through, Yachi closed her eyes and came closer too.
The kiss was slow but certain. It was nice. For a moment he thought about going further but stopped himself.
This wasn’t fair. Not to Yachi. Not even to himself. He let his hands fall down, stopped the kiss and took a step back. Yachi‘s face changed from confusion to understanding very quickly and she took a step back as well.
„Sorry if I did something wrong.“, she started apologizing.
Shoyo interrupted her immediately: „No! No, please don’t think that. It was amazing and I wanted to go on. It‘s just…“ He scratched the back of his head, facing the ground. It was hard to form his feelings into words.
„You don‘t have the time?“ How did she know? Shoyo turned his face to her again and nodded. „With everything going on I just have a lot to do and I would never be able to give you what you deserve. And Yachi, you deserve the world.“
She chuckled and a faint blush appeared. „Then call me Hitoka, would you? And I understand. I have to be selfish right now, though. Can we stay friends? Even after all… this?” She did a weird hand gesture.
“I got the feeling we have a lot in common and I haven’t felt this way about a person for a long time.“ This was almost an entirely different person than the one Shoyo met at the beginning of the evening. Bolder and surer of herself. He liked it.
„Sure, I would love that. I didn’t ask because I thought you would hate me for it.“ A small laugh escaped Hitoka‘s lips and she shook her head. „I could never. So… I should probably go home?“ She started skimming around for her bag until Shoyo stopped her by holding her arm.
„My offer still stands. Stay the night. I‘ll sleep on the couch.“ Hitoka looked up with big eyes, clearly not sure if she should accept. In the end she decided to stay and nodded. “But I’m not tired yet.” The glint in her eyes told Shoyo that she really wasn’t and he grinned.
“Then it’s time for some wine and Just Dance.”
Several dances later they finished the bottle of wine. Out of breath they lay on the sofa, not able to do any more movements.
Shoyo turned to Hitako and eyed her. “Say, can you sing?”
Hitoka laughed and slapped a hand on her face. “I can’t. I’m not a musician like you.” Shoyo shrugged his shoulders. “A lot of people can sing and aren’t famous. And I on the other hand am famous but can’t sing.”
The girl next to him frowned. “Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t you releasing a song with vocals soon?”
“My guitar featuring autotune.”
“Oh” Hitoka was clearly holding back her laugh. Not that Shoyo could blame her. A popular musician not able to sing was funny to everyone except himself. At least she tried to help because when she calmed down from laughing, she asked him: „Why don’t you feature someone who can sing?”
„The only person who would be an option doesn’t want to. So, I‘m kind of left alone with my voice.” Shoyo stayed silent for a few seconds. What if he asked someone else? He mused about what that would entail.
“I want the person who sings with me to be suited for my music. I have to build a connection to that person or something. It just has to be something special. That’s why I asked you if you can sing. You were kind of my only other option. But in the end, it doesn’t even matter because management would never accept a new feature before the tour and everything.”
Shoyo completely ignored that he didn’t really know Hitoka at all. Or rather, it didn’t even come to his mind. In his drunken state he was under the impression that he knew her for years already.
Hitoka hummed, taking in everything Shoyo just told her. She had a look on her face that meant she was planning something. Shoyo arrived to the conclusion that he was aware of her mannerisms quite well already.
Under different circumstances, she really would make the perfect girlfriend.
But there was no reason to think about that now. The truth was that he couldn’t have a partner at this point in time. No matter how cute they were. There simply was no time for that.
„What if you find someone to sing with you? Someone who meets all those criteria? The management can‘t do anything if you have someone and everyone knows that already.“ Now, if they were sober they would have noticed the big flaw of that plan. The thing was, they were the opposite of sober.
So, Shoyo was amazed by that idea. „That‘s… perfect!! So how do I find someone?“ Enthusiastically he sat up and faced Hitoka, who was already taking out a paper from her bag and started scribbling. He didn’t ask why she had a notebook ready.
„Okay. So my three step plan to get yourself a singer looks like that: First, you‘ll have to post about it on your twitter. Everybody interested has to send you their information and a voice recording. The second step is to choose someone from all the applicants. The third and last step is profit. You can show your managers and they will be thrilled because they don't have to do anything by themselves and no autotune is included anymore.“
For a few seconds , there was silence. Then Shoyo‘s face lightened up and he beamed at Hitoka. „You‘re fucking amazing! Let‘s do it like that. I‘m gonna get my phone!“ Shoyo jumped off the couch and walked to the kitchen where he previously left his cellphone.
He was already typing when he wandered back to the living room. It had to sound professional. With a little help from Hitoka, Shoyo created a simple job offer. They put it online at 4.39 am.
„The first step is accomplished. Let‘s wait a bit and look at the applicants tomorrow.“ Shoyo nodded in approval and showed Hitoka to his bed. Then he took a pillow and a cover out of the wardrobe for himself and made himself comfortable on the couch.
He woke up by the continued ringing of his phone. His head hurt and he was sure that it wouldn’t stop for the whole day. He hated hangovers. The ringing finally stopped and Shoyo was just about to fall asleep again, when the ringing continued.
Half dead , he swung his arm around to find the phone. When, at last, he was able to grab it and look at who the fuck was calling him at eight o‘clock in the morning, he was fully awake in an instant.
„Yes, Suga?“, he answered the phone. It was never good when Suga called him this early on the weekend. He loved to sleep in. The fact that this phone call was happening scared Shoyo.
The line was dead silent. Then the bomb went off.
„What part of ‘let me sleep in’ did you not understand?!!“, Suga was screaming. Even with his loud voice Shoyo was able to make out several other voices in the background. One of them sounded suspiciously like Daichi and stated: „Did he finally answer?“
Getting more concerned by the second, Shoyo was almost too shy to ask. „What is going on?“
One angered Suga groaned loudly. „So you don’t even know the problem?“ Shoyo shook his head, which instantly sent a new wave of pain through his head. Grabbing his forehead, he groaned. He also noticed that Suga couldn’t see him. „No.“
Another disappointed cry from Suga later, he finally got some sort of information in the request to check his twitter. Now that he looked closer onto his phone screen, he saw the thousand notifications from his social media pages and froze. Something bad had happened. Did someone see him with Yachi? But that wasn’t that bad and certainly wouldn’t cause so much trouble. Normally, the press only freaked out when he was going home with a man.
He was just brave enough to open his profile and start reading his post when Suga started citing: „In search of a singer! Just send your personal information and a clip of you singing to this e-mail address. Then there‘s the e-mail address of some Yachi person. Looking forward to your applications. Love Hinata.“
Shoyo gulped. This was bad. This was really bad. Did he do this? Why did they use Hitoka’s address? But it was impossible to debate anything. For one, he saw the evidence in front of him and on the other hand he started to remember last night and how this terrible mistake came to be. He will ban all the wine from his house. He will never drink again.
He turned around just as a sleepy Hitoka walked out of his room, cellphone in her hand. She looked confused and alarmed and Shoyo knew it had to be due to the thousands of e-mails she had probably received.
“Did you listen to what I’ve said?”, Suga asked on his line of the phone. Not leaving Hitoka out of his sight, Shoyo promised that he did. Slowly processing, Hitoka was able to put two and two together and stared at her phone and then at Shoyo in rapid succession.
“This is bad, Hinata. Really bad. The press is talking about it nonstop, twitter crashed last night and everybody is wondering why you would do such a thing. Me more than everybody else. I want you here in thirty minutes. And bring this Yachi with you. Don’t be late! If you fuck this up, I can’t promise you anything.”
Never before had Shoyo heard Suga talk in a more serious voice.
Suga didn’t wait for an answer and just ended the call right then and there.
Shoyo was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do. Explaining it to Yachi would probably be a good idea. Before he could start his reasoning though, Yachi spoke up:
„I heard the last part. Your manager wasn’t exactly quiet.“
Suga hadn‘t been screaming but was apparently loud enough to be heard through the speaker. Shoyo nodded, not knowing what to do or say otherwise. Yachi managed to grin and started walking back into the bedroom. „Tell me the rest in the car, we have to hurry!“
This released Shoyo from his trance and he started moving as well. Never before had he been ready to go in such a short amount of time. Despite a big headache no less. Twenty minutes later they were already sitting in a taxi, Shoyo telling Yachi everything Suga said to him on the phone in a hushed voice.
“Don’t you dare think it’s your fault. I was in on it from the get-go. It’s going to be alright.”
For a moment it seemed like she would protest but, in the end, she accepted Shoyo’s words. A long sigh escaped her mouth. Almost dramatically she leaned back, a hand on her forehead. “I wouldn’t have imagined that this would be how the evening would end. I thought I would just get to know you. Then I thought it would be a hookup. And now it’s a crisis with your career on the line.”
Shoyo laughed, more out of self-pity than anything else, and leaned back as well. “My career isn’t on the line. Believe me.”
“Your career is on the line, Hinata-kun!”, a very angry Daichi screamed at Shoyo. Daichi didn’t look like it but he was actually quite a scary guy.
He slapped down several pieces of paper and after taking a closer look, Shoyo recognized print outs from different news articles. He grimaced and tried avoiding eye contact. A squeak could be heard from Hitoka next to him.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Daichi asked him expectantly, his voice still raised.
Taking all his courage Shoyo raised his head and made eye contact. “Sorry?” Somewhere behind him he heard a facepalm that must have been from Suga. Even Hitoka was shaking her head. Daichi must have been expecting something along the lines of it because he just closed his eyes and sighed loudly.
“As if sorry covers it.”
Only now did Shoyo notice Fujimoto who sat in the room as well. Oh, right. He would be here. After all it concerned the artist he was producing. The artist he was trying to support in his voice recording. The artist who betrayed him and posted on the internet that he was looking for a singer to feature with him.
Shoyo knew he was red all over. He turned towards his producer and bowed as deeply as possible. “I am really sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll delete the post right away. I take back everything. I’ll practice harder than ever. My voice will sound like an angel!” He bowed to everyone else as well.
Daichi sighed again but he seemed a bit calmer than before. “Sit down Hinata-kun. That won’t be necessary. The post is public knowledge by now anyway.”
Shoyo cringed and turned his bow to Daichi again. “I’m still sorry. I really am!” For good measure he turned to Suga and apologized again as well. “Sorry you had to get up early today.”
“Sugawara will survive getting up early once in his life.” This earned Daichi a glare from Suga.
“Well, for now, sit down again. We know everything that happened. Even though there was an uproar, we might make the best of it.”
This got the attention of every person attending the meeting. Daichi started his explanation on how his team was able to come up with this life-saving idea. A glance to his right told Shoyo that Suga tried hard not to roll his eyes. Daichi was like that. Proper. He had to explain the whole thing and not just the important part. The possible solution to their problem. The rest of the room didn’t mind and the specific team Daichi was talking about seemed proud of the fact that he praised their idea.
“So, to come to a conclusion.” Finally, both Suga and Shoyo thought. “Shoyo will look for a singer in the applicants Yachi-san got in her e-mails. We can say it was all planned from the beginning and Shoyo was so happy about it he couldn’t wait until the morning to announce the news to his fans.”
“WHAT?” Again, both Suga and Shoyo said it simultaneously, jumping up from their chairs. The difference was, that after a few seconds of thinking time, Suga decided to agree with the idea. He nodded and murmured something that sounded like “Yeah, actually, that makes sense.”
Shoyo on the other hand was outraged. A stranger will sing on HIS songs? “No way that is happening. I can’t let some random person sing over my music. It will be awful. I don’t like this one bit.” He completely ignored the fact that it was himself who came up with the whole thing. Together with Hitoka.
“Should have thought about that sooner. You posted it in the first place.”
Shoyo bit his tongue. He did. But he was drunk. In his drunk state he was desperate for someone to replace him. But in his sober state, he was sure that there was nobody out there suitable for that task.
“But…”, he tried to start his argument but couldn’t continue. He knew they were right. This was a mess he maneuvered himself into all by himself. He didn’t want to count Hitoka in because she was just trying to help. And she looked miserable enough already.
Daichi raised his eyebrows, knowing he won the argument.
Now it was Shoyo’s turn to sigh. Which he did long and deep.
“Now that we covered that, I want you to look through Yachi-San’s e-mails and choose ten of the applicants. These ten will be coming to an audition. We will decide together but you will have a bit more voting power, after all it’s your music.”
Shoyo paled. “But there are thousands of applicants.” Everyone seemed to collectively decide not to hear him. Daichi continued as if Shoyo hadn't spoken before. “You have two weeks. Bring the applicants until then. That will be all.”
Just then the door sprang open and a very out of breath Tanaka ran into the room. “HINATA DID NOTHING WRONG, DON’T FIRE HIM!”
All eyes were on him, dumbfounded expressions on everyone’s faces. Suga facepalmed for the second time today. “Yeah, just my luck. Bring the other idiot as well.”
Tanaka’s mouth opened, staring at their manager.
Suga didn’t seem to care and stood up. “Daichi here has everything under control.” His voice sounded condescending as he side-eyed their management. Shoyo could have sworn that Suga’s eyes got softer when he looked at Tanaka again. “Don’t worry Tanaka, Shoyo will be alright. He just has a lot of work to do.” Suga patted Tanaka’s shoulders and then walked out, waving everyone goodbye.
Tanaka’s face changed and he beamed at Shoyo, who gave him a weak smile back. His headache was still strong as ever and now that the adrenaline was gone, he felt himself getting weaker by the minute.
“I’m glad. Kiyoko said something different, but I had to check for myself. Hi Yachi.” Yachi waved at the energetic rapper, who glanced at her and Shoyo and decided to comment. “Nice to know you two are so…close.”
Hitoka blushed and stared at her shoes. Shoyo knew his cheeks were probably red as well but he was quick to explain everything. The management would get the wrong idea if he didn’t. “We’re just friends.”
Tanaka eyed them, clearly still suspicious. “No, really. Just friends!” The second time around he seemed to believe Shoyo but still winked at him when he left the room. “Well, alright then. I have to tell Kiyoko. And I have to go practice. Bye everyone!”, he said as he walked out.
His admiration of Kiyoko was truly something. Shoyo doubted that there was something about Tanaka’s life that she didn’t know about.
The rest of the people in the room stood up and one by one left the room. After Daichi had all his documents in his bag again he turned around and spoke one last time to Hitoka and Shoyo. “You know what to do. And I will not tolerate any other missteps. Also, at four there is a press conference where you will announce everything publicly again.”
Nodding to Daichi’s parting words, Shoyo thought about what that meant. He was really looking for a featured singer for his music now. And while that was exactly what he wanted for a long time, it was also the worst thing to happen to him in a long time.
How would he be able to find someone who he liked, who liked his music, whose voice suited his songs AND who could sing? The fact that he had to choose from his fans made it all the worse. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his fans but he doubted that there was a match between one of them and himself.
“You okay?”, Hitoka next to him asked and Shoyo was barely able to nod. He didn’t even realize that she was the only person left in the room except himself. She looked concerned and stood up, pulling Shoyo with her. “Let’s get you some painkillers.”
He felt decidedly better after a few milligrams of painkillers. They were back in his apartment and copied the applications from Hitoka’s e-mails to a folder on his computer. Even though he was forced to do it, he wanted to do it the right way. Hitoka came up with a plan pretty quickly.
“Let’s copy all the applications to a folder on your computer and delete them from the e-mails. It’s a folder on your cloud so I will add any new e-mails on there as soon as I get any. Like that, you will be able to search for a possible singer for yourself as well.”
So far so good. He could really count on Hitoka’s organized… well, everything. Shoyo nodded and listened to the rest of her idea.
“Every time you have some free time you listen to the samples. If it’s terrible you pull it to the NO folder. If you’re not sure yet, pull it to the MAYBE folder. In the case you like it, take it to the YES folder.”
Easy enough. If you didn’t count the seemingly endless list of applicants.
“I would advise you to listen to everyone, you never know if it’s someone amazing. Also, listen to the sample first and then read the information of the person. That way you won’t have any prejudices.”
Shoyo didn’t even think that far ahead but had to agree. Hitoka was making valid points. Her plan was perfect, except for the fact that he only had two weeks and a very full schedule. How would he be able to listen to everyone?
While Hitoka started moving the applications from her mail to the folder, Shoyo started listening to the first sample. As soon as he hit play, he wanted to end everything. It sounded awful. With no hesitation he pulled it into the NO folder and opened the next one. It continued sounding like shit for every sample he listened to. There were some decent ones too, but the voice simply didn’t suit his style of music, so they ended up in NO as well.
This was going to be a long week.