Chapter Text
Daichi followed Tanaka into the dingy arcade he often visited. Daichi didn’t take interest in games, but he needed to keep an eye on Tanaka to make sure he showed up to practice. He kept his guitar strapped to his back and his hands shoved in his pocket as they entered the arcade. Inside the poorly lit arcade a less than pleasant scent greeted them. Daichi wondered what possible enjoyment Tanaka found here.
“After this you promised you’re coming over to practice remember?” Daichi reminded him as Tanaka settled in front of his favorite machine.
“Yeah, yeah I’ll come with you! I don’t see why we need to practice though; it’s pointless without a bassist. It’s hard to keep time by myself!”
“We need to make sure we keep up on the material. And I’ll find a bass player soon; Noya said he knows a good one.”
Tanaka huffed at him in response, already too engrossed in his game to answer. Daichi sighed and settled on the bench in the corner he usually sat at. This was a regular occurrence. Daichi was always hounding Tanaka to come to practice. Somehow this meant he was always forced to follow him about his daily routine to make sure he did. For someone who claimed to be devoted to their band, he sure did try to evade practice a lot. He was right though. Group practice wasn’t nearly as effective without a full band. The group sounded fine together, and Asahi’s vocals were spectacular (despite Asahi’s insistence that his voice was nothing special). But without a bassist their group lacked proper rhythm. Tanaka tended to get ahead of himself with his drum solos when he wasn’t playing with a bassist.
Daichi took out his old Yamaha and tuned it. He knew it wasn’t an ideal instrument, but it got the job done. He also felt nostalgic since this was the guitar that he had learned to play on. Tanaka told him that he needed to give it up and pawn it off already but Daichi couldn’t bring himself to. He got into the habit of practicing in this arcade with Tanaka. Ever since high school he would come here when he had nothing better to do or he didn’t want to go home. Instead he would watch Tanaka rack up his score on whatever new game he found, and he’d play quietly on his own. This routine was comfortable. Despite Daichi's annoyance that Tanaka preferred coming here than going to practice, he enjoyed times like this. He could brainstorm new songs with little interruption. He was working on a song he had written with Asahi. It didn’t have a title yet and he was stuck on the lyrics.
“It would be nice to find a bassist that doesn’t suck at writing,” he thought.
---
Suga woke with a start.
“Shit, what time is it?” he checked his alarm.
It was past noon. He was late. Hurriedly, he threw on a flannel and jeans and brushed his teeth. His hair was sticking up in all directions so he smoothed it down a bit before rushing out the door.
“Damn I hope they don’t get too upset.” He muttered as he waited anxiously for the bus.
“Oikawa seems like a diva, I’d hate to get him worked up because of this.”
Twenty minutes later Suga arrived at the studio.
“Sorry I’m late!” he said cheerfully. “Overslept, my alarm never went off.”
Today he was working as a session musician for the group Comet Orchid. Personally, he thought their name was ridiculous. But Oikawa had thought of it and what he said went (apparently it was a flower with a symbolic meaning, Suga had never gotten the full meaning). Regardless of what he thought, it wasn’t his band, so it didn’t matter. Suga was just there to play the keyboard today. It was an interesting group. Oikawa had known Suga for a long time and had offered to let him join his band but he declined. He wasn’t interested in the group or their music. the music felt too avant-garde for his taste. But he did respect the experimentation.
“Ah, Mr. Refreshing finally decided to show up!” Oikawa announced while Suga hurried in and got situated at the keyboard. “It’s not like we agreed to meet at 11:30.”
Suga checked his watch. It was 12:45.
“Again I’m sorry,” Suga said.
He didn’t like the way their drummer glared at him. He had only met Oikawa and Iwaizumi before, the bass player and drummer must have been new.
“Kindaichi, Hanamaki, this is Sugawara, who we have been so graciously waiting for.” Oikawa introduced them briefly.
“You can just call me Suga!” Suga offered his hand, the drummer, Hanamaki, ignored him but Kindaichi politely shook it.
Oikawa crossed his arms and pouted exaggeratedly.
“We could have been done by now if you had gotten here on time,” Iwaizumi grumbled as they went over the song.
Suga just rolled his eyes and played a few scales to warm up. Despite the disapproval Suga got from the other band members, the session went well. As always, Oikawa’s vocals stunned him. This was the first time he’d heard Comet Orchid play together in person. None of the members were too impressive on their own, but Suga noticed that Oikawa really tied the group together. He was almost jealous of their talent. But Suga was content just working on recordings when they needed him. He didn’t need to be a in an experimental band. Oikawa was far too invasive; he oversaw every part of the process from warming up to playing to song writing. Suga disliked someone always looking over his shoulder as he worked.
“Thank you for helping us out!” Oikawa hummed as they packed up to leave. “Even though we had to wait sooo long!”
“Anytime,” Suga smiled. “I’d better get going though I don’t want to miss my bus. Let me know if you have any more projects you need my help on!”
“Sure,” Iwaizumi said, curt but appreciative.
“Thanks man, I’ll see you around.” Kindaichi waved as Suga said his goodbye.
Suga caught the next bus downtown just in time. He had a shift today his boss threatened to kill him if he was late. Ukai rarely followed through on his threats but Suga tried to be conscientious just in case. Even though it was a boring part time job Suga enjoyed working at the music shop. He’d always been a fan of music and while he loved playing, it didn’t pay the bills. So selling records and cassette tapes was his best option to stay close to music during the day.
“Afternoon,” Ukai muttered behind his magazine when Suga walked in.
“How’s it going?”
“Same old, Suga. I’ve got a pile of records in the back that some old lady dumped off today. Sort through them and put out any that are in decent shape.”
Suga nodded and went straight to work. Ukai wasn't too chatty, it was usually work right away when he got on. He didn’t mind though, it kept him busy until closing. The records he had to sort through didn’t have anything interesting. The records contained mostly easy listening with a couple of Christmas albums. Unfortunate really, Suga loved when he stumbled across something unique that someone dropped off. Once he’d found a Yardbirds bootleg that he had convinced Ukai to let him buy. Most of the time the used records brought in had nothing noteworthy though.
A customer came in and Suga went to help them. He smiled when he recognized the face.
“Asahi!” Suga called.
Asahi started for a moment but his face lit up when he saw Suga.
“Hey Suga!” Asahi said. “How have you been?”
“I’m fine! How’s the band? What’s the name again? Flightless Crows?”
“Yeah, Flightless Crows. It’s alright. We’re lacking a bass player right now. Actually we’ve got a practice soon. Apparently this guy our friend knows plays bass and we’re going to see how he works out today.”
“Well good luck!” Suga said. “I hope he’ll work out for you. Let me know if you guys ever have a show soon I’ll come watch!”
“Sure,” Asahi said as he nervously scratched his head. “Actually, um… You play bass don’t you Suga?”
“A little,” Suga laughed and patted Asahi’s shoulder making him jump. “But I hardly play enough to be in a band. Sorry Asahi.”
“Oh, right,” Asahi didn’t try to hide his disappointment.
Suga felt guilty. He’d been Asahi’s close friend for a long time but he didn’t think it would be fair to their group if a novice player joined.
“Sorry man, I can help you out here though. What are you looking for?”
---
“Any luck with your guy Asahi?” Tanaka asked when Asahi entered Daichi's apartment.
“No,” he said, hanging his head. “He says he doesn’t play enough bass. I know he works as a session musician though…”
“That’s alright!” Daichi smiled. “We still have Noya’s friend coming today. Noya said this guy is naturally talented, maybe he’ll work out!”
“Ever the optimist, Daichi,” Tanaka grinned as they settled to begin practice.
After some deliberation, they started the song that Daichi had worked on earlier. He'd managed to finish the lyrics in the arcade; they already had the music sorted out. Daichi strummed an intro, low and soft. After a moment Tanaka joined in with a light beat before picking up the pace. Until finally, Asahi’s voice purred the lyrics Daichi had written.
“Sit back and revel in your pain
Your face is pale, your eyes red
You only thought this was a game
A quick fix, a reeling dream”
They ended their song and Asahi sighed.
“What’s wrong? That sounded great!” Daichi said. “Asahi, you’ve definitely improved since we first started practicing that one.”
“Yeah but, it’s so dark isn’t it?” Asahi looked positively hurt by the lyrics he had just voiced.
“Are you serious?” Tanaka cackled. “This is Daichi’s writing. Mr. Dark and Brooding over here.”
“I am not!”
“Your lyrics are!” Tanaka snickered. “Try writing something lighter for poor Asahi’s sake will you?”
“Whatever,” Daichi rolled his eyes.
He dished out his usual critique of their performance. They continued with practice for about twenty more minutes until a loud knocking at the door interrupted them.
“Hey! Daichi! Let me in!” Nishinoya’s muffled voice shouted. “It’s me! Noya! I brought Kageyama with me!!”
“Asahi would you let him in?” Daichi asked.
Asahi opened the door and let their short friend in. A lanky, dark haired kid followed him. He looked completely unenthused about being there.
“Asahi, Tanaka, Daichi, this is Kageyama, the guy I was telling you about!”
“Nice to meet you!” Daichi offered his hand and Kageyama shook it.
Asahi politely shook his hand as well and Tanaka nodded in greeting.
“Wait a minute, how old is this kid?” Tanaka asked after sizing him up.
“Nineteen,” Kageyama replied. “Too young for you or something?”
“I guess that’s fine.” Tanaka put his hands on his hips and puffed up his chest. “But don’t think I’m going to be picking up the slack of some teenager!”
“Oh shut up Tanaka, you’re only twenty,” Daichi scoffed.
Tanaka deflated a little and glared at Daichi dejectedly.
“I’m not a teenager though…” He muttered to himself behind his drum set.
“Is this guy your singer?” Kageyama asked, incredulous that the nervous Asahi would be a decent frontman.
“That’s right!” Noya shouted and put an arm around Asahi. “Wait until you hear him! One of the best vocalists you’ll see Kageyama! Don’t you doubt it!!”
“Ah no I’m not really...” Asahi blushed and stammered trying to downplay Noya’s compliment as Noya grinned brightly.
“Of course you are Asahi,” Daichi assured him. “Alright let’s get started. I’d like to see what you can do Kageyama.”