When whoever it was walked in, I immediately said, "Performers and employees only."

"Well, I'm not either of those, but I think you'll want me around anyway."

Looking more closely, I saw a tall man with red hair, a red bandanna, and a bit of stubble on his chin.

"You're..." I whispered in disbelief.

"Yup! I'm Klein, and I work for the famous record company, Nightfall Records! I saw your performance, and I think you guys have what it takes to go pro! What do you say? Willing to take the chance?"

Not even a second later, we all shouted the exact same thing:

"Hell yeah!"
——----------------
All was silent.

As we rode in Egil's friend's van to the record company, I could feel the nervousness of all of my bandmates. Yet somehow, I felt oddly... calm.

I thought about what would happen once we got to the company building. Okay, they'll probably want to make a contract with us. Good thing I studied up on that with Argo a while back. They can't pull a fast one on us!

Once we finally got to Nightfall Tower, the building for the company, we bid farewell to Egil, who had been engaging in idle conversation with Klein.

"That Egil's a nice guy!" Klein said jubilantly. "How'd you meet him?"

"He runs a bar and grill that my family goes to all the time," I said in a calm demeanor, despite the situation. "He's been a friend of the family for a long time. He was actually my dad's pen-pal before I was born, and then when I was little, he moved to Japan."

"That's pretty awesome," Klein replied. "Anyway, let's go inside."

We went through the doors of the building, walking to the elevator.

Klein turned to us and said, "My office is at the top floor. We'll talk business there."

The top floor... that's where the big-shots are!

As we rode on the elevator, we all stood there in silence. I looked over at Sachi, and I instantly knew that something was wrong.

I walked over to her quietly, discreetly asking, "What's wrong, Sachi?"

"I feel like I'm not supposed to be here..."

Apparently, Klein had been listening in, and he said, "So that's why you've been lookin' so nervous? Don't worry about it! If you're a friend of the band, you're always welcome here!"

She smiled softly.

"Thanks, man," I said, giving Klein a smile.

"No prob!" Klein said. "Hey, it looks like we're here!"

The elevator door opened, revealing a drab hallway.

"Second door on the left," Klein told us as if we were going in on our own. "For future reference."

We walked over to the door, and when Klein opened it, his office amazed us all.

The entire office, from the walls, to the desk, to the self, were all painted a deep red. Behind his desk, a window loomed, showing the nighttime lights of Tokyo in a beautiful display that took the words I was planning to say out of my mouth... momentarily.

"Pretty nice view, isn't it?" Klein queried rhetorically. "I had to work my butt off for three years to get up on the top floor with the big-shots, but it was worth it. Anyway, time to talk business."

"Right," I heard Argo say from her spot by the door.

She's getting into her business mode... watch out, Klein!

"All right, I've got a contract whipped up already, but you might want to get a lawyer before accepting or declining. I'll let you have a look at it first, though."

Klein opened the drawer in his desk, pulling out a small stack of paper.

"Argo?" I said, nodding her over.

"Right."

Argo walked over to Klein, taking the contract from him in one fluid motion. She began to read, shaking her head every once in a while. She got through the first page in about ten seconds, proceeding to go through every page in a similar speed.

When she finished, she quietly said, "No good. The royalties are too low."

"Royalties?" Sachi asked.

"Royalties are basically our cut of the sales," Argo explained, handing the papers back to Klein. "Here you go."

"You guys sure you don't want a lawyer?" he asked hesitantly.

"When it comes to figuring out how to get money, and lots of it, she's better than any lawyer," I explained.

"I see..." Klein said with a sigh. "I dunno what to tell ya. Contracts here are non-negotiable."

Suddenly, an idea struck me. "What if we made a new contract?"

"Huh?" Klein queried.

"Okay, hear me out. Give me two weeks to come up with a single. If I don't finish the single in time, then we'll walk out. If I make it in time, we'll record it in your studios and try your contract for that first song. But if it goes gold within a month, we make a new contract... on our terms," I said, pointing to each of my bandmates.

"You're a bold kid, thinking you can pull the strings like that..." Klein started. "But I like that. You're on, Kirito!"

We shook on it, and he went with us down to the lobby. On the way down, I called Egil to tell him we needed him to pick us up.

"Well, I'll see you guys in two weeks!"

As soon as we got in Egil's friend's van...

"YOU IDIOT!" Asuna screamed at me, getting in my face.

"I know I was stupid, but I was under pressure! You know I act stupid under pressure!"

"Pressure my ass! You just wanted to show off!"

"You really put us in a bind there, genius," Shino said, her tone icy.

"Not your smartest move," Lisbeth joined in.

"Come on, guys! Cut me some slack!"

"No," Yuuki said, though I could tell that at least she was just kidding.

"Guys, I think he can do it!"

Sachi...?

"He's been humming a tune I've never heard of before when he's lost in thought for ages, and I think he can use that!"

My god... she's right!

"That's right! I came up with the composition ages ago, but I never tried to make any lyrics!"

"And why didn't you come to me?!" Asuna shouted, once again in my face. "You know that I come up with most of the lyrics anyway!"

"Because... because it was a song I didn't want anyone to hear. The melody is very important to me, and the half-finished lyrics have a special meaning to me, so I wanted to finish it on my own."

"Well, I can't really help you with that one..." Asuna sighed. "I'd get bored knowing I wouldn't have any say in the lyrics."

"Gee, you're really helpful!" Lisbeth butted in.

"Well excuse me for being mad that the first contracted single he makes is all about him!"

"Guys, please calm down..." I requested.

"Why?!" they shouted at the same time.

I decided to be bold. "First of all, you're right. The song kinda is all about me and my past, but you'd still be the one singing most of it. Second, your pointless bickering only serves to make it hard to concentrate on finishing the lyrics. You know I'm always thinking about my music."

They both quieted down instantly.

I inwardly frowned. But all I've been trying to do with this song is forget.

"Also, I'm gonna give you each a copy of your parts tomorrow at practice so that everyone can practice their parts separately, as well as together."

"Right."

The rest of the ride home was silent. Nobody talked, most likely out of respect for my song-making mode.

The problem is that I usually come up with the lyrics with Asuna, then a melody to match. This doesn't bode well.

When we got to Sachi's house, we bid farewell to everyone else and walked in the door.

"Hey, Sachi?" I queried.

"Yeah?"

"I need to go next door and get some blank music sheets, as well as my sheets with the half-finished lyrics. Wanna come with me?" I asked her.

"Okay!"

We walked out the door once more, heading next door to my house. I fished my key out from my jacket pocket, putting it in the door and unlocking it. I turned the handle, opening the door and walking in with Sachi.

"Sorry about the mess," I said with a sheepish smile, pointing towards the music sheets littered everywhere on the ground. "My parents are musicians too, but they're not popular anymore. They still come up with music, but they're really bad about cleaning up the music sheets they don't think feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"You said they aren't popular anymore. Does that mean they were popular once?"

I sighed in resignation. "Yeah. They were really popular before I was born. When I was born, they kinda disappeared. When I asked them about it, they told me they wanted to raise me in peace."

"I see..."

She could tell that I didn't want to say anything else on the subject, so she fell silent. We walked through a hallway on the far side of the room, coming to a stop in front of a door with a poster of me in middle school playing my Gibson Les Paul along with three older boys and one older girl on it, all playing other instruments.

"Who are they?" Sachi queried.

"They were... my first band. Yami no Sekai. Everyone in that band other than me was in high school, while I was in middle school. We were the ones who originally came up with the duet Rush, but something happened to the band before I could perform it with them."

"Yami no Sekai?! The famous rock band?! Wait, what happened? The media never said what happened to them."

Just remembering it makes my heart ache... "It's not something you would want to hear. That, and I just don't think I can handle talking about it."

"Wow... something really horrible must have happened if you can't handle talking about it..." Sachi whispered.

"Well, that's enough about that," I said, giving a nervous laugh. Only then did I notice the tears building up in my eyes. "Well, let's find... the music sheets."

"You know, I'm here for you when you want to talk. I won't force you."

I looked at her, the tears begging desperately to escape. She gave me an honest smile, and I knew she could see the inner turmoil going on in my head.

I turned away, entering my room. "I'll be right back."

She knew I didn't like other people in my room, so she stayed back. She had no idea why I didn't like it, and I had no intention of anyone, even her, finding out.

This is why I don't like to go near my room.

I looked around the room, finding more posters of my first band. As soon as I saw the poster of me and the lead vocalist, the tears that had been begging to escape fell freely.

Everyone...

I went to my dresser drawer, pulling out some blank music sheets and a paper with a lot of scribbles on it.

There it is... the remains of my heartbreak.

At the top, there was a song name written in the most beautiful handwriting I had ever seen.

Colors of the Heart

I smiled wryly. Of course the handwriting is good. It's hers.

I wiped my tears on my sleeve, taking the papers, along with a pen on my desk, and walking out of my room.

"All right, let's go," I told Sachi once I entered the hallway.

We went back to the front door, and I remembered the night my parents left one week prior.

"I'm sorry we can't take you with us, but Suguha is..." my mother said.

"Mad at me."

"Yes. And we're going to her kendo tournament, so..." my dad said, clearly unenthused.

"Don't worry about it," I said, laughing it off. "Besides, if I get lonely, I can always stay with Sachi and her parents, right?"

"Of course!" my mother exclaimed. "Oh, they're such nice people!"

"Well, we'd better get going..." my dad trailed off. He made it painfully clear that he wanted to do anything but go on the trip, but my mom paid him no mind.

I almost feel sorry for him...

They walked out the door, carrying suitcases with them. They walked to our car, put the suitcases in it, and waved to me.

"Bye!" I shouted from inside the doorway.

I snapped out of my reverie, noting that we had already walked to Sachi's front door... and that I was humming the tune to Colors of the Heart again.

"I've noticed that your humming gets more detailed each time you start humming the tune," Sachi observed.

"Huh."

"What's the name of the song?"

"Colors of the Heart."

"Sounds romantic!" Sachi exclaimed, clearly excited.

"It's depressing. It's about something that happened before I met you, so you wouldn't understand."

"Oh..."

I could already feel the heartache that came with the very mention of the song's name. Still, I knew I had to finish it...

For her...

"Well, let's go inside, all right?" I suggested, opening the unlocked door.

We walked inside, and I walked into the hallway. I entered Sachi's room, walking over to her homework desk and setting my papers down.

Spotless as always. Too bad I'm gonna mess it up for a while.

"Sachi, I hope you don't mind me using your desk as a workspace!" I shouted. The sound reverberated through the hallway, and I heard an, "It's all right!" before I heard her start an open fire for cooking.

Oh, that's right. She cooks in very unusual ways, doesn't she? I'm surprised the house hasn't burned down yet. Anyway...

"All right... first things first, I gotta write out the composition. That won't take too long, seeing as I came up with the general sound for each instrument a while back. I just have to refine it..." I whispered, grabbing a pen and getting to work.

Fifteen minutes later, I had finished writing out the notes on everyone's music sheets.

"Time to get to work finishing the lyrics. I'd better transfer what I have over to a new paper first so it doesn't look like it was half-finished already," I muttered to myself.

After transferring the original lyrics onto a new sheet of paper, I set to work on finishing them. But of course...

By the time dinner came around, I hadn't written a single word.

"So, how did it go?" Sachi queried.

"Couldn't come up with a word."

"That's not good."

"Don't worry, this is how it works. I try, I fail for a while, and eventually, a spurt of inspiration comes my way. Then I write the inspiration down to finish the song, and the song gets practiced," I said dismissively.

But what if that doesn't happen? I thought inwardly. In reality, I had been worried about this happening ever since I had heard Asuna shout at me. Even with the head start, it was very unlikely that I would finish in time.

Well, all I can do is try!

The next ten days went by in a similar routine. I would get up, go to school, practice the melody with my bandmates, go over to Sachi's house, and try fruitlessly to come up with lyrics.

During a break between practicing the melody, I heard Asuna agitatedly say, "You only have four days left, Kazuto. You almost done?"

Sighing, I said, "No... I don't know where to continue."

"YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T WRITTEN ANYTHING?!" Asuna screamed. "We're so screwed!"

It was then that my brain decided to start working for the first time in days. "Hey, Yuuki?"

Looking up from her guitar, she queried, "What's up?"

"How's your sister?"

"She's... okay, I guess," Yuuki replied sadly.

"Do you think she could handle a visit from me?" I asked tentatively.

"I dunno, Kazuto," Yuuki told me uncertainly. "She's kinda unstable right now..."

"Well, ask her tonight. If she's fine with it, then I was hoping I could come over."

Yuuki sighed. "That's the problem."

"What do you mean?" Shino asked from her corner.

"I-it's nothing! I'm sure she'll be fine with it. I'll make sure she stays calm while you're over."

"Thanks, Yuuki," I said, giving her a soft smile.

For the faintest of moments, I thought I saw her blush. "D-don't mention it!"

"Am I the only one confused here?" Lisbeth said, walking over from her drum set.

Asuna looked at Yuuki skeptically. "Yeah, I thought your sister was older than you, Yuuki."

I gave them both an icy glare, and they froze up. "Don't concern yourselves with this. It doesn't involve you," I said in a steely voice.

Silence.

Yuuki laughed nervously. "Well, why don't we stop for the day and head home?"

We all agreed, and we left.

At the front gates to the school, Yuuki and I met up with Sachi. "Hey, I'm gonna go to Yuuki's place for a couple of days to write the lyrics, okay? I came up with a way to get the lyrics down faster, but I can only do it over there."

I could see the surprise building up in Yuuki's eyes.

"Oh, I see..." Sachi said, looking down.

"I'll come back to your place if I get done early, all right?"

"A couple of days?!" Yuuki shouted as we walked to her house. "But I thought this was just a visit!"

"Think of it like the music training camp we went to last year. But instead of everyone being with us, it'll just be you, me and your sister."

Realizing she couldn't win, she just sighed. "Okay, but if mom doesn't want it, you're out, got it?"

"Well, duh," I replied. "I don't like pushing people's parents' buttons."

When we arrived at Yuuki's house, she opened the front door to reveal a clean hallway.

"Mom, I'm home! And I hope you don't mind that Kazuto is with me!"

Coming out of the third door to the left, Yuuki's mom, Yulier, said, "Oh, it's fine!"

She walked up to me, enveloping me in a bone-crushing hug. "It's so good to see you! You haven't been over here for a long time! I'm s—"

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault," I said after she released me. "Anyway, I'm looking for inspiration for the lyrics on my newest song, and I figured your place would bring back some nostalgic ideas. It's a song about the past, so...

Anyway, how's she doing now?"

"You mean my eldest daughter? She's doing fine... though she's a bit under the weather for some reason."

"I dunno, Kazuto," Yuuki told me uncertainly. "She's kinda unstable right now..."

"Would it be all right if I see her?"

"Does this have to do with your lyrics?" Yulier asked, an all-knowing expression on her face.

I sighed. "I can't deny that that's a part of it. But at the same time, I really do want to see her."

This time, Yulier was the one to sigh. "Well, it might be for the best. She's been wanting to see you as well."

What?! But I thought...

Keeping my composure, I said, "Thanks. Let's go, Yuuki."

"Right..." Yuuki whispered dejectedly.

I looked down as we walked through the maze-like house, falling deep into thought.

That's right... Yuuki used to idolize her sister, didn't she? It must've been tough when that happened... Sorry, Yuuki...

When we reached Yuuki's sister's room, I steeled myself... to face the demons of my past.

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A/N: As promised here is the Third update out of the four today! One more and then I will give y'all a new upload schedule for this one.