Title. Downwards
Part. six
Part Title. Performing
Warnings and Disclaimers. Check the first part.
Notes. Sorry it took so long to get this part up.  I’ve been really busy lately, not to mention I’ve gone on a vacation recently.  I’ll try to get more done.  I want to be well into the semester before I get back to school next month.  I’ll do my best, in between all the other fics I have to write.

/ thoughts /    [ dreams ]       ( flashbacks )

::*~~*::

            “Huh, not that bad,” Nuriko commented, leaning against the doorpost to Tasuki’s room.  “I mean, it’s not as disorganized as I thought a guy’s room would be...”
            Tasuki fished underneath his bed and pulled out his guitar case.  “Give me some time, my side will look like a bomb went off soon enough.  I hate clean rooms.”  He took his guitar out, standing up and facing Nuriko.
            “Do you not play your other one as much?”
            “My bass?”  Tasuki shrugged.  “Just better with the six-string, I guess.  You can play more melodies on it, anyway.  Now, where’s the north side garden?”

            “To the north,” she replied with a smirk.
            “Really, smartass?” Tasuki retorted in a sarcastic tone.  “I thought it would be more to the south by south-west.”
            “Shows what you know.”  Nuriko left the room, Tasuki close behind, guitar slung over his shoulder.  “How long have you been playing?”
            “The guitar or in general?”
            “In general.  What all can you play, anyway?”
            “Well, when I was four,” Tasuki began, “my dad got me started on the viola.  He was a chamber orchestra member.”
            “Did he play the viola, too?”
            “No, actually.  He played the cello.”
            “He didn’t want you to follow in his footsteps?”
            “No, I didn’t want to follow in ‘is footsteps,” the red-head corrected.  “There were already so many cellos in the world, not to mention double basses and violins, that I found it boring to play what everyone else plays.”
            “Tasuki, this may be a dumb question, but...”
            “Wha’?”
            “What exactly is a viola?”
            “Oh.  Heh, well, that is a pretty dumb question.”  Nuriko stopped and turned around to glare at him.  “Hey, don’t feel bad.  A lot of people don’t know what it is.  It isn’t that popular of an instrument.”
            “I never got into the orchestra thing, is all,” Nuriko weakly defended.
            Tasuki smirked.  “Too busy bein’ peppy and starin’ at guys?”
            Nuriko flushed a little.  “Something like that.”  She turned around and resumed walking towards the outside.
            “A viola,” Tasuki started, catching up and walking beside the violet-haired cheerleader, “is a mix of a violin and a cello.  You hold it like you would a violin, only it’s a tad bit bigger.  It has the strings of a cello, meaning it has the low C-string, instead of the high E-string like the violin and double bass.”
            “You know that means absolutely nothing to me, right?”
            Tasuki grinned mockingly.  “It’s like a violin, just a lower tone,” he simplified.
            “Now, that, I understand,” Nuriko admitted.  “Was the guitar the next thing you played?”
            “I didn’t start to play the guitar ‘til my dad died when I was nine,” he answered, in a more mellow tone.  “Playin’ was kind of my way of grieving, you know?”
            “I just cried when my father died,” Nuriko said with a sullen tint to her voice.  “That, and became a cheerleader.  Bringing life to everyone at games just... made me feel better.”
            A short, comfortable silence fell between them as they finally got to the double doors that led to the outside.
            “So, did you play anything other than the viola before you were nine?”
            “Yeah,” Tasuki answered, his voice already recovering its familiar tint of light-heartedness.  “’Cause of all the connections my dad had to the orchestra, I got to learn how to play any instrument I could get a hold of.  Violin, bass, cello, piano...  They even had a harpsichord for a little while that I got to play.  The only non-string instrument I played was the harmonica, and that was only ‘cause it was portable.”
            “Damn,” Nuriko said in astonishment.  “You really are a string-freak.”
            Tasuki shrugged.  “It was somethin’ to do.  I wasn’t fond of school, an’ none of the art things my mother did interested me.  I took after my dad an’ perused music.  ‘E was the only other guy in the house, so he was the only one I could relate to.”
            “Was it just you and your parents?”
            Tasuki shook his head.  “I have five sisters.  Dad died while mom was pregnant with the twins.”
            “So you’ve been raised with women your entire life?”
            “Yup.”
            “Well, good thing you weren’t like your mom.  You might’ve been a feminine guy then.”
            Tasuki shuddered at the thought.  “Eh, I hate girls too much to act like one.”
            Nuriko gave him a mock-hurt look.  “So you hate me?”
            “Just in general.  Though, you seem okay for a chick.  For a cheerleader, for that matter.”
            “What’s that supposed to mean?  ‘For a cheerleader’?”
            “I’ve had my fights with cheerleaders before, is all.”
            Nuriko looked around at their surroundings and then pointed.  “That’s the north side garden over there.  I think I can even see Miaka...”
            “Thanks for leadin’ me.”  He flashed her a warm smile.  “An’ for bein’ so hospitable to the new kid.”
            Nuriko shrugged.  “It’s nothing.”  She smiled and hesitated before saying anything else.  “...thanks for the sympathetic ear yesterday.”
            “Anytime.  Makin’ people feel better is a pleasure of mine.”
            The cheerleader nodded before heading off into the garden.  Upon entering, Tasuki noticed a small audience of about five girls sitting in a semicircle, Miaka and Yui at each end, talking to one another.  A wide grin spread across the boy’s face.  God, did he ever love an audience.
            Nuriko instantly sat down next to Miaka, starting up a new conversation.  Tasuki took his seat in the space left open in the circle, placing his guitar in his lap.  He strummed a few strings, checking to see that they were in tune.
            “Hello, ladies,” Tasuki greeted with a grin.  “Hope everyone had a nice lunch.”  He himself hadn’t gotten to finish his: he was excited about playing for people and had rushed Nuriko and he upstairs to get his guitar.
            “Afternoon, Tasuki-kun,” Miaka chirped smiling sweetly.  The rest of the group(aside from Nuriko) followed with similar greetings.
            Tasuki spent a few more moments tuning the guitar until he was satisfied with its tone. He then looked up to his waiting audience, asking, “Any requests?”
            “Stairway to Heaven?” one of the girls suggested.
            “Can we try somethin’ a bit harder” Tasuki suggested back.
            “But ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is a classic and proves that you have at least some margin of skill,” came a new voice, too low to be from one of the girls.
            Tasuki looked up to the new arrival.  It was a guy with long, blue hair, tied in a braid that was slung over his shoulder.  His blue eyes were friendly as he smirked down at the new kid.  Tasuki grinned.
            “But, it’s also pretty boring and rather easy,” he retorted.  “I just wanted to play somethin that was a bit more of a challenge.”
            “Tamahome-kun!” Miaka chirped looking happily up at the new-comer.
            “Hey, Miaka,” he replied coolly, smiling at her.  He then nodded his head towards the rest of the group.  “Afternoon, Nuriko, Yui, girls, new kid.”  He nodded his head in a greeting to them.
            “His name’s Tasuki, Tama-chan,” Nuriko corrected.
            “Right,” Tamahome acknowledged half-heartedly.  “And what’s so special about the new kid that’s keeping you from studying, Miaka?”
            “He’s going to play something for us, Tamahome,” Miaka said with an energetic nod.  “Sit down, it shouldn’t take too long.  Right, Tasuki?”
            “If I get to play, yeah,” Tasuki replied sarcastically.
            Tamahome sat down cross-legged behind Miaka, placing his head on his hand and stared at Tasuki intently.  “Well, let’s see what you can do, new kid.”
            Tasuki smirked and began to play one of his own songs, not having much else in mind to play.  The song he played had simple chords, but the changes and patterns were slightly difficult.  His favourite thing about music was writing his own.  He loved creating new notes and chords.  His family heritage showed through him excellently.
            He didn’t play the song the whole way through, because the song just didn’t flow right without the lyrics that would normally go with it.  Once he was done, he leaned back a little, slowly tilting his head from looking at the guitar to looking at his audience.
            They were silent for a moment, before they started to clap loudly.
            “Wow, that was so good!” Miaka exclaimed.  Other such compliments followed from everyone, save for Nuriko and Tamahome: Nuriko just clapped lightly, smirking at him, whereas Tamahome had his arms crossed, looking impressed.
            “Play something else!” one of the girls demanded.
            After three more songs, one his own, two covers, the group dispersed, chatting about his playing with one another as they left.  Tamahome, Nuriko, Miaka, and Yui were the only ones to stay behind with the guitarist.
            “How long you been playing, Tasuki-kun?” Tamahome asked.
            “Seven years.  You play anything?”
            “Yeah,” Tamahome commented, sitting beside Tasuki.  “I play the guitar.  I prefer to sing, though.”
            “And he has a really nice voice, too!” Miaka informed, grinning.
            Tamahome smirked at the hyper girl.  “Thanks, though it’s nothing, really.”  He turned back to Tasuki.  “Play anything else?”
            “Give me something that has strings on it, I’ll play it.”
            “Bass?”
            “Got one in my room.”
            Tamahome grinned.  “Want to join a band, then?”
            Tasuki’s orange eyes lit up.  “Fuck yeah.  I was hopin’ to either find one or start.  Who else is in it?”
            “Just me an’ Chichiri, so far.”
            “Chichiri?” Nuriko asked.  “Since when has he played any instruments?”
            “He just doesn’t like people to know he plays, is all.  Not a stage person, surprisingly enough.”  Tamahome shrugged.  “He just doesn’t want people to ask him to perform.”
            “What’s he play?” Tasuki asked.
            “Drums.”
            “Well, if you can play and sing at the same time,” Tasuki began, smiling big, “we’ve got a full band, there.  Name?”
            “I guess we do, huh?  That’s good, ‘cause I don’t think there’s many other people that are willing to join a band that are good in this school.”  He shrugged again.  “As for a name... we don’t have one yet.”
            Miaka looked her watch.  “Oh, hey, it’s getting late...  Can we go, Tamahome?”
            The blue-headed teen nodded.  “Yeah, sure.  We’ll talk later, okay, Tasuki?”
            “All right.  See ya.”  He waved.
            Miaka and Tamahome got up and waved, giving their farewells to everyone, Yui joining them.  Nuriko was now the only one left with the guitarist.
            “Pretty good for your first two days,” she commented, smirking.  “You’ve been blending in great, and you’re even part of a band already.  Kudos to you.”  She clapped.
            “Thanks, I’m just that good.”  Tasuki ran his hand through his hair arrogantly.
            Nuriko snickered.  “Come on, let’s go find something to do.  I’ve heard you play enough for a little while.”

::*~~*::

            The rest of the afternoon went by without much incident.  In fact, it was rather dull.  Nuriko and he went back to his room after the performance in the garden, only to find Kouji on his bed, frantically writing a paper for his history class.  They helped him out a bit, and just sat around and talked once he was done.
            Dinner finally came, along with Tasuki’s initiation.  Eiken could not keep the grin from his face as he told Genrou and the others at the table(excluding Chichiri, because he had to sit with his fellow newspaper editors for some reason or another) about the task to be performed.
            “You want him to do want?” Kouji asked in disbelief, while Tasuki just grinned, looking completely unfazed.
            “It’s simple,” Eiken started, “there’s two parts to it.  First, he has to piss of Nakago enough to get knocked out and sent to the nurse’s office.  Then, he has to get one of the syringes with... hmm... you know what it’s called, right, Kouji?”  Kouji nodded.  “You take ‘im to the nurse then, show ‘im what I want.”
            “That’s all?” Tasuki said confidently.
            “Yup, that’s all.”
            Tasuki looked around the mess hall.  “Nakago’s the one with really long blonde hair, right?”  Everyone at the table nodded.  “That shouldn’t be too hard, then.”  He stood up, taking his tray with him.  He scanned the cafeteria for the jocks table, noticing in the back of his mind that Nuriko wasn’t at the cheerleader table when he looked over it.
            When he spotted the captain of the football team, he let out a sigh and gained all of his courage(as well as stupidity) and approached the table.
            “Pardon,” he said politely enough when he was just behind Nakago.
            Everyone at the table looked up at him.  Tamahome was sitting across from the blonde and cocked his eyebrow at the red-haired guitarist.  Nakago merely glared at him.  “What do you want, kid?” he asked coldly.
            Tasuki took a nervous gulp before spilling the contents of his tray on top of the jock, covering him in potatoes and gravy, the steak with steak sauce on it clinging to his chest for a moment before sliding off, leaving a trail behind.
            Nakago looked at the mess on his torso then up at Tasuki.  Then back at the mess.  Then back at Tasuki.  And then he stood up, towering over Tasuki, glaring daggers into him.
            / Oh, shit, / Tasuki thought.