Prompt: 011 ~ RED                                                                                                                                                                              May 2011©
Fandom: The GazettE
Focus: Kai x Nana
Word Count: 1,449

            The first GazettE Live of the summer would be taking place in less than four hours.

            Despite the pressure to perform perfectly, spectacularly, that everyone was under, the mood backstage was perfectly relaxed as the crew went through checks of lights and special effects and the band went through their preshow routine.

            The crew wasn’t buzzing about, merely meandering through what needed to be done. Reita was out walking the stands, getting a feel for the angles that he needed to play to for the show to be universally amazing. Ruki was on the stage, going over every inch of it with his thoughts whirring away so that he could use the platform to his maximum advantage without having to watch his feet. Uruha was in the break room, fretting over details and annoying Aoi as the less dramatic guitarist tried to read manga.

            Kai was perfectly content. He was in the wide space between the hive of activity back stage and the emptiness of the venue itself, holding something of a little jam session on the spare set of drums they’d brought along to loosen up his muscles for the night’s performance and let out a bit of the pre-show nerves he was feeling.

            Where he was situated allowed him to be the first to know when anyone came or went. As leader, Kai took that as a part of his unstated responsibility. Besides, it was fun to be the first to see the female contingent of the GazettE’s close friends and affiliates file in. Leading the way was the vocal attachment to the GazettE itself, joining as something of a cross between a vocalist to contrast with Ruki and a dancer to provide a bit of het-fanservice. She’d become something of a permanent fixture in the band, though she presence had been designated officially as 'temporary'. More than that, she and Reita had grown to be joined at the hip and for his own amusement, Kai began to count the seconds before Reita made his appearance as he greeted the girls.

            With Kitty were her friends, the people she needed along on every tour they could make due to her nature as an unendingly social creature. They’d all grown their own roots in the GazettE, but they were always up for the adventure of a coffee run while their presence wouldn’t be missed in the pre-show hours. Though they’d become vital to the pre-show calming rituals, they knew when their boys needed to be alone to mess with their toys.

            Meisa was the first to split off from the group, seeing as she’d left Aoi to Uruha’s mercy long enough. With Leslie tied up in a soccer tournament in Tokyo, the diva of the band would be even higher maintenance than usual. She grabbed the coffees for herself and Aoi, and Uruha’s tea, and gave her friends a salute before strolling off. Kitty and Maki were next to leave, Kitty to go to work over the stage like Ruki was, and Maki to watch them and bring the coffees Kitty had handed off to her on the walk and then forgotten entirely.

            As the girl he was coming for vanished out one door, Reita appeared at the other.

            47 seconds. Kai smiled, he’d been three seconds slower this time, and from his scowl, Kai thought that Reita was just as aware of it as he was. Or, more likely, Reita was simply pissed in general that Kitty had left without him. It was hard to tell, Reita scowled a lot and the variations in them were slight at best. Reita stalked off, knowing where Kitty would be and guessing that she would have his mocha with her.

            Sipping on her tea, Nana watched the cameraman that had been following Reita on his venue adventure. The camera was shifted to catch Kai in frame as the cameraman went after Reita and the drummer shot a peace sign and a smile at the fans for the quick moment he had the camera pointed at him.

            Kai turned back to Nana, the only one left after the rest of the group had gone off. She was still sipping on her tea and had Kai’s iced latte in one hand. She was standing just in front of him, looking him over for the first time in a long while.

            She’d had school to deal with, and had only been able to join up with the tour last night. After spending the morning in the hotel, Nana was still trying to adjust to the new looks of her friends. She held out the icy treat in her hand to the drummer without ceremony.

            “Your hair is red.”

            Kai cocked his head to one side. “Eh?”

            “Crayola red.”

            “So?”

            “It looks ridiculous,” Nana explained. “How long has it been like that?”

            Kai shrugged. “A couple weeks, maybe a month. I thought Kitty would have told you.”

            “I didn’t believe her.”

            “Why not?”

            “Because making your hair fire engine red would be ridiculous. Is ridiculous.”

            “I like it,” Kai commented, a defensive pout on his face.

            Nana was unimpressed. “Is it dyed?”

            “What else would it be?”

            “I don’t know, paint? I didn’t think dye could make hair that color.”

            Kai arched an eyebrow at her. “Paint? Really? I’d never do that, it would make my hair all crusty.”

            “Doesn’t the gel do that anyway? Uruha’s quaff is seriously a second skull.”

            “A helmet worn too late,” he said sadly, causing Nana to smile. “I don’t use his gel.”

            “Gel is gel.”

            “Uruha uses cement.”

            “And you use Elmer’s?”

            With a chuckle, Kai gestured to his hair with his drumstick. “My hair is soft and fluffy.”

            “It’s definitely fluffy.”

            “And soft.”

            “And red.”

            “But soft.”

            “I don’t believe you.”

            “Pet it.”

            “My hand will turn red.”

            “It’s not permanent.”

            “What are you going to do about the roots, bleach it out and then re-dye the whole thing?”

            “I might change it before then, I just got it redone because the color fades.”

            “It turns pink doesn’t it?” Nana asked flatly.

            Kai’s response was sheepish, “A little.”

            “It’s red.”

            “And soft.”

            “I’m not petting your hair.”

            “Your loss.”

            “How many chemicals did it take to get it that way?”

            “I dunno; bleach a couple colors, toner, smoother, spray, you know,” Kai responded vaguely.

            “I bet you’re radioactive.”

            “At least I won’t get cancer.”

            “Smoking can still kill you.”

            “I really only do it socially.”

            “You’re friends with chain smokers.”

            “You’re one of them.”

            “Only during exams.”

            “How’d they go?”

            Nana showed Kai her right hand, her expression as pouting and petulant as her voice while she explained, “I have a blister.”

            “That bad?” Kai asked empathetically.

            “We had an essay on math.”

            “Math is useful.”

            “So are calculators.”

            “A math essay?”

            “Yup, handwritten. I had it on the same day as my Japanese paper,” Nana complained, folding her abused hand around the cold container of her iced tea.

            “What flavor is that?” The colorful swirl within the plastic was pretty by any standard.

            “Raspberry earl grey.”

            Kai stuck out his tongue. “So bitter.”

            “Sugar junkie.”

            “Hey, Reita adds sugar to his mochas.”

            Nana shrugged. “With condensed milk, it makes sweet cream. Kitty likes sweet cream,” she reasoned simply. “Sweet cream is hard to take on tour.”

            “So is Ruki.”

            “Ruki doesn’t need to be refrigerated.”

            “It would keep him quiet.”

            “Aoi would be bored.”

            “Aoi’s always bored.”

            “He’d be bored enough to antagonize Reita.”

            “He always antagonizes Reita.”

            “Over Kitty.”

            “At least they wouldn’t team up again.”

            Nana nodded. “Either way, you wouldn’t have to worry about finding an emergency beacon.”

            “Why not?”

             “Your hair is definitely bright enough,” Nana explained, grinning as she finished up the last of her tea. Then she frowned slightly, noticing aloud, “I’m hungry.”

            “Did you have breakfast?”

            Nana had to think a moment. “Probably not.”

            “We have donburi,” Kai said, getting up from his drums. “And Kitty’s cookies.”

            “Oreos?”

            “It’s Chips Ahoy now.”

            “She’s never going to go on a Nila kick is she?”

            “Has she ever before?”

            “Once, in high school.”

            “Do you like Nila wafers?”

            Nana shrugged. “Sometimes. Your hair made me think of the box.”

            “Boxes aren’t soft and fluffy,” Kai countered, slipping an arm around Nana’s waist. She sighed and reached up with the hand that didn’t have a blister to cautiously run her fingertips through the bright red strands of Kai’s hair.

            “Oh.”

            Nana’s surprise was made plain through her simple response. She combed through his hair again, enjoying the feel of the silky strands.

            “See, my hair is soft.”

            “And red.”

            “Do you like the hair or not?”

            “I love it,” Nana said with a grin. After a pause she giggled and added, “It’s still ridiculous.”



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