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puss_nd_bootsTitle: A Fairy’s Tale, Part 2
Chapter: 2 of 3 - Part 1 is here
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Fantasy AU, urban fantasy, some romance and smut
Warnings: Male/male sex, oral (in this chapter)
Pairing: Aoi X Kai/Kai X Aoi
Disclaimer: Boys belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a fairy who was sent into the human world by his king to learn about leadership. But those lessons were to come in a very un-fairy-like fashion – by spearheading a rock band.
Comments: This story is based on one of my very favorite Kai photoshoots, the one where he is some sort of elf- or fairy-like supernatural creature. I decided to go with fairy here, and I chose the blue skin tint out of the three he sports during the shoot (he also seems to have pink and green skin in other photos). Some elements of this story are also inspired by various episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, created by Lauren Faust and property of Hasbro.
Kai was ready to skip into the conference room. It was common practice for the bandleader to meet with the group’s management team, then carry any news that came out of it into a meeting with the band.
What he had to share with them was very good news. Very good indeed. It seemed that everything they’d worked for in the two-years-plus since he’d joined was about to come to fruition.
“Hi, everyone!” he said, cheerfully, as he walked in – then looked around, blinking. He saw Ruki at one end of the table, looking at his phone, Aoi next to him, calmly smoking, Reita a couple of seats down, looking up from a trade publication . . .
“Where’s Uruha?” Kai said.
“Oh, you know,” Reita replied. “The usual. Caught up in composing. Out somewhere. Not looking at his watch . . .”
“I’m going to call him,” Kai said, putting his hand in his back pocket to come up with his phone – and finding nothing. He put his hand in his other back pocket, still nothing. No more luck with the front pockets, either.
“Problem?” Aoi said, with some amusement, seeing the look on Kai’s face.
“My phone,” he said. “It’s not here. I know I had it with me before . . .”
“Did you take it out when you went to the men’s room?” said Ruki.
“No, no, I had it with me the whole time!” Well, he couldn’t search his shirt pockets, could he? Because he had none.
“What about your head?” Reita said. “That still attached to your body?”
“I must have left it in the other conference room!” Kai raced down the hall, looking for the place where he’d met with the managers earlier.
It was one part of living as a human he couldn’t quite get adjusted to. In the fairy world, you didn’t have to carry your personal possessions with you – you could summon them with magic no matter where you were.
Here, you had to carry everything. Except Kai kept forgetting that when you put something down, you had to pick it up again when you left the room . . .
He opened the door and, sure enough, his phone was still on the table. He picked it up – and it rang immediately. “Hello?”
“Oh, good, you did find it,” Reita said. “Uruha just walked in. Come back to the meeting room – just don’t lose anything else on the way.”
“I’m coming,” he said, sheepishly, putting the device back in his pocket. He was used to his rhythm section partner’s teasing by now – it was a regular game for him, really. It was okay – Kai was secure in the fact that Reita was his friend.
When he walked back in, Uruha was sitting next to Reita, totally nonplussed about his lateness – probably because it was such a common thing. “Um, sorry about that,” Kai said, rubbing the back of his head. “The interruption, I mean. I have good news, though!”
“They’re giving us a regular booze allowance?” Aoi said.
“No, no, not that,” Kai said. He took a deep breath and looked around – he was about to announce they’d attained one of the major dreams of a visual kei band. “We’re going major. King Records is signing us.”
He smiled as he watched the gasps of surprise, as his bandmates all looked at each other. “No way!” Aoi said.
“Oh, yes,” Kai replied. “The guys from the label are due in here tomorrow with the paperwork. They want a single, and then an album.” He knew his bandmates had been working on songs like crazy as of late anyway – songs that represented a new musical direction for them, much more melodic and sophisticated than a lot of their work in the past – so they’d be ready to meet the challenge.
“Well, damn,” Ruki said.
“And someone like you managed to negotiate that?” Reita said. “Who would have thought?”
Kai held up his hand to get the group’s attention. “But that’s not all,” he said. “They’re talking about a big tour to support the album. As in, more than 30 dates. And the latter part of the tour will be in the big livehouses. And for the tour finale . . .”
He took a deep breath. He was about to launch the biggest bombshell of them all.
“They’re talking about the possibility of Budokan.”
Well, that got a reaction. As in, all four of them leapt to their feet at once, like a baseball crowd watching a home run. “Budokan?” Ruki said.
“Yes,” Kai said. “It’s not a hundred percent done deal yet, mind you, but . . .
“Fucking BUDOKAN?” Ruki said. “As in, I-saw-Luna-Sea-perform-there Budokan?”
“You know of any other Budokan?” Reita said.
Uruha just stood there looking stunned, then broke into a wide grin. “I don’t believe it! I was just there not too long ago . . .”
And the next thing Kai knew, there was a tall human missile flying across the room at him. He stepped back just in time for Aoi to launch himself at him, the same way he’d done during their Maximum Royal Disorder tour final. He caught his bandmate, finding himself staggering around the room trying to hold onto him.
“It’s all because of this guy!” Aoi said. “We wouldn’t have made it this far if he wasn’t the leader!”
“Well, not all because of me,” he said, his voice a bit muffled from being pressed into the other man’s chest. “You’re the guys who are at the front of the stage.”
“Yeah, but you’re the brains,” Aoi said. “The REAL brains.”
Kai staggered forward with his burden, thinking he was going to dump him right on the table, and breaking a conference table wasn’t exactly going to sit well with their management. Not exactly a way to repay a company that had gotten you to Budokan.
He managed to set Aoi down on his feet, took a deep breath, turned to the others, and said, “Okay, can we talk about what we’re releasing as the next single, then?”
Later on, as they left the meeting, Aoi pulled Kai aside. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Caught up in the moment.”
“It’s okay, really,” Kai said. “No damage done.” No tables broken, and his arms were intact – well, mostly.
“I still can’t believe it,” Aoi said. “Going major is enough, but Budokan?” He shook his head. “Fuck. We’re going to actually have money for once.”
“I’ll be able to move to Tokyo,” Kai said, a wide smile crossing his face.
“Does that mean no more sleepovers?” Aoi said, wrapping an arm around the other man.
During Kai’s time in the band, the two of them had settled into a comfortable friends-with-benefits relationship. No permanent commitment, no “three little words,” just companionship and sex. Lots of sex. Lots of absolutely delicious sex.
He reached up and pressed his hand over Aoi’s. “You can start sleeping over my place, when I have one,” he said.
“Good,” Aoi said. “I want to test out your bed.”
“I may have a futon,” Kai replied.
“Nah. Musicians who play Budokan have a full, American-style bed,” Aoi said. “Speaking of which . . . you’re staying over tonight, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Kai said. “I’ll be over in a bit, though. Need to talk to someone else – leader business.”
“Come over whenever you want,” Aoi said. “I’ll be waiting.”
Kai waited until the others, including Aoi, had left. He then left the office, headed for the subway.
He got on the train to Ueno, glancing around – no, nobody he knew was there. Good. He’d told Aoi a white lie – he didn’t have a meeting. There was, however, somewhere he needed to be.
He got off at the exit for the park, and walked into the entrance, past groups of giggling schoolgirls, housewives pushing baby carriages, elderly couples arm in arm out for a stroll. He kept walking, down one path after another, until he came to a rather out-of-the-way spot, a clump of trees sporting an abundance of green leaves.
Kai walked into the clump and lay down, his back right against the ground. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of nature – undisturbed by the urban environment around him.
He could feel the energy of the earth, the pulse of life in the trees, flowing into him, rejuvenating him. Fairies were, in many ways, the living personifications of nature, and it was from nature that they drew their strength.
Kai needed renewal in places like this the way humans needed air and water.
He closed his eyes and went into a deep state of relaxation, reflecting on the past couple of years, on his mission.
Leadership. He’d certainly demonstrated it. Since that first brief negotiation with PSC outside that dinky, dingy live house, he’d taken control of the band’s future, talking carefully with everyone – managers, record label people, tour promoters. He’d overseen their stage shows, made sure all the equipment was working correctly, that they were being presented well.
And oh, had he come across his share of mishaps when it came to equipment. There were many times he’d been tempted to use magic to fix something – but he never did, not since that very first night with the band when he’d tuned the drums.
He knew that using magic would be cheating, and would defeat the entire purpose of why fairies were sent into the human world when they needed to learn life lessons.
With all I’ve learned, he thought, shouldn’t I have completed my mission by now? I got the band to Budokan . . . maybe I’ll be told I fulfilled my mission when we actually play there?
Of course, he’d expected to be told he’d successfully attained his goal with every one of the group’s milestones. When they had their first oneman tour . . . when they put out an EP with a companion PV and making-of for every single song . . .when they released their first full-length album . . .
Kai’s fingers reached out and stroked the grass as if he were stroking the hair of a lover, feeling its energy mesh with his, creating little prickles of sensation.
Did he miss the fairy world? Well, sometimes. There were still mornings he woke up and expected to hear the songs of workers as they moved between the human world and their own, balancing the elements. There were times when he longed to use magic – and not just when equipment broke, or he lost things.
And there were special occasions of his people that he still wished he could be part of – like the preparing of earth for spring. It was one of the bigger events in the fairy world (it had a name in an ancient Fairy language that roughly translated into “Winter Wrap-Up”). Everyone cut the ice in ponds so it could be broken up easier, woke up the hibernating animals, turned the newly-thawed earth so it would be able to receive seeds easier.
Humans thought that the earth moved between seasons by itself, without help. They were wrong.
For the most part, though, he couldn’t be happier with his life now. He loved playing music. Loved, loved, loved it. The drums seemed to be his very heartbeat, and there was nothing like the sensation of knowing you had connected to the audience, that they and the band were one.
He adored his bandmates, too. They really had become like a family, onstage and off. Hell, he felt closer to them than he did anyone he’d ever known back home.
Ruki was his co-leader, taking care of the artistic side of things while Kai handled practical matters. Reita was his rhythm team partner, and Uruha frequently used him as a sounding board for his compositions (though Kai’s own attempts at songwriting never got accepted by the band).
And Aoi was . . .
Kai took a flower and twirled it between his fingers. Aoi was a dear friend. A spectacular bed partner. A comfort to him on the rare occasions when his resolve flagged – one such moment, where Aoi had tenderly cradled Kai’s head in his lap backstage after Kai fell off his drumstool, had ended up being captured by a photographer. (Fortunately, their fangirls dismissed the image as mere fanservice – though they squeed over it).
And he had to admit he was very glad that Aoi no longer had to work in that house of ill repute – hadn’t needed to since shortly after their PSC signing, in fact. Not that he was jealous of the men whose laps Aoi had wriggled in – the fairy concept of love didn’t include possessiveness and jealousy.
He was just glad he didn’t have to do anything anymore that interfered with his musical destiny. Kai only wanted the best for him.
Kai let the flower drop to the ground. He’d have to make decisions regarding Aoi down the line, he knew. He’d have to make decisions involving the entire band, in fact.
But now, he was going to focus on attaining his goal – and making sure the band did, in fact, get to Budokan.
He opened his eyes. The shadows were long, there was a chill in the air. It was time to leave the park. That was okay, he’d drawn enough energy from it.
And besides, Aoi was waiting for him.
* * *
Thirty-four dates was a hell of a long tour. It meant a lot of venues – some that were familiar to the band by now, some that were new. And at the very end of it all – like the Emerald City of Oz at the end of the Yellow Brick Road – awaited Budokan.
Kai knew there were going to be challenges. Different technical demands in each place, different live house crews, different audience moods. In one city, everything could run like clockwork. In the next, there would be guitars refusing to talk to the amps, plugs shorting out, and lights crashing to the stage during sound check (complete with a young technician, with over-bleached hair and eyes that seemed to be wandering in different directions, saying, “I just don’t know what went wrong!”)
Complicating all this was the fact that everything was taking place before the ever-present eyes of a camera crew, which was following them around making a documentary of the tour. That had been Kai’s idea. “We want to bring the fans close to us,” he said. “Make them feel like they know us. This tour is going to introduce us to a lot of people who never knew we existed before.”
His bandmates loved the idea, of course. Reita and Aoi, especially, hammed it up whenever they saw a camera in the vicinity. And Kai knew it would capture some not-so-flattering moments as well – like him losing things. They had at least three incidents like that in the can, and he was sure there would be more before the tour was over.
Now, fortunately, there were no cameras following him as he walked to the back of the latest live house, checking out the lighted sign that spelled out their brand-new logo from every part of the hall. Ruki’s design – the words “the GazettE” in old English script – really did make them look, well, major. International, even. He wondered if their music would reach overseas – he’d heard some bands, like Malice Mizer and X Japan, had managed to build followings in the West.
Ruki sidled up to him. “It looks good, doesn’t it?”
“It looks great,” Kai said. “I just wonder how it’s going to look on the stage at Budokan.”
“Fucking Budokan,” Ruki said, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe it.”
“How do you think you’ll feel,” Kai said, “when you walk into that arena?”
“I guess I’ll find out when it happens, right?” Ruki said. “Probably think of it as just another live, at first. That’s really the best way to do it, isn’t it? Think of it as just another live, and then you’ll be calm.”
“I really don’t know how I’m going to feel,” Kai said. “Hopefully, a sense of . . .” He took a deep breath. “Completion.”
Ruki look confused. “Completion?”
Oh, God, there was no way his bandmate could understand, was there? Kai hadn’t told any of them his secret. Hadn’t even given them a hint. It was best not to, really – not until he had to.
“Of what we set out to do,” Kai said. “From the beginning.”
“That’s not completion, though, is it?” Ruki said. “I mean, it’s the end of one phase of our career, but it’s the beginning of another. Now we get to find out what there is beyond Budokan.”
Beyond Bukokan . . . beyond completion . . . beyond the fulfillment of his mission . . . he hadn’t given any thought yet to what he’d do when King Oberon appeared, and told him he’d done it, he’d found out what a true leader was, and he was now entitled to . . .
Kai shook his head. Don’t think about that now. Focus on the band.
“Fulfillment, then,” he said. “Fulfillment of our mission.”
“Mission,” Ruki said. “I like that.”
Our mission, Kai thought. No longer just mine, ours. Because I need all of you to meet my goal, don’t I? You can’t be a leader until you have people to lead. Yes, our collective mission – the one, the leader, driving the many, but them supporting him at the same time.
And suddenly, a small chill ran through his body, and a curious vibration – as if a tiny bit of magic had been activated inside him. He blinked in surprise.
“Eh?” Ruki said. “What’s wrong?”
Kai grabbed one of the railings, taking a deep breath. He felt disoriented for a moment, as if he were not quite in this world. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe . . . maybe he was being dragged back home . . .
His vision was a shower of sparkles, and he heard a voice booming in his head, speaking just three words: “One step closer.”
“Kai?” He could hear Ruki’s voice, feel his bandmate’s hand on his shoulder . . .
And then, as soon as it started, it was over. The feeling of disorientation, the sparkles, they all disappeared.
He blinked, swallowed, and looked at the other man. “I think I need to eat something,” he said. “I missed lunch.” Which was the truth – but it wasn’t what caused what just happened.
No, that was a genuine communication from King Oberon, the first he’d had since he was living in the human world.
“Losing track of time now, on top of losing track of everything else?” Ruki said. “Come on, there’s a takoyaki guy outside. I’ll buy you some. My treat.”
“You don’t have to,” Kai said.
“I want to,” Ruki said. “Besides, odds are you left your fucking wallet at the hotel again.”
“I haven’t done that in days!” Kai said.
“No, you just lost your hotel key,” Ruki replied.
Kai took a deep breath as they went out the side door and toward the takoyaki stand. One step closer, he repeated in his mind. One step closer.
He was excited, of course, because it meant he was, indeed, going to fulfill his mission. But at the same time, he felt a small undercurrent of dread.
The fulfillment of his mission was also going to mean the biggest decision of his life.
* * *
At least the hotels were of much better quality now than during previous tours. The rugs didn’t scratch your knees, the chairs had arms you could hold onto.
Which served Kai very well at the moment, as he was kneeling on the floor, gripping the arms of the easy chair – and wrapping his lips around Aoi’s cock, sliding down on it, feeling it move deeper and deeper into his mouth.
“Oh, baby,” Aoi moaned, hands stroking Kai’s hair. It was an endearment that only came out during moments of passion, and Kai always loved hearing it.
He sucked, pulling his head back, then thrusting downward again. This position allowed him to take Aoi deep, which he found almost as hot as the other man did. There was something rather erotic about the whole idea of being fucked in the mouth, in the throat.
His fingers slid up that perfect torso, finding a nipple, caressing it to the same rhythm of his sucking – and Aoi moaned louder, hands tugging lightly at Kai’s hair. “Oh, yes,” he gasped. “You’re so good . . .”
Kai rubbed his tongue over the head, feeling its texture, tasting precome – which was like nectar to him. This man seemed to be made for sex.
And that sex was all his, at least for the moment.
He felt Aoi lift his hips. He moved down fast, taking in more, and more, moaning in his throat, and he heard his lover let out even louder sounds.
“Oh, baby, suck me, suck it all out of me, I’m getting close . . .”
Kai moved down as fast and hard as he could, practically deep-throating the other man, the hands tugging at his hair causing just a little bit of pain, just making it more exciting . . .
A flick of the tongue on the outstroke, and Aoi suddenly arched forward, crying out, flooding Kai’s mouth with hot fluid, which he swallowed – but made sure there was still some in his mouth when he moved up to kiss Aoi afterward. He wanted the other man to taste himself.
They kissed again, then Kai stood back up, smiling , then settling into the chair . . . and Aoi sank down to the floor on his knees, Switching places.
This was common for them. Round One was just basic pleasure. Later rounds were longer, more intense.
Aoi kissed Kai’s erection, lightly running his tongue over it, brushing his fingers top to bottom. “Look at this,” he murmured. “This is the most amazing cock I’ve ever seen.” He kissed the tip. “So goddamn beautiful . . .”
“Oh, yes,” Kai murmured. “Suck me, please . . .”
“In a moment,” Aoi said. “I want to take my time . . . enjoy it.” And then, there was a tongue slowly licking down the side of his shaft, then up, then around the tip . . .
Kai just lost himself in it, closing his eyes, leaning his head back, hands gripping the arms. Delicious . . . just delicious.
Aoi leaned over, took Kai in his mouth and slid down, and now Kai could only moan, feeling enveloped in the wet heat, the velvety softness. His hands wandered over Aoi’s hair, as Aoi had done to him.
The man was some sort of sexual artist, the way he flicked his tongue on the outstroke, sucked hard at the tip, then moved down, hard and fast . . . and Kai raised his hips, over and over, fucking Aoi’s iips, his tongue, his whole beautiful face . . .
Fingers lightly brushed over his balls, and that made his reserve break, his hips thrusting forward hard one last time as he emptied himself into Aoi. He melted from the chair, feeling boneless, and the two lovers ended up on the floor together, a tangle of arms and legs as they kissed.
When Kai nestled his head into Aoi’s shoulder, the guitarist said, “You know what? You smell nice.”
Well, that wasn’t what one usually expected to hear after lovemaking – but then again, Aoi could be extremely random. Kai raised his head. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I just kinda noticed now. You smell – well, the way guys usually smell after sex, but . . . there’s sort of an underscent. Almost like I don’t know . . . like you have the forest itself in your veins. Like grass that’s just been mowed, and leaves.”
Well, damn. He’d hit that nail bang on the head. “I never noticed,” he said – but he knew he gave off that scent. He just didn’t know it was detectable to someone who wasn’t a fairy. None of his other human lovers had ever mentioned it.
“Funny thing is, your come tastes like that, too,” Aoi said. “Same thing, an undertaste . . . but it’s there.”
“Do you mind it?” Kai said. Well, that was brilliant – but this did catch him a little off-guard.
“Hell, no,” Aoi said, pulling Kai closer. “I love it. It’s one of the things that make you, well, you.” He kissed Kai. “And I’m going to taste that a lot more before the night’s over.”
“We’re just going to do oral?” Kai said.
“No,” Aoi said. “Not just that. There’s plenty I want to do. Over . . .” He kissed Kai’s temple. “And over . . .” He kissed his nose. “And over.” He brought his lips to Kai’s, and they kissed, sweet, tender and hot.
Round Two, it seemed, was underway. Thank God for big hotel beds.
Coming up in Part 3, The Finale: Kai makes French toast – and faces the biggest decision of his life.
Chapter: 2 of 3 - Part 1 is here
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Fantasy AU, urban fantasy, some romance and smut
Warnings: Male/male sex, oral (in this chapter)
Pairing: Aoi X Kai/Kai X Aoi
Disclaimer: Boys belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a fairy who was sent into the human world by his king to learn about leadership. But those lessons were to come in a very un-fairy-like fashion – by spearheading a rock band.
Comments: This story is based on one of my very favorite Kai photoshoots, the one where he is some sort of elf- or fairy-like supernatural creature. I decided to go with fairy here, and I chose the blue skin tint out of the three he sports during the shoot (he also seems to have pink and green skin in other photos). Some elements of this story are also inspired by various episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, created by Lauren Faust and property of Hasbro.
Kai was ready to skip into the conference room. It was common practice for the bandleader to meet with the group’s management team, then carry any news that came out of it into a meeting with the band.
What he had to share with them was very good news. Very good indeed. It seemed that everything they’d worked for in the two-years-plus since he’d joined was about to come to fruition.
“Hi, everyone!” he said, cheerfully, as he walked in – then looked around, blinking. He saw Ruki at one end of the table, looking at his phone, Aoi next to him, calmly smoking, Reita a couple of seats down, looking up from a trade publication . . .
“Where’s Uruha?” Kai said.
“Oh, you know,” Reita replied. “The usual. Caught up in composing. Out somewhere. Not looking at his watch . . .”
“I’m going to call him,” Kai said, putting his hand in his back pocket to come up with his phone – and finding nothing. He put his hand in his other back pocket, still nothing. No more luck with the front pockets, either.
“Problem?” Aoi said, with some amusement, seeing the look on Kai’s face.
“My phone,” he said. “It’s not here. I know I had it with me before . . .”
“Did you take it out when you went to the men’s room?” said Ruki.
“No, no, I had it with me the whole time!” Well, he couldn’t search his shirt pockets, could he? Because he had none.
“What about your head?” Reita said. “That still attached to your body?”
“I must have left it in the other conference room!” Kai raced down the hall, looking for the place where he’d met with the managers earlier.
It was one part of living as a human he couldn’t quite get adjusted to. In the fairy world, you didn’t have to carry your personal possessions with you – you could summon them with magic no matter where you were.
Here, you had to carry everything. Except Kai kept forgetting that when you put something down, you had to pick it up again when you left the room . . .
He opened the door and, sure enough, his phone was still on the table. He picked it up – and it rang immediately. “Hello?”
“Oh, good, you did find it,” Reita said. “Uruha just walked in. Come back to the meeting room – just don’t lose anything else on the way.”
“I’m coming,” he said, sheepishly, putting the device back in his pocket. He was used to his rhythm section partner’s teasing by now – it was a regular game for him, really. It was okay – Kai was secure in the fact that Reita was his friend.
When he walked back in, Uruha was sitting next to Reita, totally nonplussed about his lateness – probably because it was such a common thing. “Um, sorry about that,” Kai said, rubbing the back of his head. “The interruption, I mean. I have good news, though!”
“They’re giving us a regular booze allowance?” Aoi said.
“No, no, not that,” Kai said. He took a deep breath and looked around – he was about to announce they’d attained one of the major dreams of a visual kei band. “We’re going major. King Records is signing us.”
He smiled as he watched the gasps of surprise, as his bandmates all looked at each other. “No way!” Aoi said.
“Oh, yes,” Kai replied. “The guys from the label are due in here tomorrow with the paperwork. They want a single, and then an album.” He knew his bandmates had been working on songs like crazy as of late anyway – songs that represented a new musical direction for them, much more melodic and sophisticated than a lot of their work in the past – so they’d be ready to meet the challenge.
“Well, damn,” Ruki said.
“And someone like you managed to negotiate that?” Reita said. “Who would have thought?”
Kai held up his hand to get the group’s attention. “But that’s not all,” he said. “They’re talking about a big tour to support the album. As in, more than 30 dates. And the latter part of the tour will be in the big livehouses. And for the tour finale . . .”
He took a deep breath. He was about to launch the biggest bombshell of them all.
“They’re talking about the possibility of Budokan.”
Well, that got a reaction. As in, all four of them leapt to their feet at once, like a baseball crowd watching a home run. “Budokan?” Ruki said.
“Yes,” Kai said. “It’s not a hundred percent done deal yet, mind you, but . . .
“Fucking BUDOKAN?” Ruki said. “As in, I-saw-Luna-Sea-perform-there Budokan?”
“You know of any other Budokan?” Reita said.
Uruha just stood there looking stunned, then broke into a wide grin. “I don’t believe it! I was just there not too long ago . . .”
And the next thing Kai knew, there was a tall human missile flying across the room at him. He stepped back just in time for Aoi to launch himself at him, the same way he’d done during their Maximum Royal Disorder tour final. He caught his bandmate, finding himself staggering around the room trying to hold onto him.
“It’s all because of this guy!” Aoi said. “We wouldn’t have made it this far if he wasn’t the leader!”
“Well, not all because of me,” he said, his voice a bit muffled from being pressed into the other man’s chest. “You’re the guys who are at the front of the stage.”
“Yeah, but you’re the brains,” Aoi said. “The REAL brains.”
Kai staggered forward with his burden, thinking he was going to dump him right on the table, and breaking a conference table wasn’t exactly going to sit well with their management. Not exactly a way to repay a company that had gotten you to Budokan.
He managed to set Aoi down on his feet, took a deep breath, turned to the others, and said, “Okay, can we talk about what we’re releasing as the next single, then?”
Later on, as they left the meeting, Aoi pulled Kai aside. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Caught up in the moment.”
“It’s okay, really,” Kai said. “No damage done.” No tables broken, and his arms were intact – well, mostly.
“I still can’t believe it,” Aoi said. “Going major is enough, but Budokan?” He shook his head. “Fuck. We’re going to actually have money for once.”
“I’ll be able to move to Tokyo,” Kai said, a wide smile crossing his face.
“Does that mean no more sleepovers?” Aoi said, wrapping an arm around the other man.
During Kai’s time in the band, the two of them had settled into a comfortable friends-with-benefits relationship. No permanent commitment, no “three little words,” just companionship and sex. Lots of sex. Lots of absolutely delicious sex.
He reached up and pressed his hand over Aoi’s. “You can start sleeping over my place, when I have one,” he said.
“Good,” Aoi said. “I want to test out your bed.”
“I may have a futon,” Kai replied.
“Nah. Musicians who play Budokan have a full, American-style bed,” Aoi said. “Speaking of which . . . you’re staying over tonight, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Kai said. “I’ll be over in a bit, though. Need to talk to someone else – leader business.”
“Come over whenever you want,” Aoi said. “I’ll be waiting.”
Kai waited until the others, including Aoi, had left. He then left the office, headed for the subway.
He got on the train to Ueno, glancing around – no, nobody he knew was there. Good. He’d told Aoi a white lie – he didn’t have a meeting. There was, however, somewhere he needed to be.
He got off at the exit for the park, and walked into the entrance, past groups of giggling schoolgirls, housewives pushing baby carriages, elderly couples arm in arm out for a stroll. He kept walking, down one path after another, until he came to a rather out-of-the-way spot, a clump of trees sporting an abundance of green leaves.
Kai walked into the clump and lay down, his back right against the ground. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of nature – undisturbed by the urban environment around him.
He could feel the energy of the earth, the pulse of life in the trees, flowing into him, rejuvenating him. Fairies were, in many ways, the living personifications of nature, and it was from nature that they drew their strength.
Kai needed renewal in places like this the way humans needed air and water.
He closed his eyes and went into a deep state of relaxation, reflecting on the past couple of years, on his mission.
Leadership. He’d certainly demonstrated it. Since that first brief negotiation with PSC outside that dinky, dingy live house, he’d taken control of the band’s future, talking carefully with everyone – managers, record label people, tour promoters. He’d overseen their stage shows, made sure all the equipment was working correctly, that they were being presented well.
And oh, had he come across his share of mishaps when it came to equipment. There were many times he’d been tempted to use magic to fix something – but he never did, not since that very first night with the band when he’d tuned the drums.
He knew that using magic would be cheating, and would defeat the entire purpose of why fairies were sent into the human world when they needed to learn life lessons.
With all I’ve learned, he thought, shouldn’t I have completed my mission by now? I got the band to Budokan . . . maybe I’ll be told I fulfilled my mission when we actually play there?
Of course, he’d expected to be told he’d successfully attained his goal with every one of the group’s milestones. When they had their first oneman tour . . . when they put out an EP with a companion PV and making-of for every single song . . .when they released their first full-length album . . .
Kai’s fingers reached out and stroked the grass as if he were stroking the hair of a lover, feeling its energy mesh with his, creating little prickles of sensation.
Did he miss the fairy world? Well, sometimes. There were still mornings he woke up and expected to hear the songs of workers as they moved between the human world and their own, balancing the elements. There were times when he longed to use magic – and not just when equipment broke, or he lost things.
And there were special occasions of his people that he still wished he could be part of – like the preparing of earth for spring. It was one of the bigger events in the fairy world (it had a name in an ancient Fairy language that roughly translated into “Winter Wrap-Up”). Everyone cut the ice in ponds so it could be broken up easier, woke up the hibernating animals, turned the newly-thawed earth so it would be able to receive seeds easier.
Humans thought that the earth moved between seasons by itself, without help. They were wrong.
For the most part, though, he couldn’t be happier with his life now. He loved playing music. Loved, loved, loved it. The drums seemed to be his very heartbeat, and there was nothing like the sensation of knowing you had connected to the audience, that they and the band were one.
He adored his bandmates, too. They really had become like a family, onstage and off. Hell, he felt closer to them than he did anyone he’d ever known back home.
Ruki was his co-leader, taking care of the artistic side of things while Kai handled practical matters. Reita was his rhythm team partner, and Uruha frequently used him as a sounding board for his compositions (though Kai’s own attempts at songwriting never got accepted by the band).
And Aoi was . . .
Kai took a flower and twirled it between his fingers. Aoi was a dear friend. A spectacular bed partner. A comfort to him on the rare occasions when his resolve flagged – one such moment, where Aoi had tenderly cradled Kai’s head in his lap backstage after Kai fell off his drumstool, had ended up being captured by a photographer. (Fortunately, their fangirls dismissed the image as mere fanservice – though they squeed over it).
And he had to admit he was very glad that Aoi no longer had to work in that house of ill repute – hadn’t needed to since shortly after their PSC signing, in fact. Not that he was jealous of the men whose laps Aoi had wriggled in – the fairy concept of love didn’t include possessiveness and jealousy.
He was just glad he didn’t have to do anything anymore that interfered with his musical destiny. Kai only wanted the best for him.
Kai let the flower drop to the ground. He’d have to make decisions regarding Aoi down the line, he knew. He’d have to make decisions involving the entire band, in fact.
But now, he was going to focus on attaining his goal – and making sure the band did, in fact, get to Budokan.
He opened his eyes. The shadows were long, there was a chill in the air. It was time to leave the park. That was okay, he’d drawn enough energy from it.
And besides, Aoi was waiting for him.
* * *
Thirty-four dates was a hell of a long tour. It meant a lot of venues – some that were familiar to the band by now, some that were new. And at the very end of it all – like the Emerald City of Oz at the end of the Yellow Brick Road – awaited Budokan.
Kai knew there were going to be challenges. Different technical demands in each place, different live house crews, different audience moods. In one city, everything could run like clockwork. In the next, there would be guitars refusing to talk to the amps, plugs shorting out, and lights crashing to the stage during sound check (complete with a young technician, with over-bleached hair and eyes that seemed to be wandering in different directions, saying, “I just don’t know what went wrong!”)
Complicating all this was the fact that everything was taking place before the ever-present eyes of a camera crew, which was following them around making a documentary of the tour. That had been Kai’s idea. “We want to bring the fans close to us,” he said. “Make them feel like they know us. This tour is going to introduce us to a lot of people who never knew we existed before.”
His bandmates loved the idea, of course. Reita and Aoi, especially, hammed it up whenever they saw a camera in the vicinity. And Kai knew it would capture some not-so-flattering moments as well – like him losing things. They had at least three incidents like that in the can, and he was sure there would be more before the tour was over.
Now, fortunately, there were no cameras following him as he walked to the back of the latest live house, checking out the lighted sign that spelled out their brand-new logo from every part of the hall. Ruki’s design – the words “the GazettE” in old English script – really did make them look, well, major. International, even. He wondered if their music would reach overseas – he’d heard some bands, like Malice Mizer and X Japan, had managed to build followings in the West.
Ruki sidled up to him. “It looks good, doesn’t it?”
“It looks great,” Kai said. “I just wonder how it’s going to look on the stage at Budokan.”
“Fucking Budokan,” Ruki said, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe it.”
“How do you think you’ll feel,” Kai said, “when you walk into that arena?”
“I guess I’ll find out when it happens, right?” Ruki said. “Probably think of it as just another live, at first. That’s really the best way to do it, isn’t it? Think of it as just another live, and then you’ll be calm.”
“I really don’t know how I’m going to feel,” Kai said. “Hopefully, a sense of . . .” He took a deep breath. “Completion.”
Ruki look confused. “Completion?”
Oh, God, there was no way his bandmate could understand, was there? Kai hadn’t told any of them his secret. Hadn’t even given them a hint. It was best not to, really – not until he had to.
“Of what we set out to do,” Kai said. “From the beginning.”
“That’s not completion, though, is it?” Ruki said. “I mean, it’s the end of one phase of our career, but it’s the beginning of another. Now we get to find out what there is beyond Budokan.”
Beyond Bukokan . . . beyond completion . . . beyond the fulfillment of his mission . . . he hadn’t given any thought yet to what he’d do when King Oberon appeared, and told him he’d done it, he’d found out what a true leader was, and he was now entitled to . . .
Kai shook his head. Don’t think about that now. Focus on the band.
“Fulfillment, then,” he said. “Fulfillment of our mission.”
“Mission,” Ruki said. “I like that.”
Our mission, Kai thought. No longer just mine, ours. Because I need all of you to meet my goal, don’t I? You can’t be a leader until you have people to lead. Yes, our collective mission – the one, the leader, driving the many, but them supporting him at the same time.
And suddenly, a small chill ran through his body, and a curious vibration – as if a tiny bit of magic had been activated inside him. He blinked in surprise.
“Eh?” Ruki said. “What’s wrong?”
Kai grabbed one of the railings, taking a deep breath. He felt disoriented for a moment, as if he were not quite in this world. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe . . . maybe he was being dragged back home . . .
His vision was a shower of sparkles, and he heard a voice booming in his head, speaking just three words: “One step closer.”
“Kai?” He could hear Ruki’s voice, feel his bandmate’s hand on his shoulder . . .
And then, as soon as it started, it was over. The feeling of disorientation, the sparkles, they all disappeared.
He blinked, swallowed, and looked at the other man. “I think I need to eat something,” he said. “I missed lunch.” Which was the truth – but it wasn’t what caused what just happened.
No, that was a genuine communication from King Oberon, the first he’d had since he was living in the human world.
“Losing track of time now, on top of losing track of everything else?” Ruki said. “Come on, there’s a takoyaki guy outside. I’ll buy you some. My treat.”
“You don’t have to,” Kai said.
“I want to,” Ruki said. “Besides, odds are you left your fucking wallet at the hotel again.”
“I haven’t done that in days!” Kai said.
“No, you just lost your hotel key,” Ruki replied.
Kai took a deep breath as they went out the side door and toward the takoyaki stand. One step closer, he repeated in his mind. One step closer.
He was excited, of course, because it meant he was, indeed, going to fulfill his mission. But at the same time, he felt a small undercurrent of dread.
The fulfillment of his mission was also going to mean the biggest decision of his life.
* * *
At least the hotels were of much better quality now than during previous tours. The rugs didn’t scratch your knees, the chairs had arms you could hold onto.
Which served Kai very well at the moment, as he was kneeling on the floor, gripping the arms of the easy chair – and wrapping his lips around Aoi’s cock, sliding down on it, feeling it move deeper and deeper into his mouth.
“Oh, baby,” Aoi moaned, hands stroking Kai’s hair. It was an endearment that only came out during moments of passion, and Kai always loved hearing it.
He sucked, pulling his head back, then thrusting downward again. This position allowed him to take Aoi deep, which he found almost as hot as the other man did. There was something rather erotic about the whole idea of being fucked in the mouth, in the throat.
His fingers slid up that perfect torso, finding a nipple, caressing it to the same rhythm of his sucking – and Aoi moaned louder, hands tugging lightly at Kai’s hair. “Oh, yes,” he gasped. “You’re so good . . .”
Kai rubbed his tongue over the head, feeling its texture, tasting precome – which was like nectar to him. This man seemed to be made for sex.
And that sex was all his, at least for the moment.
He felt Aoi lift his hips. He moved down fast, taking in more, and more, moaning in his throat, and he heard his lover let out even louder sounds.
“Oh, baby, suck me, suck it all out of me, I’m getting close . . .”
Kai moved down as fast and hard as he could, practically deep-throating the other man, the hands tugging at his hair causing just a little bit of pain, just making it more exciting . . .
A flick of the tongue on the outstroke, and Aoi suddenly arched forward, crying out, flooding Kai’s mouth with hot fluid, which he swallowed – but made sure there was still some in his mouth when he moved up to kiss Aoi afterward. He wanted the other man to taste himself.
They kissed again, then Kai stood back up, smiling , then settling into the chair . . . and Aoi sank down to the floor on his knees, Switching places.
This was common for them. Round One was just basic pleasure. Later rounds were longer, more intense.
Aoi kissed Kai’s erection, lightly running his tongue over it, brushing his fingers top to bottom. “Look at this,” he murmured. “This is the most amazing cock I’ve ever seen.” He kissed the tip. “So goddamn beautiful . . .”
“Oh, yes,” Kai murmured. “Suck me, please . . .”
“In a moment,” Aoi said. “I want to take my time . . . enjoy it.” And then, there was a tongue slowly licking down the side of his shaft, then up, then around the tip . . .
Kai just lost himself in it, closing his eyes, leaning his head back, hands gripping the arms. Delicious . . . just delicious.
Aoi leaned over, took Kai in his mouth and slid down, and now Kai could only moan, feeling enveloped in the wet heat, the velvety softness. His hands wandered over Aoi’s hair, as Aoi had done to him.
The man was some sort of sexual artist, the way he flicked his tongue on the outstroke, sucked hard at the tip, then moved down, hard and fast . . . and Kai raised his hips, over and over, fucking Aoi’s iips, his tongue, his whole beautiful face . . .
Fingers lightly brushed over his balls, and that made his reserve break, his hips thrusting forward hard one last time as he emptied himself into Aoi. He melted from the chair, feeling boneless, and the two lovers ended up on the floor together, a tangle of arms and legs as they kissed.
When Kai nestled his head into Aoi’s shoulder, the guitarist said, “You know what? You smell nice.”
Well, that wasn’t what one usually expected to hear after lovemaking – but then again, Aoi could be extremely random. Kai raised his head. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I just kinda noticed now. You smell – well, the way guys usually smell after sex, but . . . there’s sort of an underscent. Almost like I don’t know . . . like you have the forest itself in your veins. Like grass that’s just been mowed, and leaves.”
Well, damn. He’d hit that nail bang on the head. “I never noticed,” he said – but he knew he gave off that scent. He just didn’t know it was detectable to someone who wasn’t a fairy. None of his other human lovers had ever mentioned it.
“Funny thing is, your come tastes like that, too,” Aoi said. “Same thing, an undertaste . . . but it’s there.”
“Do you mind it?” Kai said. Well, that was brilliant – but this did catch him a little off-guard.
“Hell, no,” Aoi said, pulling Kai closer. “I love it. It’s one of the things that make you, well, you.” He kissed Kai. “And I’m going to taste that a lot more before the night’s over.”
“We’re just going to do oral?” Kai said.
“No,” Aoi said. “Not just that. There’s plenty I want to do. Over . . .” He kissed Kai’s temple. “And over . . .” He kissed his nose. “And over.” He brought his lips to Kai’s, and they kissed, sweet, tender and hot.
Round Two, it seemed, was underway. Thank God for big hotel beds.
Coming up in Part 3, The Finale: Kai makes French toast – and faces the biggest decision of his life.
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