Chakra Wizard
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Yeah, I know. I was planning to stop after the first three chapters, but then I conjured up this other story recently and I just had to share this one, tooxd It’s set in the same universe as the first story, but the altopolis is completely different, as are the events that take place in it and the people who take part in those. Also, this one’s gonna be six chapters long in comparison to the other story, just cause I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep a decent pace with only three chapters in this one. I really do like this story much more than the first, just because I feel there’ll be a much greater emotional attachment to the characters, which I hope is true, otherwise it’s really a waste of time readingxd Thanks in advance to everyone who does read, though, and I really hope I get reception anywhere half as great as what I got for the first story*_* Anyways, please enjoy
“I hate this city. …Goddamn it, it hate it so bad. Of course, it’s not like it really matters to anyone else. …To them, I’m just being selfish or conceited. I’m not fully appreciating what I was born with, though I suppose they have a valid reason for that way of thinking. …After all, this is Etsugata. …Pffft, yeah, that makes sense. How could I possibly have any problems with my life when I spend it in the most luxurious altopolis that’s still floating over that rock we call Earth? I’ve got enough money to go to any other altopolis I want, even Miyako, so what right do I have to complain about my issues? …Jerk-offs. They don’t have a damn clue. None of them do. …God, what would I give for a chance to…shit, that’s the bell. I gotta get to class.”
Having lost track of time during his little spiel on the roof of the school, Ren quickly grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder before heading over to the staircase. He was always standing around wasting time in between classes, waiting until the bell finally rang to begin moving, but today, he decided that carrying this out on the roof would be a nice change of pace.
Ren Hiyume was a junior student at London Academy, by far the most prestigious of the three preparatory schools scattered across Etsugata, which sat approximately thirty thousand feet above what was once the country of Great Britain. Of course, Ren’s heritage was far from British, and even seventeen years amongst those who were was not enough to shape his accent into anything other than Japanese. His brown hair, the bangs of which draped over his face, matched the color of his school uniform, while his light-blue eyes matched the color of the shirt he wore beneath it. Coupled with his black pants and matching dress shoes, as well as the red tie dangling from his neck, he had the appearance of a respectable young man from a wealthy background, the latter of which he was. …It was the one thing he detested about his anatomy. As a result, he possessed a strong desire to go through life without depending on his parents, which pushed him to excel in his schoolwork. However, his tendency to become lost in thought and, therefore, frequently be late for class gave him the public image of a delinquent. Today was no exception to this. However, his choice to carry out this near daily routine on the roof would soon prove to be a life-changing decision…for better or for worse.
Not bothering to look ahead as he barged through the doorway leading back inside, he nearly knocked over a young man with long, black hair whose age and height were slightly greater than his own. Instead, though, he collided with the student’s chest and forced him to grab ahold of the long handle positioned on the wall of the staircase, so as not to fall.
“Oh! Sorry about that, man.” he quickly said in response to this clumsiness on his part. Fearing the worst from this stranger, Ren quickly corrected himself and marched onward, just barely catching a glimpse of the student’s face as he walked by. To his confusion, though, the surprise on his face seemed to stem not from Ren’s intrusion of his personal space, but rather the fact that someone else was on the roof, hinting that he regularly visited it himself. He quickly resumed his ascent after wiping off the area of his shirt that had been contaminated by Ren’s face, stopped again shortly after Ren realized what he was doing, despite the bell having rang hardly a minute before.
“Hey, you should probably head to class now.” Ren advised, not entirely sure what was driving this concern for what the student did with his own time. Turning around to face him, the student merely cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly, insinuating that he, too, was questioning his actions. Pausing a moment in confusion, Ren quickly realized that he was basically asking him “Shouldn’t you be going there, too, then?”.
“Hey now, don’t push this on me, alright!? I’m heading there right now! You’re the one coming up here after the bell already-!”
“Oi, Onako! You already up there, mate?”
Caught off guard by this sudden intrusion, Ren’s heart nearly skipped a beat before turning around to catch a glimpse of three other students ascending the staircase, two boys and one girl following close behind. While one of the former two passed by Ren and Onako without so much as a word, the other quickly greeted the latter with an short series of elaborate handshakes. Once the two completed this wordless exchange, the newcomer turned to Ren, apparently not accustomed to finding Onako coercing with other students.
“Ey, whose your boy ‘ere? A friend?” he asked in curiosity. Turning to Onako for an answer, he was met with a reassuring look, letting him know that this was not the case. Upon receiving this knowledge, his questioning expression was replaced by a devious grin.
“Ahh, a skipper, ey? Well, we oughta do somethin’ about that, then.” he said with a trace of shadiness in his voice. Cracking his knuckles to intimidate Ren further, Onako quickly decided to join in and tilted his head in both directions in order to crack his neck. Needless to say, their ploy was a success, a fact proven by the size of Ren’s eyes.
“Huh!? No-no, I’m just heading to…right…Igottago!” he staggered before turning and darting down the narrow staircase to the floor below them, nearly knocking over their female companion as he ran. Once Ren had vanished completely from their sight, Onako’s companion, who sported blonde hair of considerable length, immediately burst into laughter, while Onako himself couldn’t help but chuckle along softly.
“Hehahahaha, oh God! Whadda loafa!” his friend cried out, seemingly on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. In truth, he didn’t believe it was nearly as funny as he made it out to be, but he felt that seeing a smile on Onako’s face, a rare sight in it of itself, was worth the added energy.
“Don’t think you went too far now, do ya, Caleb?” the young girl asked her friend out of mild concern, though not to say that she didn’t enjoy the show herself.
“Eh, he’ll be fine, Audrey. If anythin’, the little punk won’t try skippin’ out on class again…not on the roof, at least.” Caleb replied jokingly. Before he could say anymore, though, the fourth member of their small posse called down to them from the top of the staircase.
“Alright, that’s enough chitchattin’! Audrey, you gonna stand there all day or you gonna ‘elp me move YOUR bloody drums!?” he shouted.
“Oh! Uhh, sorry ‘bout that, Harper!” she quickly responded before running up the stairs to assist him, Caleb following close behind. Moving to join them in their ascent, Onako looked back down the stairwell one final time, catching notice of a small lock of brown hair prodding out from behind the wall at its base just as he turned away. Somewhat surprised by this sight, he paused a moment to consider investigating further, eventually deciding against it and continuing his path up to the roof.
Not even fifty yards away from them, Ren stood out of sight at the bottom of the staircase, having been listening in their exchange the entire time. When he finally had his fill, he reached beside him and pushed open the door leading back into the hallway of the third floor, which was completely vacant. Not a very good sign, but his mind was far too fixated on Caleb’s remarks to think about that right now.
“…Damn prick.” he thought to himself as he walked through the hallway to his classroom, already at least three minutes late for his final class.
When Ren finally reached the doorway with the correct room number, shortly after acquiring a small drink from the nearby water fountain, he reached his hand out to grab the doorknob before stopping in hesitation, not exactly looking forward to the imminent stares which his classmates were sure to give him as he walked in. When he finally mustered up the courage to go through with it, he twisted the knob and let the door swing open on its own, walking in quietly and closing it behind him. His classmates were more than able to satisfy his expectations, as every single eye in the room turned to watch him pace across the room and sit down beside the large window which encompassed most of the wall opposite the door. To his relief, though, the instructor said nothing of the ordeal and simply returned to his lecture once he believed Ren had suffered enough embarrassment. Fifteen seconds in and already bored out of his mind, he was relieved to hear a familiar voice whispering in his ear.
“You’re awfully late, Hiyume. Daydreaming again, I take it?” the young girl sitting behind him asked softly. She was one of, if not his only friend in the entire school, since he was too fixated on his own fantasies to focus on the people around him in the real world. Not bothering to look back at her, since he knew her face all too well, he continued looking out the window as he spoke, his hand curled up beneath his chin to support his head.
“Not really, I just…hey, Mizukawa, you wouldn’t happen to know a student named Onako, would you?” he asked her suddenly. It had been bothering him every waking second since they met on the stairwell – though granted, it occurred only minutes ago – but something about him made him want to know more of who he was. As such, he was sincerely hoping that Mizukawa might know who he was talking about. There weren’t too many students of Japanese descent at the school other than the three of them, so his expectations were rather high.
“Hm? Onako?” she asked confusedly, much to Ren’s disappointment. Hoping it might jog her memory a bit more, he proceeded to explain what had just occurred between the two of them on the rooftop. If anything, at least he could also give her a decent explanation for why he was late.
“Yeah. I ran into him and a few other guys up on the roof as I was heading to class. That’s why I was-”
“Oh! You mean Onako Zetsume?” she interrupted, almost forgetting to keep her voice down in the process. She was like that at times.
“…Zetsume?” Ren replied, now even more intrigued by Onako than before.
“Yeah! He’s basically the school’s very own rock star! He’s, like, the vocalist for a band he and three other seniors got going back in their sophomore year. They all have study hall during fourth period, so they apparently use that time to play on the roof where no one will bother them and they don’t disturb anyone with their music. They’re really hardcore.” Mizukawa explained to him, not breathing once at any point during her little spiel, which once again, nearly brought her above a whisper. Listening intensively to her as he looked ahead, Ren thought back once more to their run-in on the roof, only this time, in a different light.
“I guess they weren’t skipping class then, after all.” he thought to himself, quickly being brought back to reality again by something he heard Mizukawa say.
“I also heard that Onako has, like, THE most adorable voice ever. Huhhhh, I would love to hear him sing sometime.” she said dreamily, bringing a look of confusion to Ren’s face.
“You mean you haven’t?” he asked. Obviously still lost in her thoughts, he was forced to hold his fingers in front of Mizukawa’s face and snap them in order to bring her back to this plane of reality.
“Huh? Oh, I don’t think any of the students here have. He’s supposed to be super-shy about performing in front of audiences, from what I’ve heard. …Such a shame. I bet he has the voice of an angel.” she said, returning to her dream-like state as the words passed her lips. Not bothering to snap her out of it this time, Ren returned to his own thoughts, reminiscing on what she just said.
“An angel, huh?” he thought to himself. He didn’t think on it for long, though, before he was forced back to reality by a sharp pain emitting from his forehead, placed there by a large eraser thrown his direction by the instructor.
“Ah! Jeez.”
“You’re already tardy, Hiyume, so don’t add insult to injury by daydreamin’ IN class!” the seasoned teacher called out from the front of the room, immediately turning Ren’s face red as a few beads of sweat began rolling down his face.
“Uh-uh, sorry, sir!”
The period lasted roughly ninety minutes, afterwhich the halls became flooded once again with flocks of students eager to return to their luxurious homes. Not nearly as thrilled by the thought as they were, Ren took his time as he walked through the busy hallway towards the stairs, since the elevator was always too crowded to bother using in his opinion. After drifting through the large crowds for nearly four minutes on end, he found himself in view of the stairwell which led to the roof once again, at which point his conversation with Mizukawa reentered his thoughts.
“A rock band, huh? …That guy’s pretty lucky. I’ll bet they could make it on their own without having to rely on their parents at all. …God, what I would give.” he thought to himself.
“Hey, Hiyume!”
“Hm?” he murmured, turning around to find that Mizukawa had caught up with him, apparently in a hurry, given the slight deepness in her breathing.
“Hey, I was just wondering. I don’t have to work today, so do you think you and I could probably-?”
“Oh, …sorry, Mizukawa. I’m not really up for anything tonight. Maybe some other time.” he said, a hint of sorriness in his voice, although his expression gave the impression that he didn’t really care at all.
“Oh, …okay, sure. Well, see you tomorrow.” she said before walking off, disappointment clearly present in her tone. Ren, however, was far too focused on his thoughts at the time to notice this.
“Hmm, see ya.” he replied somewhat hastily, as though he was planning to do something within the next few minutes, which he was. His persistent stare was proof enough of that.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt. …I wonder if they’re still playing up there.” he thought to himself as he opened the door to the stairwell.
Hearing nothing when he first entered the corridor, he immediately suspected the four of them had indeed left already, but slowly walked up the steps anyways, just to be sure. To his great surprise, though, as he got ever closer to the roof, the sound of heavy music playing became more and more distinct, thus explaining why they decided to use it as their rehearsal area. After only a few seconds of listening to this seemingly instrumental piece, the music suddenly stopped, a short discussion following shortly after, apparently over what song they would perform next. This conversation lasted but a minute before the four came to a consensus and returned to their stations, just as Ren reached the top of the staircase, making sure to keep his body pressed against the wall and out of sight.
“Whoa. Talk about good timing on my part.” he said softly, so as not to be heard by them as they began playing.
Onako – lead vocals
Harper – guitar
Caleb – bass
Audrey – drums, backing vocals
Just some quick clarification (And yes, most of the inspiration for Onako’s character came from this band’s vocalistxd)
In all honesty, he wasn’t the biggest fan of the song’s lyrics, seeing as how they greatly reminded him of his troubles, but it wasn’t the song itself that caught Ren’s attention. …It was the voice of the one singing it.
“What the hell? …What is this guy? A chick?”
“‘Ey, dillweed! What the hell you doin’ up ‘ere!?”
Looking up in shock, Ren noticed that Caleb had spotted him peeking out from inside the stairwell, garnering the attention of his band mates in the process. Harper and Audrey looked over at their bassist in confusion before also setting their sights on Ren, directing their attention towards Onako shortly after, who appeared absolutely horrified by the prospect of someone having heard him singing.
“Oh, shit.” Ren thought to himself, just before turning around and running back downstairs as fast as he could manage without falling on his ass, …which he inevitably did.
To Be Continued…
I’ve developed this universe quite a bit since I posted the first story, so I’ve had to change quite a few key plot points both for the sake of realism and the plot itself. Probably the one that’ll stick out most is the timeline. It was originally 1000 A.D. (here, B.C. means “Before Cataclysm” and A.D. means “After Disaster” – with the year 2020 now being 0) and six of the altopolises failed and collapsed around 20-30 A.D.. Now, the storyline is set at 100 A.D. with said event occurring at about 48 A.D., just to clear things up
Altopolis II
- Chance -
“I hate this city. …Goddamn it, it hate it so bad. Of course, it’s not like it really matters to anyone else. …To them, I’m just being selfish or conceited. I’m not fully appreciating what I was born with, though I suppose they have a valid reason for that way of thinking. …After all, this is Etsugata. …Pffft, yeah, that makes sense. How could I possibly have any problems with my life when I spend it in the most luxurious altopolis that’s still floating over that rock we call Earth? I’ve got enough money to go to any other altopolis I want, even Miyako, so what right do I have to complain about my issues? …Jerk-offs. They don’t have a damn clue. None of them do. …God, what would I give for a chance to…shit, that’s the bell. I gotta get to class.”
Having lost track of time during his little spiel on the roof of the school, Ren quickly grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder before heading over to the staircase. He was always standing around wasting time in between classes, waiting until the bell finally rang to begin moving, but today, he decided that carrying this out on the roof would be a nice change of pace.
Ren Hiyume was a junior student at London Academy, by far the most prestigious of the three preparatory schools scattered across Etsugata, which sat approximately thirty thousand feet above what was once the country of Great Britain. Of course, Ren’s heritage was far from British, and even seventeen years amongst those who were was not enough to shape his accent into anything other than Japanese. His brown hair, the bangs of which draped over his face, matched the color of his school uniform, while his light-blue eyes matched the color of the shirt he wore beneath it. Coupled with his black pants and matching dress shoes, as well as the red tie dangling from his neck, he had the appearance of a respectable young man from a wealthy background, the latter of which he was. …It was the one thing he detested about his anatomy. As a result, he possessed a strong desire to go through life without depending on his parents, which pushed him to excel in his schoolwork. However, his tendency to become lost in thought and, therefore, frequently be late for class gave him the public image of a delinquent. Today was no exception to this. However, his choice to carry out this near daily routine on the roof would soon prove to be a life-changing decision…for better or for worse.
Not bothering to look ahead as he barged through the doorway leading back inside, he nearly knocked over a young man with long, black hair whose age and height were slightly greater than his own. Instead, though, he collided with the student’s chest and forced him to grab ahold of the long handle positioned on the wall of the staircase, so as not to fall.
“Oh! Sorry about that, man.” he quickly said in response to this clumsiness on his part. Fearing the worst from this stranger, Ren quickly corrected himself and marched onward, just barely catching a glimpse of the student’s face as he walked by. To his confusion, though, the surprise on his face seemed to stem not from Ren’s intrusion of his personal space, but rather the fact that someone else was on the roof, hinting that he regularly visited it himself. He quickly resumed his ascent after wiping off the area of his shirt that had been contaminated by Ren’s face, stopped again shortly after Ren realized what he was doing, despite the bell having rang hardly a minute before.
“Hey, you should probably head to class now.” Ren advised, not entirely sure what was driving this concern for what the student did with his own time. Turning around to face him, the student merely cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly, insinuating that he, too, was questioning his actions. Pausing a moment in confusion, Ren quickly realized that he was basically asking him “Shouldn’t you be going there, too, then?”.
“Hey now, don’t push this on me, alright!? I’m heading there right now! You’re the one coming up here after the bell already-!”
“Oi, Onako! You already up there, mate?”
Caught off guard by this sudden intrusion, Ren’s heart nearly skipped a beat before turning around to catch a glimpse of three other students ascending the staircase, two boys and one girl following close behind. While one of the former two passed by Ren and Onako without so much as a word, the other quickly greeted the latter with an short series of elaborate handshakes. Once the two completed this wordless exchange, the newcomer turned to Ren, apparently not accustomed to finding Onako coercing with other students.
“Ey, whose your boy ‘ere? A friend?” he asked in curiosity. Turning to Onako for an answer, he was met with a reassuring look, letting him know that this was not the case. Upon receiving this knowledge, his questioning expression was replaced by a devious grin.
“Ahh, a skipper, ey? Well, we oughta do somethin’ about that, then.” he said with a trace of shadiness in his voice. Cracking his knuckles to intimidate Ren further, Onako quickly decided to join in and tilted his head in both directions in order to crack his neck. Needless to say, their ploy was a success, a fact proven by the size of Ren’s eyes.
“Huh!? No-no, I’m just heading to…right…Igottago!” he staggered before turning and darting down the narrow staircase to the floor below them, nearly knocking over their female companion as he ran. Once Ren had vanished completely from their sight, Onako’s companion, who sported blonde hair of considerable length, immediately burst into laughter, while Onako himself couldn’t help but chuckle along softly.
“Hehahahaha, oh God! Whadda loafa!” his friend cried out, seemingly on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. In truth, he didn’t believe it was nearly as funny as he made it out to be, but he felt that seeing a smile on Onako’s face, a rare sight in it of itself, was worth the added energy.
“Don’t think you went too far now, do ya, Caleb?” the young girl asked her friend out of mild concern, though not to say that she didn’t enjoy the show herself.
“Eh, he’ll be fine, Audrey. If anythin’, the little punk won’t try skippin’ out on class again…not on the roof, at least.” Caleb replied jokingly. Before he could say anymore, though, the fourth member of their small posse called down to them from the top of the staircase.
“Alright, that’s enough chitchattin’! Audrey, you gonna stand there all day or you gonna ‘elp me move YOUR bloody drums!?” he shouted.
“Oh! Uhh, sorry ‘bout that, Harper!” she quickly responded before running up the stairs to assist him, Caleb following close behind. Moving to join them in their ascent, Onako looked back down the stairwell one final time, catching notice of a small lock of brown hair prodding out from behind the wall at its base just as he turned away. Somewhat surprised by this sight, he paused a moment to consider investigating further, eventually deciding against it and continuing his path up to the roof.
Not even fifty yards away from them, Ren stood out of sight at the bottom of the staircase, having been listening in their exchange the entire time. When he finally had his fill, he reached beside him and pushed open the door leading back into the hallway of the third floor, which was completely vacant. Not a very good sign, but his mind was far too fixated on Caleb’s remarks to think about that right now.
“…Damn prick.” he thought to himself as he walked through the hallway to his classroom, already at least three minutes late for his final class.
When Ren finally reached the doorway with the correct room number, shortly after acquiring a small drink from the nearby water fountain, he reached his hand out to grab the doorknob before stopping in hesitation, not exactly looking forward to the imminent stares which his classmates were sure to give him as he walked in. When he finally mustered up the courage to go through with it, he twisted the knob and let the door swing open on its own, walking in quietly and closing it behind him. His classmates were more than able to satisfy his expectations, as every single eye in the room turned to watch him pace across the room and sit down beside the large window which encompassed most of the wall opposite the door. To his relief, though, the instructor said nothing of the ordeal and simply returned to his lecture once he believed Ren had suffered enough embarrassment. Fifteen seconds in and already bored out of his mind, he was relieved to hear a familiar voice whispering in his ear.
“You’re awfully late, Hiyume. Daydreaming again, I take it?” the young girl sitting behind him asked softly. She was one of, if not his only friend in the entire school, since he was too fixated on his own fantasies to focus on the people around him in the real world. Not bothering to look back at her, since he knew her face all too well, he continued looking out the window as he spoke, his hand curled up beneath his chin to support his head.
“Not really, I just…hey, Mizukawa, you wouldn’t happen to know a student named Onako, would you?” he asked her suddenly. It had been bothering him every waking second since they met on the stairwell – though granted, it occurred only minutes ago – but something about him made him want to know more of who he was. As such, he was sincerely hoping that Mizukawa might know who he was talking about. There weren’t too many students of Japanese descent at the school other than the three of them, so his expectations were rather high.
“Hm? Onako?” she asked confusedly, much to Ren’s disappointment. Hoping it might jog her memory a bit more, he proceeded to explain what had just occurred between the two of them on the rooftop. If anything, at least he could also give her a decent explanation for why he was late.
“Yeah. I ran into him and a few other guys up on the roof as I was heading to class. That’s why I was-”
“Oh! You mean Onako Zetsume?” she interrupted, almost forgetting to keep her voice down in the process. She was like that at times.
“…Zetsume?” Ren replied, now even more intrigued by Onako than before.
“Yeah! He’s basically the school’s very own rock star! He’s, like, the vocalist for a band he and three other seniors got going back in their sophomore year. They all have study hall during fourth period, so they apparently use that time to play on the roof where no one will bother them and they don’t disturb anyone with their music. They’re really hardcore.” Mizukawa explained to him, not breathing once at any point during her little spiel, which once again, nearly brought her above a whisper. Listening intensively to her as he looked ahead, Ren thought back once more to their run-in on the roof, only this time, in a different light.
“I guess they weren’t skipping class then, after all.” he thought to himself, quickly being brought back to reality again by something he heard Mizukawa say.
“I also heard that Onako has, like, THE most adorable voice ever. Huhhhh, I would love to hear him sing sometime.” she said dreamily, bringing a look of confusion to Ren’s face.
“You mean you haven’t?” he asked. Obviously still lost in her thoughts, he was forced to hold his fingers in front of Mizukawa’s face and snap them in order to bring her back to this plane of reality.
“Huh? Oh, I don’t think any of the students here have. He’s supposed to be super-shy about performing in front of audiences, from what I’ve heard. …Such a shame. I bet he has the voice of an angel.” she said, returning to her dream-like state as the words passed her lips. Not bothering to snap her out of it this time, Ren returned to his own thoughts, reminiscing on what she just said.
“An angel, huh?” he thought to himself. He didn’t think on it for long, though, before he was forced back to reality by a sharp pain emitting from his forehead, placed there by a large eraser thrown his direction by the instructor.
“Ah! Jeez.”
“You’re already tardy, Hiyume, so don’t add insult to injury by daydreamin’ IN class!” the seasoned teacher called out from the front of the room, immediately turning Ren’s face red as a few beads of sweat began rolling down his face.
“Uh-uh, sorry, sir!”
The period lasted roughly ninety minutes, afterwhich the halls became flooded once again with flocks of students eager to return to their luxurious homes. Not nearly as thrilled by the thought as they were, Ren took his time as he walked through the busy hallway towards the stairs, since the elevator was always too crowded to bother using in his opinion. After drifting through the large crowds for nearly four minutes on end, he found himself in view of the stairwell which led to the roof once again, at which point his conversation with Mizukawa reentered his thoughts.
“A rock band, huh? …That guy’s pretty lucky. I’ll bet they could make it on their own without having to rely on their parents at all. …God, what I would give.” he thought to himself.
“Hey, Hiyume!”
“Hm?” he murmured, turning around to find that Mizukawa had caught up with him, apparently in a hurry, given the slight deepness in her breathing.
“Hey, I was just wondering. I don’t have to work today, so do you think you and I could probably-?”
“Oh, …sorry, Mizukawa. I’m not really up for anything tonight. Maybe some other time.” he said, a hint of sorriness in his voice, although his expression gave the impression that he didn’t really care at all.
“Oh, …okay, sure. Well, see you tomorrow.” she said before walking off, disappointment clearly present in her tone. Ren, however, was far too focused on his thoughts at the time to notice this.
“Hmm, see ya.” he replied somewhat hastily, as though he was planning to do something within the next few minutes, which he was. His persistent stare was proof enough of that.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt. …I wonder if they’re still playing up there.” he thought to himself as he opened the door to the stairwell.
Hearing nothing when he first entered the corridor, he immediately suspected the four of them had indeed left already, but slowly walked up the steps anyways, just to be sure. To his great surprise, though, as he got ever closer to the roof, the sound of heavy music playing became more and more distinct, thus explaining why they decided to use it as their rehearsal area. After only a few seconds of listening to this seemingly instrumental piece, the music suddenly stopped, a short discussion following shortly after, apparently over what song they would perform next. This conversation lasted but a minute before the four came to a consensus and returned to their stations, just as Ren reached the top of the staircase, making sure to keep his body pressed against the wall and out of sight.
“Whoa. Talk about good timing on my part.” he said softly, so as not to be heard by them as they began playing.
Onako – lead vocals
Harper – guitar
Caleb – bass
Audrey – drums, backing vocals
Just some quick clarification
(And yes, most of the inspiration for Onako’s character came from this band’s vocalistxd)In all honesty, he wasn’t the biggest fan of the song’s lyrics, seeing as how they greatly reminded him of his troubles, but it wasn’t the song itself that caught Ren’s attention. …It was the voice of the one singing it.
“What the hell? …What is this guy? A chick?”
“‘Ey, dillweed! What the hell you doin’ up ‘ere!?”
Looking up in shock, Ren noticed that Caleb had spotted him peeking out from inside the stairwell, garnering the attention of his band mates in the process. Harper and Audrey looked over at their bassist in confusion before also setting their sights on Ren, directing their attention towards Onako shortly after, who appeared absolutely horrified by the prospect of someone having heard him singing.
“Oh, shit.” Ren thought to himself, just before turning around and running back downstairs as fast as he could manage without falling on his ass, …which he inevitably did.
To Be Continued…
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