No Name [Ereri/Riren Fanfic] [COMPLETED]

Chapter Two

     M and H had helped me in setting a few things up for Eren to perform for us, and so he now stood in the room with a guitar in hand, microphone in front of him, and his blindfold in one of his hands. He was tuning the guitar for whatever song he was going to perform for us, so I decided to talk with H.

     "Depending on how he performs, he might outdo you."

     "! You better watch it, L."

     "I'm only playing around, so what's gotten you all pent up?"

     "Just the mere fact that you used my idea to choose him personally. He said so himself that he didn't want to participate in the raffle; he was forced into it!"

     "But you seem to have forgotten that he also said that he'd give it a try; so let him do it."

     I walked away from H to head over to Eren to tell him what we're looking for.

     "Remember, we're looking for specific elements in your music. So if you really want to give this a try then give it your all."

     "I understood that much already, but I will."

     "Right then, after you put on the blindfold you can can start."

     I watched as Eren nodded and started his count with his foot. His fingers started playing his song, and after about ten measures he started to sing.

     "I'm tired of being what you want me to be, feeling so faithless, lost under the surface..."

     I smiled to myself as I continued to listen to his song. Already, you could tell that he had a story to share, and so far it was one of oppression. But by whom? That was the question, and that's what made Eren's song all the more alluring. It made the listener wonder what or who may have made him sing like he does. I could tell that this was all that was needed to convince H and M of their suspicions over my choice. He sang with his emotions taking over him, and that was something special to this band.

     "... By becoming this, all I want to do, is be more like me and be less like you..."

     You could see that his eyes were holding back his tears from the wet spots on his blindfold. Even if he had told me a small portion of his story, I'll learn the whole of it through the music we'll write together. The words that escaped his mouth reminded me of the songs I'd sing while performing on stage, the emotions I feel during the performance all of a raging guilt that I still feel today. The guilt of something from long ago, something I wish to never think of.

     "... And every second I waste is more than I can take! I've become so numb, I can't feel you there! Become so tired, so much more aware..."

     As his song continued to grow into the peak of it's crescendo, you could see that his tears had finally broke free from his control and were now falling down his face as he pressed on.

     "... And I know, I may end up, failing too! But I know! You were just like me with someone disappointed in you!..."

     It must be hard for him, but for us, No Name, singing our feelings is our therapy. As his song continued to roll out from its peak, I already came to my decision, and I'm sure H and M did too. It was clear that he needed this life as a No Name band member, even if he didn't enter in the raffle himself, he was needed in this band now more than ever. I guess I was in the right this time, for once I suppose. We listened as he sang out the last few lines of his song and watched him play the guitar.

     "... Tired of being what you want me to be..."

     We remained silent as he played out the last of his song on the guitar, and when he finished, M and myself clapped for him. H seemed to remain skeptical about Eren but it was a two to one ratio on Eren becoming a member. I watched as M walked up to Eren while he was busy taking the blindfold off.

     "That was awesome man! You might be better than H at this rate!" M complimented.

     "You want me to find a guitar and smash you with it?!" H retorted.

     "Easy, H, I was only kidding around. Anyway, L, don't you think the kid's got enough to be a new member?"

     "Yes, in fact, I have no doubt. Now of course, this is still your decision, Eren. We won't force you into this if you don't want to be a part of this band, but just know that you have some serious talent," I told Eren this as to not put any pressure on him.

     "That's what my friends tell me, but I appreciate the compliment and concern. However, I've already thought this through. Even though my friends were the ones who entered me into the raffle, I still wanted to give it a try. So because of that, if you deemed me a new member then I'd accept, if not then tough luck for myself."

     "So in other words, you wanted to join if we said yes?"

     "Pretty much. So, I'm glad to have joined. It's nice to meet you all."

     I walked up to him and extended my hand, he took a hold of it and we shook them in sync. 

     "The pleasure is all mine, J. You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

     "I'll get used to it. If you don't mind me asking, could I know your names? I gave mine at the start, so I think it's only fair."

     M chirped in before I could even speak. "Of course. I'm Miche Zacharias, the drummer of No Name, and the lead guitarist is Hanji Zoe."

     "What's L's name?"

     "... We don't know. He never told us his name, yet we trust him..." Hanji spoke in a monotone voice.

     "I have a good reason behind it, and I don't intend on sharing any of that with any of you."

     "Of course, you still have your trust issues from when you were a child."

     "Hanji! I do not!" I turned away and crossed my arms across my chest.

     "Seems like he still acts like one too," Miche spoke.

     "I'm nineteen now so lay off you old geezer!"

     "Hey now, Hanji has one good year ahead of me so you should be calling her that instead."

     "Why you!" Hanji exclaimed.

     Eren and I watched as Miche picked Hanji up in one fell swoop and started messing around. We all laughed at the sight and wore smiles all around. All the while, something in the back of my mind was telling me that this would make a great change in our band. Whether it'll be a good or bad one is yet to be discovered.

     "Well, congratulations Eren, you're now an official member of No Name."

     I rose my hand up in the air and we exchanged a high-five with bright smiles, well, mine being a small one. I'm not one who smiles a lot like Hanji does, but I can tell that I'll be smiling a bit more often now.

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Man, trying to type out the story and have the song in the background link together was kind of difficult but it was fun. The song used was Numb by Linkin Park, and the reason I used it for Eren's audition was because I kind of have a sort of good background story for him. The first chapter only gave a small fragment of it, so I'll have to finish working it out before I can use it later down the road. So, how do you think I did? Also, do you think I should change Eren's No Name letter to "E" or leave it at "J"? I felt like "E" didn't really have a good ring to it so I thought it'd be "J" instead. I was in a serious debate over this with myself since the other No Name members have their letters assigned to their first name. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one!!!

~ Author-san