T ea(t)ch and L(y)earn

Cautious

Oopsie poopsie bbbrrr I took too long to write dis and I hate it :D Anyway enjoy-

I slept through the entire day. Hopefully I wasn't the only one who did that, or it'd be too awkward. As soon as I woke up, I sighed in relief, this time I was my room and no one surprised me. I went to the kitchen to eat some breakfast.
Everyone was already there waiting for my arrival.
"Good morning, Hajime!" Taka was the first one to greet me.
"Hey..." I groggily reply, taking my seat.
"Since everyone is here, can we just talk about that stupid Gundham?" White man said, frowning angrily at us from across the table.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'STUPID'?!" Kazuichi yelled out loud, standing up and hitting the table with his fists.
"He just called Gundham stupid! Does he has a death wish?" Leon covered his mouth, completely shocked.
"I think I have the full right to call him that, especially after what happened yesterday." White man confidently replied.
I eat in silence, watching the scene develop in front of me.
"What, what happened yesterday-?" Kazuichi nervously scratched the nape of his neck.
"Did you forget already?" Taka raised his voice. "Because of Gundhams's pictures, everyone thinks Yag Direction is gay!"
"Oh...that...well everyone will soon forget about it, okay?!"
Leon shook his head.
"No...Everyone would forget if it was some random fan that snapped the photos or a stranger, but this is a famous writer we're talking about."
"So? What is that supposed to mean?-" Kazuichi asked, sitting down.
"Can't your stupid brain comprehend?" White man interrupted him. "You should know, since you're that much of a fan."
They stared at each other dead in the eyes, I could almost feel the hostility from here.
"...What should we do?" I asked as soon as I finished drinking my cup of orange juice. "Do we have a plan or something?"
"Yeah, we should come up with a new plan to stop this Gundham guy!" Taka firmly said, nodding his head.
"If I remember correctly, the manager said he'd contact him about this-" Leon says.
"Oh that's right, he did say that!" Taka facepalms.
"So, all we can now is wait for some news..." I quietly mutter, mostly to myself.
"Yeah..." they all nod in agreement.
Fuyuhiko contacting Gundham...
What is he going to do about this whole mess? What is going to happen if he doesn't solves it?
....
Argh, just thinking about it is making my head spin, and just sitting here and sulking won't do any good to my mental health.
Even if everyone suspects Yag Direction, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll go down so easily.
I'm positive everything will be soon resolved. After all, there is nothing Fuyuhiko can't fix, right?
Yeah...of course, for now we'll just wait.
After a few moments of the group doing a bunch of nothing around the apartment, we heard Taka call us from his room, he had his phone with him.
"Hey guys, let's go live right now!" he said with a enthusiastic smile.
"Live? Why would we do that?" Leon asks annoyingly, apparently he was sleeping and didn't want to be disturbed.
Well too bad for him, Taka can't even hear the disappointment in his voice.
"Because the manager told us to have fun, and it has been a while since we haven't interacted with our fans, so why not?"
That actually sounds like a good idea...I sat down by Taka's side on the bed. Kazuichi took the other side.
"I'm in!" he said, licking his lips.
"Well, if he's in...I'm in." Leon shrugs, rubbing his eyes and seating by Kazuichi's side.
"If you're all in...I'm in too." White man smiled gently.
And with that, Taka went live on Instagram. The moment we did, we saw more and more people join. Millions of people had their eyes on us. But I was already used to being looked at, both in real life and on camera. It may seem scary and intimidating at first, and it was.
However, we had to face that reality and put on a smile. Be strong and be confident, that's what my career has taught me.
And...also to not be gay.
"Hey guys! I'm here with the rest of the gang!" Taka introduced us. "Feel free to ask any questions! We're currently in my own room, ohh look at that-"
He spun the phone and showed the fans his room, including my confused expression.
"So, so cool, right~~!" Leon giggled.
Huh? Wasn't he sleepy a few seconds ago? Then why is he smiling and with his blue eyes wide open-?
"Oh about the album, Homo, you probably know about the main song, 'At night', and the other one, 'Blankets', they're the most viewed one, with almost 1 billion views! Wow! Billion!" White man said, stupefied. "We're really thankful for all the support you guys, really! We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and your money-Er I mean love!"
Kazuichi quickly chimed in.
"Y-yeah! And Taka will be getting more lines, too!"We all turned our heads to face him.
"Excuse me-?" Kiyotaka frowned.
"Well, u-uh..." he scratched his head awkwardly. "In the songs, you'll get more attention, yeah-"
"Does that mean I don't have enough attention from the public?-" Taka sadly lowered his head.
I nervously poked Leon, sweating. He nodded.
"What-?! No, first of all, we all have equal singing lines, and we're all great at what we do, it doesn't matter who does more or less."
"You just said we have equal-"
I stared at the chat, I couldn't read because of how fast everyone was speaking, one after another, the chat was full of desperate texts, trying to catch our attention...millions and millions and...Then, I snapped back to reality.
"I'm not good enough? I'm underrated?!" Taka yelled, trembling.
"Taka oh my god, listen to me-!" Leon shook his shoulders, but the latter remained quiet.
"Oh, someone just asked when the next show will be!" Soda pointed. "And to that I respond, tonight!"
He took Taka's phone into his own hands.
"You heard me! And you all better prepare yourself, because we are coming! Uh...coming?" He looked at us.
I shook my head, widening my eyes.
"Coming, indeed~~" White man groaned.
"C-coming, yeahh..." Leon blushed, looking away.
"....Oh look a question for me!" Taka yanked the phone from Kazuichi's hands. "Taka...do you wear socks-"
Socks...? Why would someone ask that? I can't help but chuckle, tho, that was such a funny question.
"W-well...when it gets cold, yeah...it's good to wear socks, they warm your cold feet!" Taka answered confidently.
"I don't wear socks-" Leon commented.
"What?! Even with shoes on?" Taka asked him, shocked.
Leon rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, it feels disgusting on my feet."
"Wait, what?" I asked, confused. "But won't they smell bad?"
"But wearing socks also is stinky." White man protests. "Either way, the feet always get stinky due to the heat and sweat and dirt."
His reply made sense...that made us all calm down and nod in agreement.
"This one is for you, Hajime..." he passed me the phone.
I quickly read the line that contained my name.
"Why do you have no talents, Hajime?"...I lower the phone and stares at Taka.
He covered his mouth, suppressing his laugh.
"It's true I don't have any talent, but I still try my best to always fill that gap in the band, singing with passion, that's all that matters." I calmly reply, lifting up the phone and forcing a smile at the camera.
"Hmm...fill the gap..." Leon mutters.
"Fill..." Kazuichi repeated, drooling.
"GUYS." White man screams. "Ahem, let's continue." he nervously poked Kazuichi.
We quietly nod and continue to answer the questions we were given, we spent almost one hour talking and making jokes.
Sometimes we would notice fans asking about the photos that Gundham snapped from yesterday, but we ignored those and proceeded, like nothing has happened at all. We had no idea what to say, and our manager didn't give us permission to let us have our opinion, so we had no choice but to ignore it.
After one hour, Taka finished the live, we lifted up and began to walk back to the kitchen, when Taka suddenly yelled and called us.
"W-WAIT, YOU GUYS!"
Exhausted from all the talking from earlier, we groaned in pain and walked back.
"What?"
"Look...It's Gundham...and he's going live right now!" he showed us his phone.
Indeed...what we saw was Gundham...the official one...the real one...And he was live, in this exact same moment...
....
We immediately ran back to his bed and stared at the phone.
Are we going to watch it?...It seems I wasn't the only one with that thought in mind.
Kazuichi took Taka's phone again and grinned from ear to ear.
"W-w-what are you doing?" Taka exclaimed, terrified.
"We're going to watch it, of course." he responded.
"But wouldn't that be a problem? The Yag Direction wathing Gundham's live?" I said worriedly.
It is normal for that to happen...but since we're under certain circumstances...then...maybe watching it is not a good idea, even though I was dead curious to know what's happening.
"Not if I have a normal secret account!"
"You can't put 'normal' and 'secret' in the same sentence..." Leon facepalms.
"Wait, Soda, you have a spare account?" White man widens his eyes. "How come I didn't know that? Why did you create it?-"
"Ah...you know..." he quickly switched accounts, he had chosen a random username and had very few followers. "Just to...mess around..."
I think he created this account just to stalk on Gundham. Before any of us could ask him any more questions, he had already clicked on Gundham's live. Of course, he couldn't wait just a little minute. He had to see his idol.
We all looked at the screen, Gundham was on the screen, he was wearing a white and black pajama, and his usual purple scarf around his neck...But wait...do I see...animals?
Small ones...are they...?
"FUHAHAHAHAHHHH! So, do you finally understand, now? Everything could be an illusion, all inside your imagination, the human brain is very powerful, indeed." he shook his head and looked down at his scarf. "Hm? What is it, my four dark devas of destruction?"
"Aaawhwh! It's his famous hamsters!" Kazuichi squirmed in joy. "Each one of them have their own Instagram page!"
"Really? They're THAT famous?" Leon asks, confused. "They're just stupid hamsters...What's wrong with this guy?"
"Well, he likes animals, nothing wrong about that I guess." White man scratched his neck, trying to concentrate on what Gundham is saying.
We had to watch Gundham talk to his hamsters for a while before he turned his attention to us, he slightly blushed and smiled.
"So, where was I, again?" he frowns. "Oh, that's right...delusions, visions, imagination..." he stared at the screen. "Pretending."
For some reason, that word made me flinch.
"You know how the music industry nowadays is so corrupted?" he hummed. "Music used to be so good in the past, with beautiful melodies, lyrics, and meaning. Now they're filled with lies, despair and ugliness...it's unsettling." he shivered. "I'm not exactly saying that goes for all the bands and artists out there, but music has changed. A lot."He starts to pet his hamsters.
We all watch in silence.
"It kind of reminds me of that song, that song explains perfectly about what's happening to music. The public is completely blinded by sweet lies, while the members hide behind the curtains, finally taking off their masks."
....We looked at each other for a second. I saw White man's thoughtful face, while the others were scared.
"You all need to remember this, and bury this inside your brains; The world is full of pretenders, they're everywhere, no matter where you are, they will find you and fool you. It's up to you if you will give in, or resist."
....
Pretenders?
Fool?
All of this seems very familiar, and in a bad way. The words that I just heard from Gundham's lips...they hit me hard. Right in the soul. In and out, back and forward. Just now I'm starting to realize how deep his words actually mean....
He was referring to the Yag Direction.
"I think that will be all for now, sorry but I must return to my castle of darkness and continue writing my novels." Gundham suddenly says, looking away from the camera, probably someone or something caught his attention. "Goodbye."
Then, the live ended abruptly.
"....Sigh, man what the hell was that?" Leon was the first to react.
"Do you think he was talking to us?" Taka retrieved his phone from Soda's paralysed hands. "Most likely, he knew we were in there." White man says, covering his face with his hand. "He took the opportunity to give that speech and make everyone doubt us."
"But he didn't specified which band he was talking about, just songs in general."
"There's no way he'd outright talk about us!" Kiyotaka turned off his phone and threw it on the bed.
"But I could sense it in his voice...he was definitely gazing at us!"
"How did he know I was in there...?" Soda spoke, his voice trembling.
He's right...Kazuichi used his account to watch the live. There's no way Gundham would know that, right?
"Does it matter? Now we know Gundham is badmouthing us, Fuyuhiko better have done something by now." White man lifted up and left before we said anything.
"....I'm going too...I need some sleep." Leon followed right behind.
"Soda, are you okay?" Taka softly patted his back. "If it's White man, just ignore him! Sometimes he's too insensitive."
Sometimes...? Just sometimes??
Soda shook his head slowly, he was blankly staring at his empty hands.
"That's not it...I'm just...I just need some time alone..." he slowly lifted up and left as well.
 I guess he has the right to be like that, after all, Soda is a big fan of Gundham, and to hear your idol say such things about you and your friends...
Damn it! I'm starting to get mad, why is this happening? Why is Gundham on our tail like that? Does he really wants the world to know the truth that badly? For what?? I just can't understand...Me and Taka sadly looked at each other, he must be just as worried as I am.

....

Eventually we all went our own way, but I know for a fact we were all still thinking about earlier. I was in my room, tidying up a few things when I heard the front door open. And only one person could enter our place. I immediately head towards the living room and sees Fuyuhiko walk in, the manager. And he was not happy. Soon the others joined me and looked at him, waiting for the latter to say something, anything.
Fuyuhiko served himself a cup of wine and leaned against the fridge.
"That damn Gundham...he thinks he owns me or something, pfft." he angrily said.
"Wha...what happened?" White man says, apparently out of breath for some reason.
We were indeed all wondering what happened. But we had to wait for Fuyuhiko to finish drinking the whole cup before turning his attention to us.
"I went to talk to Tanaka, however our meeting didn't go as planned..." he groans and sat down on the couch. "The guy asked me to leave, and even offered me money to do so!"
"What?!" Kazuichi suddenly yelled, terrified. "That's not right, he'd never do that!!"
"Let him speak first, Soda..." Leon whispered to him.He quietly nodded in reply, looking down on his feet.
"I refused to leave and told him to delete the pictures he posted, but since he wouldn't give up, I had to give him money...lots of money, just so he could delete it!!"
Oh, now I understand. Fuyuhiko would never bribe someone, but in this case, it was necessary. I wonder how much he had to give him?
And as if he heard my thoughts, Fuyuhiko quickly added:
"5 thousand dollars! FIVE!" he spat angrily.
"FIVE?!" I repeat.
"Five..." Leon gaped.
"F-five!" Taka put both of his hands on his head.
"Five." White man widens his eyes, completely shocked.
"Five....?" Soda muttered, still staring down. "that's...not even enough!!"
"H-huh?" I frown in confusion.
The others all did the same. Soda looked over at us with a big smile.
"We have way more money than that! And Gundham would delete the photos either way, he just needed some money, that's all! He's not a bad person, so stop misconstruing him!"
He yelled so loudly, we had no choice but to listen to him and ponder for a while
."I hate losing and wasting money, so if something bad happens again, I won't fix it! So you all better BEHAVE, ALRIGHT?!" he shot us a threatening stare.
And right after that, he got up and left the apartment. We watched as Soda glared at us and then ran to his room.
"Jeez, that was hard to watch...." Leon said, scratching his hair. "What should we do now?"
"I don't know...let's just go back to doing our own thing, for now...." Taka returns back to his own room just like Soda.
I look at Leon and White man, they were both awkwardly looking down, probably still thinking about what Fuyuhiko said.
Just then, something occurred to me.
Everyone is in a bad mood right now, but I can change that! If I remember correctly, I still have the opportunity to hang out with one of them again, and this time, I know exactly where to take them to have a good time!
And just the two of us...
...
I picked up my phone, it was time. 6pm. I have the chance to invite someone from the band to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant. However..who should I even pick? Making that decision is hard, I need to consider each one of them...
Ah, but what am I even thinking? It's obvious who I'll choose...