𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 || Kazu x Scara

Chapter VIII

~*~

Finally, the day of the competition has arrived. How this competition goes will determine the future of Elemetal continuing on as a legitimate band. Next year will be the boys last year together, since they'll be graduating next year. Therefore, they must make the most of their remaining time together by becoming a somewhat successful band.

All the members are preparing in their own way. Thoma is in his room practicing the song a few more times. Meanwhile, Cyno is over at Tighnari's house as they both analyze each other's performance and give constructive criticism. Scaramouche is in his room laying down unbothered because he feels he doesn't need more practice. Kazuha, on the other hand, is in his room bawling his eyes out.

Kazuha has been in a panicked state for the past three hours now and he's managed to call Thoma eight times in that time frame. Thoma tried to provide as much comfort as possible for the worried Kazuha, but he was getting sick of all the calls. He swore that if Kazuha were to call him one more time, he would single-handedly walk over to Kazuha's house and give him a piece of his mind. Thoma was never really the aggressive type, but if Kazuha kept calling every time he was having a breakdown over today's competition, then  Thoma himself would start panicking too. That's the last thing he wants.

Kazuha laid on his bed staring at his phone with Thoma on speed dial. He felt very anxious about many things, but one problem stood out from the rest. The fact that he would be performing again in front of a nefarious amount of people terrified him. Kazuha is fine with performing in front of a few people. Last time he was able to perform in front of a crowd when Scaramouche took him to the park, but performing on stage felt different.

When he was little, he joined many competitions since he knew how to play various instruments like the piano and the flute. He was praised a lot for his ability to play an assortment of instruments so skillfully. However the last time he performed on stage, something traumatic happened that forbade him from playing any instruments at all for a long time. This is the main reason why Kazuha decided to join the band, to get over this fear, past, and resentment that has chained him up for long enough.

Kazuha takes a deep breath, he decides to take a warm shower to wash his troubles away and clear his mind. The shower made him feel a bit at ease, so he continued practicing on his guitar. He also does vocal exercises to make sure he doesn't strain his voice.

It was almost time for the competition. Kazuha checked himself out in the mirror one last time before leaving the house. Instead of his usual ponytail, he decided to go for a half up ponytail. His clothes followed the dress code the bandmates established. He is wearing a white button up shirt, a loose red tie, black ripped jeans, and black shoes to top it all off. For the dress code they decided to wear the same colors instead of wearing the same outfits, because they thought matching outfits were cringe. Everyone in the band has to wear red, white, and black.

Kazuha left the house with his guitar case. The entire time he walked to the venue he could feel his anxiety getting extremely worse. Thankfully, while waiting for the subway to arrive, Kazuha finds Scaramouche there too.

"Hi, Scara." Before greeting Scaramouche, Kazuha took a deep breath. He didn't want his worries to show because he didn't want his bandmates to be disappointed in him. Kazuha put on a smile for Scaramouche, desperately trying to hide his shaky hands.

"Hello, Kazuha. I see you're heading to the venue early, just like me."

"Yeah! I wanted to get a good look around the venue and see the bands." Kazuha tries so hard to focus on his conversation with Scaramouche but his mind is elsewhere. The fear plaguing his mind, making him feel queasy.