[fic] Theme 042 "Company", for 100_wangsts {遊☆戯☆王: 'Atemu'/Yuugi, minor S/J; G}
I was going to update this right after I had my last exam - that is, last Thursday - but my lazy self kicked in and dragged it out until now. Plus I’ve been distracted by Mai-HiME and Baccano!, so...
Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/whichever holiday you celebrate!
Written for 100_wangsts. This is theme 042.
Genre: General
Rating: G
Pairings: ‘Atemu’/Yuugi (actually, it’s not romance-y at all n.n;), hint of Seto/Jounouchi
Story Type: Drabble/one-shot
Summary: He didn’t want to come-heck, he didn’t even want to be what he was, until someone on stage brings him a realization...
Disclaimer: Neither Yuugiou nor the song, Together We Are One, belong to me. They are the properties of Kazuki Takahashi and Delta Goodrem, respectively.
Spoilers: None. AU.
Warnings: None.
...This turned out to be ridiculously long, as far as these things go. It’s even longer than theme 010 (wind chimes), and that was already at 1,921 words, oi.
-----
“Ryou, I don’t know, I don’t think I can do it-”
“Calm down-”
“What if I blank out, forget the lyrics? What if I hit the wrong note? What if I sing completely off-key? What if-”
“Stop it with the ‘what ifs’, you’re going to be fine, you’ve done this before, you of all people should know how this is going to be; this is like any other performance, so stop fidgeting already!” The 22-year-old clamped a firm hand over the trembling shoulder.
“But Ryou, there are big people out there,” the other failed to comply with the white-haired young man’s earlier request of calming down. “They’re the ones who have practically all the money in their hands, and if this goes wrong, what’ll happen to all the people-”
“And so is Kaiba Seto,” he said quietly, sternly. “Nothing’s going to go wrong, I swear.” He managed a small smile, effectively hiding his nerves.
Yuugi quieted, twiddling his thumbs as he bit his lower lip nervously. “And the images...? They absolutely have to be there?”
Ryou nodded mutely in response.
Yuugi would have groaned if he wasn’t too anxious to make a sound. ‘Yeah, lead singer...no pressure at all.’
The other five people in their group stayed silent, also trying to repress the nervousness that suffocated the practice room.
-----
“Really, my dear cousin,” Mai drawled as she dragged her unwilling companion further into the auditorium, attempting to find their seats among the sea of people. “You can at least look interested-”
“-even though I’m completely bored out of my mind?” He shook his head. “You know I can’t do that, Mai.”
A small frown marred her pretty and mature face. “Atemu, I know you don’t want to be here and can be doing something else instead, but Uncle did ask...”
“Yes, while he’s at home, lounging in his armchair, drinking wine with his corporate associates.” He said dryly and sneered. “And as his son, his heir to his famous company, I have to become acquainted with all these petty gatherings. ...At least this is better than the ridiculous ball held last month...” He muttered something about ‘girls hanging off his arms like he was a coat rack.’
His cousin, who was three years his senior, brightened into a minute smile. “See? It’s not so bad, is it, now that you think about it?”
“Mai, just because it’s ‘not so bad’ doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
She held in a frustrated shout. Her cousin could be so stubborn at times. “Atemu, please,” she coaxed, finally finding their assigned seats. “If you keep this mood up Uncle will never leave you alone.”
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to be pulled down into the plush chair.
“It’s a little too late for that, isn’t it? He hasn’t even considered asking what I want to do with my life... Hel-”
Mai quickly clapped a hand to his mouth. “Language!” She hissed. “You should know by now that these functions do not tolerate foul language!”
Atemu pulled away angrily. “My point exactly! Do I want to be a businessman when I grow up? No. Do I want to succeed Father’s company? No! Mai, I’m not cut out for this, I don’t want to be tied down with Father’s work; I want to get out there, travel, whatever; just what I want and like to do, for once.” He ran an irritated hand through his hair, not caring if it got messy even after spending a ridiculous amount of time on gelling it to make it stick up properly and as neatly as possible.
Her plum eyes glazed over sadly, knowing Atemu had a point. His father had never been fair to him; her cousin had been born with the company’s weight on top of his shoulders, well before he was even aware of it.
She was about to respond when a booming voice interrupted her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third annual fundraiser for the Sick Kids Hospital, hosted by Kaiba Corporation.” Thunderous applause followed, and Atemu had no choice but to clap politely along with the rest of the people who were dressed in suits and elegant gowns. “In a moment’s time, the show will begin. Please turn off all your cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices. Should there be a need to leave the auditorium during the performances, you will not be let back in until it is over. There will be a short intermission around halfway of the programme. We hope you enjoy the show!”
Mai sneaked a glance at him, and saw that determined look to look bored settle on his face. She sighed.
Atemu sneaked a peek at his watch. They started right on time, 19:00.
-----
He squirmed in his seat as time wore on. With each passing second he became more restless, to the point of wanting to stand up and walk around.
“Yuugi,” Jounouchi asked somewhat touchily. “Can you please sit down? You’re making me nervous as hell too.”
“Big brother-”
“I’m sorry, Jou,” Yuugi offered an apologetic smile. “I...”
“It’s okay.” He knew what Yuugi couldn’t finish saying. “Just...breathe, all right?”
-----
He sneaked another peek at his watch, and to his dismay only an hour or so had passed. The performances were mediocre, although he had to give them credit for putting in so much effort. He had to remind himself that this was entirely voluntary, and the performers had dedicated time outside of their busy schedule to commit to such a worthy cause.
“Mai,” he whispered. “How long is this supposed to last?”
“Two and a half hours, I think,” she murmured back. “Now relax and enjoy it. It’s not as bad as you think. And when I say ‘relax’,” she added, “I don’t mean ‘fall asleep’.”
His jaw fell slack. His cousin knew him too well.
Thank goodness intermission was soon.
-----
Yuugi swallowed nervously, mouth dry and voice thick. He honestly had no idea why he was so tense; like Ryou had said, he’d done this before, singing before an audience.
‘Yeah, but lead singer...?’
The door opened quietly and Kaiba Seto slipped in. Jounouchi looked up, a tiny sliver of relief on his face.
“Are you guys ready?”
They nodded, knowing that saying ‘no’ solved nothing.
“You’re on in about two minutes.” Seto smiled - a rare sight on the usually cold face of the CEO. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Jounouchi walked him to the door, exchanging a few more words, before he disappeared.
Yuugi sighed and looked up with a resolved look in his eyes.
Anzu, Honda, Jounouchi, Malik, Ryou, and Shizuka beamed.
He was back.
They were ready.
-----
“I hear they saved the best for last,” Mai whispered as applause once more broke out. The duet - a female violinist with a male pianist as accompanist - on stage curtsied and bowed before making their exit gracefully.
“Is that so?” Atemu grumbled, shifting in his seat. He had been hoping there was a second intermission, but was sorely disappointed. Confined to his chair again... ‘That must have been the shortest fifteen minutes of my life.’
“Oh come on,” she cajoled. “At least it’s the last one; maybe it’ll change your opinion about these things.”
He snorted and fiddled with the hem of his sleeve. Having been dulled for the past two hours and some, he doubted the possibility of that ever existing. He was running out of things to play with...
Hearing a gasp from his cousin, who usually stayed extremely quiet in respect for the performers, his head shot up, and a gasp escaped him as well.
On stage was a person so extremely like him, yet so extremely different from him... Mai shot a quick look to her left to make sure Atemu was still sitting next to her. But he didn’t pay attention to that.
He focused on the small frame; it was shaking slightly, and he spotted it right away, being five rows away from the stage. ‘Do I have a twin lost at birth? I mean, it’s pretty hard to find someone else with the same hairstyle as me, let alone the same colours...’
Atemu was about to question Mai, hoping she would hold some answers, but he never got around to it. The screens stopped rolling down, signalling the start of the performance, and he knew if he interrupted this, he would be severely scolded; doubly, even, since Mai herself made a noise when she deemed it disrespectful. Instead, he tried to mimic his cousin: listen to the smooth, delicate, yet strong, opening chords with rapt attention.
His look-a-like’s eyes were closed while a white-haired teen sat behind the keyboard, with an amplifier sitting close by. A blond, whose hair colour was just a tad sandier than that of Mai’s, was behind the drum set, holding twin drumsticks loosely. Four more people, two of each gender, stood discreetly to the side but still visible to the audience, slightly leaning towards backstage, leaving the majority of the spotlight on the tri-coloured hair youth.
The chords lowered slightly in volume, a light flickered on the screen, and the singer’s voice carried all the way to the back of the auditorium. Soft and strong with his eyes still closed, he sang, “Here we are, sharing our lives-”
-an image of a child on breath support-
Atemu, like most other people in the hall, were gaping, at both the singer and the projections. They made no comments, however; they were too enraptured by the melody.
“-one chance to touch a star - Go higher, and higher!”
Amethyst eyes slowly opened as he reached the chorus, slowly taking in the big hall, the staggering amount of people sitting there and listening to him, to them. He squinted at the sudden assault of bright light, but stole a quick breath and continued as if nothing happened.
“Find your guiding inspiration, in a place where dreams are made-”
-an image of parents hugging their children, one looking suspiciously like the keyboardist-
Atemu closed his mouth, eyes wide; it was as if this stranger was telling him, through his song, something...something other than the messages of the pictures...
The steady beat of the drums came in, prompting the young adult to relax even more into his role of lead singer. One of his hands was on the microphone, the other one fisted by his side, occasionally brought up when he reached the higher registers of his voice range. Atemu noted that he also had the tendency to close his eyes when he was ‘up there’.
“Seek out the strength to win, no thoughts of giving in - Go higher, and higher!”
-an image of a small child, smiling despite being clearly frightened, prepared to go into the surgery room-
Atemu hid a gasp; the child was none other than an extremely young version of the one on stage.
“Put our differences behind us, while we shine like the sun-”
-an image of two little girls playing the sandbox, one with bandages across her eyes, whose hand was being guided by the other brunette’s as they played with the plastic shovel-
“-we are one!”
His voice escalated to his highest note of his falsetto, the soft piano chords strikingly loud in the absence of other sound. The audience sat, breathless, some clutching another’s arms, then the blond drummer brought down his drumsticks and they were blown back by the sheer force of five voices.
“-with a lifetime’s preparation, it’s no time to be afraid.”
-an image of a brunet and a blond protecting the sandy-blond from bullies twice their size, both with determined faces-
The lead singer took a step back slightly from the microphone, but still within its range. It was a sign to the other four singers; it was time for them to share the centre stage. They carefully placed themselves on his side, drawing to their full heights: the set up of equality that eluded them for the past month until last week.
As he sustained his note, two more new voices joined with the other background vocalists. The melody was so strong, so soothingly loud, and the lyrics were clearly heard even when the voices overlapped.
“-see what we’ve all become...”
Their hands clenched over the left side of their chests-the heart region-before they spread their arms and linked hands together.
His single voice rang firm and true, the accompaniment barely supporting the notes.
“Together we are one...”
They held their arms triumphantly above their heads, letting the keyboardist and drummer finish off the last two measures before they joined the ends of the chain.
-a final image of a group of children, laughing and crying, huddled together in a group hug-
Then as the seven musicians took their bows to a standing ovation - with their hands still joined and tired grins on each of their faces - Atemu realized why the song affected him so much more than all the other performances that evening.
They played from past experiences, pouring all they had into a single song, speaking volumes that others were incapable of doing that night. It was...touching, to see all of them together on stage, like an inseparable family.
Atemu quickly sought out the glittering amethysts, acting purely on instinct, somehow knowing that only this pair of eyes could truly understand him, and when he found them looking in his direction, his resolve stiffened.
He would broach the subject with his father; tell him he didn’t want to be stuck with boring paperwork; tell him what he really wanted to do with his life; tell him he wasn’t interested in whatever he’d planned out for him...
He smiled lightly as he followed Mai out of the auditorium and into their limo. ‘My inspiration.’
- Owari -
Story Word Count: 2,318
Authoress Notes: Okay, so the ending was a little corny. (sweatdrops)
And I gave up giving it an once-over before I posted because I can’t read through this again...goodness knows how many times I’ve already done so beforehand. :/