Behing the Shining Lights (Finder no Hyouteki)

1

A group of people in comfortable clothing shuffled inside of an incognito black rental bus in a hurry. Through the hustle and bustle of their surroundings, their noise didn't bring attention to them. The weekend brought copious amounts of pedestrians, giving them an opening to make a clear exit.

An older man, wearing a cap and a face mask, yelled for them to hurry up before jumping into the front seat. He yanked the keys from his pocket and turned on the motor to warm up the vehicle.

Moments after his yell, the last person entered the car. The large side door was shut before the van rushed through the road.

Tabaka Akihito couldn't stop his iced coffee from splashing onto his jacket. Sighing out loud, he laid back against his seat and continued on slurping his coffee. After their pre game practice at the studio, he needed this pick me up before he faltered in front of the audience. He hated seeing comments speculating if he overworked himself, which he did, or if he didn't want to sing, which wasn't the case.

He enjoyed giving his everything to his performances. His artistry blossomed on stage, interpreting another form of his creativity. While his photography showcased the beauty of the world, he wanted to give a live interpretation to an audience.

His fans, he still couldn't believe he got some, cheered him on online. Many of whom followed him after his boy group beginnings. A group that never took off despite their hard work. Hard work that never paid off. His old band mates dispersed into other avenues, disillusioned by the industry and their lack of advancement.

As an artist, whether from photos or singing, Akihito wasn't one to give up on his creative pursuits. Had singing failed, he would have returned to his camera and booked gigs. His stint in the industry opened doors for him to use for his own benefit.

His portfolio certainly helped earn him jobs. He almost got back onto the road of photography when his manager, Aoi, found him during a party. An industry party where he missed a big wig in the photography business when Aoi got his attention.

Bumping into Aoi brought on a new lease in his singing career.

Even more lucky was the fact that he had his best friends with him.

Takato and Ko started off as volunteers to fill in the background dancer spots but ended up as permanent dancers. Having attended the same idol making courses, they saw the opportunity to continue on their career even if it wasn't through singing. Their voices were good, but not great. Their dancing on the other hand, was amazing enough to land them constant gigs. With or without Akihito.

Out of nowhere, Takato groaned. "Fuck, Aiko is going to kill me. I told her I was going to make it for date night."

Ko rolled his eyes as he shared an eye roll with the other backup dancers. They were used to hearing Takato plan his dates on the same night as their performances. At first, they found it funny that Takato was careless enough not to keep track. He was lucky that his girlfriend was considerate of his job and loved seeing him dance on tv. Until it became a constant instance that their manager handled Aiko's crying phone calls because of Takato's forgetfulness.

They bet Aiko would break up with Takato. It was inevitable and unsurprising. No one had a large amount of patience for someone who continued to mess up their own schedule. A schedule that was planned for months at a time.

Akihito continued sipping his coffee while shifting through his phone. He distracted himself with cute animal videos since his mind went into overdrive while critiquing photographers' work.

He didn't want to stress himself out before the show started.

Xxxxxxxxx

Breathing through his nose, the main organizer of the event glared down at his assistant with bubbling righteous anger. After years of no mess ups, saving himself from scorn and blacklisting, this time it wasn't possible to correct this mistake in time.