Title: The Other Road

Author: Regina Wren

E-mail: wren13 @ gmail.com

Fandom & Pairings: Janne Da Arc; none

Keywords: gen

Rating: Teens

Words: 2,767

Status: Complete

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, fabricated from my strange imagination. This is almost entirely fictional except for a few loose reference points to the band’s history, but I really don’t know what happened in their past, so I made something up. This is only intended for entertainment and enjoyment, I’m not making any money, and I don’t mean to hurt anyone either directly or indirectly through this.

Comments: Based on a true story, except for the fact that this is a work of fiction.

The Other Road
By Regina Wren

 

 

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken”

Hirakata, Osaka, 1992.

Yasu shoved his hands in his pockets as a chill wind swept down the street. It had been sunny all day, but now that the sun was sinking below the buildings the wind had gotten cold and unpleasant. Lights were coming on all over the city but it was still light enough that there were no stars visible yet, leaving the sky just a dim blanket of emptiness.

You had said that Ka-yu finished work early tonight, something about the place and some new employees. At any rate, the ramen place was just up ahead. Again thoughts of the band came unbidden to mind, and a small sigh escaped his lips, though it was lost in the sounds of the street.

Bright light illuminated the front of the ramen shop in welcome for the evening, and the shadows of people moving around inside showed through the curtains, but no sign of Ka-yu yet. That wasn't surprising; he would be working out the back most likely.

Yasu leaned against a lamppost, vaguely watching the people passing him while he waited. For once the streets weren't that crowded; if this were the centre of Tokyo it would have been a different story at this time of day.

 

Tokyo. The thought was always there, if only in the back of his mind. Once he moved there with the band they would get their big break, he was certain of it. Well, they would if they all worked for it together. All day his mind had been turning over these thoughts of the band, driving him to finally come here are see the person he’d first started a band with, even though his friend had quit soon after.

Lost in thought he noticed belatedly that someone was coming towards the front of the shop. He straightened, recognising the walk of that figure in an instant. He was only a silhouette against the inside lights, but the image of the slender young man couldn't have been anyone else.

"Ka-yu!" Yasu called out the moment his friend stepped out onto the street, at the same time hoping the other boy didn't have anywhere else to hurry off to. It would suck if Ka-yu had a date or something tonight with no time to speak to him. But no, Ka-yu had stopped and turned to him instead.

"Hey, what's up?" The greeting was pleasant but at the same time laced with surprise. Yasu couldn't really blame him. He probably should have told Ka-yu he was going to be here.

He shrugged casually. "Not much," Yasu heard his mouth answer before his mind registered that that wasn't entirely true. After spending the whole day thinking, his brain had apparently abruptly decided to go on holidays.

"What, so you just came here to walk me home?" The smirk said more than the words as Ka-yu shifted his bag higher on his shoulders, and Yasu replied reflexively.

"You wish!" But he laughed when a fist tried to smack him in the arm and he dodged the blow. At least Ka-yu was in a good enough mood to joke with him; that was encouraging.

"So how's work going?" Yasu changed the topic conversationally as they set off towards Ka-yu's house. The smell of vegetables and cooking that always hung around the ramen place was quickly dispelled by the wind and replaced by the smell of oil and cars that was a familiar fixture to these streets.

"Same as always," Ka-yu swung his backpack over one shoulder and started digging in it as though he were looking for something. Eventually he pulled out a packet of cigarettes. "Want one?"

Yasu hesitated only a second before he accepted. "Thanks." He let Ka-yu light it before attending to his own. The sensation of tobacco smoke in his lungs was a strange one and he had to suppress the reflex to cough. Still, he wasn't going to be left out of trying something new. He didn't stop to think what effect it might have on his singing voice.

"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be practicing the new song you were telling me about or something?" Ka-yu asked, an exhaled puff of smoke dispersing quickly behind him. The mention of the band suddenly brought all sorts of emotions back to Yasu. Was it just his imagination or had it got colder in the past few minutes? He shrugged, hunching his shoulders a little against the wind.

"Yeah well... maybe..." he saw Ka-yu glance at him from the corner of his eye.

"Something wrong with the band?"

A kid on a skateboard rode past them, ignorant of the fact there were other people on the sidewalk, and for a moment Yasu had to step aside so as not to collide with the boy. Wrong with the band? Well, right now it certainly wasn't going anywhere. He glanced away from the road to look up at the dimming sky. A single bright star was visible. Or was that a satellite? "Remember when you got your guitar and we decided to start a band?"

Ka-yu smiled crookedly at him. "Yeah..." he set the cigarette against his lips again. How long had Ka-yu been smoking for? Neither of them would be legal for a few years yet. "How'd you come up with the name Janne Da Arc anyway?"

"A manga I was reading," but the answer was a little absent as Yasu mulled over whether he liked the experience of smoking. He decided he couldn't make up his mind yet. "But you remember how excited you were about the idea when we started? You were at least as enthusiastic as me to get the band going." Ka-yu's enthusiasm had sometimes helped spur him on as well.

"Yeah, but it's not my thing, I told you that. I can't see myself playing music for the rest of my life. It was a cool idea but it wasn't what I wanted."

"So what do you want to do for the rest of your life?" Steal bikes and sell them for parts? But Yasu bit back the words before his mouth could run away with him again. The memory of Ka-yu quitting on him, abandoning what had been their dream came back all at once. Even now the memory hurt enough to leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

The remains of daylight and the interspersed streetlights lit up Ka-yu's features dimly, and Yasu saw him shrug. "I never expect to live that long..."

Somewhat irked by that comment Yasu took another drag and glared at the pavement. He hated it when Ka-yu started talking like that. "At least you fucking enjoyed playing music..." but his words were only a low murmur so that Ka-yu missed them completely.

"What?"

Yasu spoke up so he could be heard now. "Ino quit the band. He was getting us all down..." he paused briefly to wet his lips. "We need someone who's really into what they're doing. We want to get this damn band off the ground already, but we don't even have a bassist right now!"

The two of them walked on in silence for a while, Yasu sunk in worries as Ka-yu took it all in. A small bird flew over their heads to perch on a nearby roof, its soft chirping sounding bright and cheerful as the boys passed. The silence between them slowly lengthened as they walked, but it wasn't entirely an unpleasant silence.

 

Finally Ka-yu broke the quiet. "So you find a bassist and then what?" he asked flicking ash onto the sidewalk.

 

For a moment Yasu let himself dream what it would be like to be in a real band rather than just playing as a hobby. "We rock out and have fun. We find ourselves some gigs to play and go from there." Just the thought of being part of a headlining band made him smile to himself.

 

Ka-yu watched him thoughtfully, not replying to that. The street had become quieter down here, and the shadows were growing denser as they walked. Yasu exhaled into the sky, watching the wind sweep away the smoke drifts in seconds. There was something very peaceful about their walk, but the melancholy wind and gathering darkness made it somehow sobering at the same time.

At the corner Yasu stamped out the butt of his cigarette before they turned down a smaller street. Houses stretched out along the road, and the street was lost in the distance among walls and rooftops. The sky on the horizon was slightly lighter than it was above, the fire of the setting sun making it glow.

At last Ka-yu spoke up again. "Let me guess, you came here to ask me to join the band again and replace Ino?"

Yasu frowned suddenly at the tone he heard in those words. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you'd consider it. You wanted this band as much as I did, and I was thrilled that I had one of my best friends with me. That's why I got so pissed off when you quit, but I'm not going to let it just die on me now!" he wracked his brain for a killer line to convince his old band mate with. "I can't do this without you."

Ka-yu snorted. "That's crap, and you know it. You'd never let one person quitting stop you."

Yasu pulled to a stop, his eyes flashing. "Damnit Ka-yu, what are you doing that's so important these days anyway? And if you end up in jail what's going to happen to the rest of your life?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Ka-yu suddenly turned to him, anger making his voice low and rough. "Fuck you, Yasu! I quit because I wanted something else and you have no fucking right to tell me what to do with my life!"

Yasu's mind screamed retaliation, and he bit his lip against the words raging in his head. One part of him was completely unwilling just stand there and have accusations flung in his face, but another part of him refused to lose control, knowing that another fight was not the best way of conveying how he felt.

But Ka-yu wasn't going to be silent now. "Didn't you tell me never to come back when I left? You could always replace one guitarist, right?"

Yasu's voice was tight with tension, though it trembled a little when he spoke. "I said those things, Ka-yu, because I was hurt that you just up and left our band like that! I thought it meant more to you than that!"

Yasu would never admit a weakness, but with that line he opened himself up more than Ka-yu had ever seen him. Behind those eyes he was aching. It was only for a second, and that one second made Ka-yu's anger melt away like ice in his palm. Then Yasu shut him out again, turning away, and that abrupt motion felt like a door slamming in his face. Still the unfamiliar sight of his friend hurting wouldn’t leave his mind now.

"Forget it, Ka-yu. We'll find someone else. I just thought I'd ask." Yasu's voice was firm again, not revealing anything of what lay behind it, a moment before he started to walk away.

Over the past few years they'd managed to remain friends even after Ka-yu quit, despite the fight they'd had back then, but it had never quite left their memories. He had walked away that time leaving that cloud hanging over their heads, never realising how much his quitting had hurt his friend. Yasu would probably leave Osaka with the band one day, go to Tokyo and fulfil his dream there. Ka-yu had no doubt he would succeed too. Irresistibly charming and undeniably stubborn, how could he not get what he wanted? And Ka-yu could let him walk away now and do just that...

Or...

"Yasu, wait!"

Or he could stop another dark cloud from hanging over their heads this time.

He saw Yasu stop and started jogging towards him. It was only when Ka-yu was beside him that Yasu turned to look at him, but his gaze was only questioning, completely lacking its usual high-spirited assurance.

"Yasu, I'm sorry."

A slight nod was all that replied.

"I know how much this means to you."

A man on a bicycle rode past them in the other direction, deftly avoiding where they'd stopped in the middle of the road. Ka-yu's cigarette had burnt down without him noticing and he smoothly killed the light under his heel.

At last Yasu lifted his head. "I'm not going to guilt you into joining the band again. I only want you to join if you really want it as much as I remember you wanting it when we first started."

Ka-yu sighed. "I always thought I'd jump at the chance if you ever decided to forgive me and ask me to join again, but I thought you'd bight my head off if I asked," he spoke softer now, recalling the memories. "When I left I didn't think you'd take the band idea as seriously as you have. You know I love music, and the idea of just rocking out sounds great, but I never thought seriously about being a musician." They had been so young then, barely giving a second thought to the future.

Yasu looked relieved at the sight of a calmer Ka-yu. "I know. But what about now? Now what do you want to be doing in ten years time?"

It was Ka-yu's turn to look away this time. All around lay the streets of Hirakata, the building-walls that lined the roads making them seem more narrow and confining than they really were, but the remnants of daylight stained the sky infront of them, as though the road lead straight into that light if you followed it long enough. The sounds of distant traffic drifted over to them but around here everything was still.

"I really don't know where I'm going. I've spent the past few years doing whatever the hell I wanted and not caring what happened to me in the end..." He shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes fixed somewhere in the distance.

"So come back and join the band again. I... we need you in the band. We need someone who wants this to work as much as the rest of us."

 

Ka-yu’s eyes flickered back to him. "And what do the others say? Or are you asking me to join before you spring it on them?"

 

Yasu shook his head. "I talked to You and Kiyo. We all want to keep the band alive, so we figured you might want to come and hang out with us and play some music, instead of hanging round the streets on weekends." Yasu was probably the only person who could say that as casually as if he were commenting on the weather. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

Yasu's eyes were wide, and Ka-yu had to bite back a laugh. "God, I hate it when you beg."

Those dark eyes suddenly grew even wider in mock innocence as Yasu switched to cajoling-mode, perhaps because he could already see the answer in Ka-yu’s face. "Please? We'll have fun, playing music and getting paid for it... and think of all the girls coming to see us."

This time Ka-yu couldn't help but laugh. "You're not my girlfriend and you still manage to get me to do things for you." Yasu's eyes twinkled even though he tried his best to maintain his innocent act. "Alright, ok, you little pest."

"Ha! I knew you couldn't resist me~!"

"You're deluded."

Yasu just grinned, unable to stop a wide smile spreading across his face. Suddenly happier than he'd been in a while, like a large weight had fallen from his heart that he hadn't even realised had been there before. He felt like he could have hugged Ka-yu at that moment. "Does this mean our old lovers-quarrel is finally over?"

Ka-yu rolled his eyes at the naughty voice, and slapped a hand on Yasu's back. "Yeah yeah..." then he yanked his friend's shoulders forwards. Yasu only had time to cry out before the friendly arm across his shoulders suddenly became a headlock.

The two were having too much fun to care if they were bringing attention to themselves, the echoes of their shouts and laughter resounding off building walls up the street. And in the sky above them, a few stars appeared, glinting like tiny diamonds, as though emerging into existence out of nowhere.

 

 

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Completed: 2004.02.27

Rewritten: 2004.08.12