Somewhere in the Middle - An Ayushiki Fanfiction

Chapter 12 - Preparation

{Naomi}

Ding!

I quickly check my phone for any updates on what's happening. Ayumi and I had left the room for a little bit now, and we're fixing our makeup in the bathroom. Or at least, we were trying to. Ayumi's tears continued despite everything and it wasn't easy to calm her down.

My heart hurt to see her cry like this, reminding me what the feeling of guilt really was. I bit my tongue and shook my head, trying to not think about it. I'd like to try and NOT relive those memories if possible.

But getting back to the issue at hand, Satoshi told me to keep Ayumi distracted for the next ten minutes. It seems the two still wanted to go through with everything, and I can understand why. I've heard of Kishinuma's passion for music from Satoshi, so I'm sure he worked really hard for this. Even if forced to leave right after, I'm sure he wanted an answer.

I gaze at Ayumi, who never took his feelings seriously and saw him as somewhat of a nuisance for a long time. She still has mood swings like the rest of us gals, but she's definitely become gentler and more mellow when it comes to Kishinuma. Maybe she already has fallen for him, I think to myself. It would be nice if they could confirm their feelings and live out the happy ending we've all been hoping for. Of course, I'd live out mine as well, hopefully with Satoshi, but that's a story for another time.

For now, I had ten minutes to waste. Ten minutes to distract the class rep and get her mind off the boys. I couldn't let her see Satoshi running through the halls to set up either; how tough. But I guess we may as well start where we've still made no progress; makeup.

"Ayumi, Satoshi texted me to say they're fine. They just have to put the dirty suit in a locker and should be coming back soon after," I told a white lie. But I needed anything to convince Ayumi to stop crying for now. Her face told me that she knew I was lying. I bit my tongue and smiled. Guess I need to try harder than that if I'm gonna fool her! "Isn't that great? It wasn't as bad as we thought then!"

Ayumi stopped crying. She still looked sad, and like she still didn't believe a word, but she stopped crying. With a small nod and a deep breath, she turned to the mirror. The two of us then finally began fixing up our makeup in silence. Even when we were ready, we just looked to each other. I gave the best smile I could, meanwhile Shinozaki clearly forced one for show.

I took her hand, "Shall we be heading back then?"

"Y-yeah," Ayumi replied with another half-hearted smile. I pulled her along the hall and back into the gym. Then, I proceeded to escorting her to the middle of the room, right by the stage.

Ok boys, now hurry up, I thought to myself. I quietly texted Satoshi a signal to let him know and closed my phone.

{Yoshiki}
Satoshi was running the halls back and forth like a madman, trying to get preparations done as fast as possible. Meanwhile, I was getting temporarily patched up at the nurse's.  Just an ankle wrap to stop the bleeding for now.

Did it hurt? Like hell it did! But this isn't the worst pain I've ever felt, not by a long shot. Broken bones can be fixed and heal over time; but you can't revive the dead. They say time heals all wounds, but that's really only applicable for physical ones in my experience. Sure time can make an emotional wound hurt less, but it never truly heals or disappears. At least, not until you join 'em I guess...

But enough about that; I have a performance to do! I see Satoshi run by one more time with a large black case in his hands. Moments later, he's back in the infirmary with me.

"All preparations are ready dude, all that's left is to kill the lights before pushing it onstage," he explained. The nurse finished up with the bandage and I was ready to go. Of course I hopped my way over, with Satoshi watching that I doing fall over getting to my destination. The girls are nowhere in sight, which in this case is a good sign.

"Did you let Nakashima know?" I ask him on our way.

"Yeah, but we better hurry up. Shinizaki's starting to wonder what's taking us so long," Satoshi urged as we quickened the pace. My heartbeat quickened with my steps -er, hops; you know what I mean! This is it! Your one last chance to win her heart... Don't blow it!

Satoshi slaps his hand down on my shoulder to catch my attention. When I turn around, he's smiling warmly.

"I'm gonna head back to the girls now. Tell the stage crew when you're ready to go; they'll take it from this point on."

"Alright, thanks man," I nod my head, unzipping my guitar case. I slid into the strap so the the guitar was being held up, supported by my shoulder.

"Good luck," he high fived me with a reassuring grin. I respond with an affirmative, "yeah" and turn back to make sure my guitar is in tune. I go over a few scales and finger exercises to warm up and quietly practice bits of songs. I also rehearse what I want to say over and over again in my mind, feeling like I'll definitely screw up when I get to the stage.

Finally, I close my eyes and take a breath. I give the signal to the stage crew that it was go time and approached the stage. This is it.

A/N: Heheheheheh yes I'm back again. I started re-watching gameplays of Corpse Party:Blood Covered to celebrate the release of the manga where I live (I bought it already obviously XD) and renewed my love for it once more. Seeing Ayushiki again brought out my inner fangirl once more. I suddenly thought to myself; "oh god! I've been keeping the suspense in my fanfic for so long, the readers don't deserve this" after observing a certain a scene so here I am to finish it. And since I'm a nice person and don't wanna leave cliffhangers, gonna finish up the final chapters before I release this one. Glad everyone's still liking it <3 Thx a bunch ^_^