Prologue

"Ichi-nii!" Karin and Yuzu exclaimed as they ran to greet their brother. Ichigo smiled at them and after putting down his bags, he knelt down on one knee and enveloped them into a hug. They laughed\giggled happily as they returned his hug. The passersby smiled at them when they saw him hugging his two cute little sisters. "Come on Yuzu, Karin. We gotta go home." They went out of the airport and looked for a cab. They rest of the way Ichigo listened to Karin as she told him all that has happened when he was not there. That was not possible of course but she told him many things anyway. They no doubt kept in contact with each other but well you cannot really talk of some things over the phone which is exactly why Karin was telling him everything from her becoming football captain to her dad breaking his nose when he almost fell in a ditch after colliding with a lamp post. Yuzu sat between them and silently watched them interacting with a fond smile on her face. Her brother was back and this time he is not going anywhere. He would look at the window as the cab passed by many shops and houses and occasionally turned towards Karin to give a comment or ask something. But he was smiling and he looked very relaxed and at ease which really touched her heart. She made up her mind sleepily that she will always support her brother and will always pray for the family to be happy and together.

Ichigo stared out of the cab window as he listened to Karin attentively while scanning how much everything has changed since the last time he was here. Suddenly, he turned his head towards his right as he felt Yuzu lean against his arm. Apparently she dozed off with a smile on her face. He chuckled and adjusted her so that her head was lying on his lap and her feet on Karin's. She scowled when placing Yuzu's feet on her lap but immediately smiled brightly when she saw Yuzu's face and Ichigo looking at both of them with lots of love. Even after an hour they were not home and this was because they were stuck in the heavy traffic of some busy town. "We should have taken a train instead ichi-nii" Karin said in annoyance. "Naw…" Ichigo drawled, "I don't want my jetlag to get worse." He laughed as Karin tried to stop hers and well they both had a good laugh.

"Welcome home my son." His father greeted him solemnly as he opened the door to let Ichigo in. as soon as Ichigo finished taking off his shoes, he was pulled into a choking bear hug and his father shouted "You are back!" Ichigo pushed him away and grumbled but hugged his father after letting out a slight laugh at his antics. "Oh Maassaaakiiiiii…." His father shouted as he dragged Ichigo to a large half life size portrait of his late mom. "Look how much he has grown! Aren't we proud of him?!" His father almost cried while saying this to the picture. Ichigo looked up at his mom's smiling face and smiled at her. His breath was already beginning to hitch so he turned away and asked his sisters whether he will have his own room now. He once again chuckled as he was immediately dragged up the stairs by his two over excited sisters who wanted to show him his room. "Ichi-ni, take a shower or something and come down for lunch ok? I and Karin will help you settle in after that." Yuzu told him with her soft voice. "Gee thanks but I am the brother right?" Ichigo mock scolded Yuzu." So I will do it. Don't worry about it. Now go serve dinner I will be coming down after sometime." He told her and got ready to freshen up and have lunch asap! He was very hungry and he hadn't even realized it until now.

"Wow! Did you cook these all by yourself Yuzu?" Ichigo questioned her in wonder as he stared down at the mini feast laid out in front of him. "You bet!" Karin said proudly and Yuzu blushed as she was being complimented by her brother. "My Yuzu chan is a very good girl!" his dad said and well they started eating. "So when will you tell me Ichigo? Why did you run away from the U.S?" His dad asked halfway through lunch. Everyone on the table stopped eating and looked at him for an answer. He looked back at them, his whole body frozen and his mouth open as he was about to eat a piece of bacon. They laughed at his reaction and looked at him expectantly. "Well, let's finish this awesome food and after that I will tell.' He said and once again started to shove in all the food. His father was startled as his son suddenly gave out a loud burp. All looked at him astonished and he merely ignored them. "Well, I am done eating! Thanks for the food Yuzu. I will be waiting for you all in the sitting room. Come after you all are done." Saying so, he got up from his chair and went to the sitting room to watch the TV.

"Well, tell us Ichigo…Why did you run away from the U.S?" Isshin asked his son. "I cannot really explain much dad. It's quite a long story…"Ichigo said. "I think looking at Channel M should help you…" Saying so, he switched on to the music channel. After half a minute, as his dad was about to complain, a beautiful reporter started to say something about a new superstar and by the end of the report the whole family sat frozen in their seats with their mouths open (except Ichigo of course).

Very recently an anonymous source sold a large number of taped videos to Starlight- one of the largest music production companies, which were released last week on their official website. The videos were of a high school band from at least three to four years ago. The videos of the said band- Swords And Music (SAM) went viral within 2 days of its release! It was verified that such a band existed and was believed to be of the best high school bands of their time. The members seemed to have turned into stars overnight as millions of fans posted about them on various social networking sites like Twitter. It is not the first time such a thing has happened but it certainly doesn't happen a lot.

From whatever data that was collected from various sources it has been found out that the members of the band were- Kaien Shiba, #a pic of him is shown on the screen with long black hair and amber eyes# the band leader and lead male vocalist and guitarist; Yuki Inoue, #a pic of hers is shown with long orange hair tied up in a ponytail with the side bangs held aside by two snowflake hairpins. She was smiling in the pic and had a mic on her right hand# the only female in the band and female vocalist who also plays the keyboard; Kido Yada, #a pic of his serious looking face is shown in which a part of his specs was twinkling as it caught the flash of the camera# the rhythm and bass guitarist and also the backing singer of the band; and lastly Chad as he is called #a pic of his serious and mysterious face is shown#, the drummer and most silent member of the group.

As easy as it seems to track them, it is not so as their names are merely their 'on stage' names with the exception of Mr. Shiba. That is their real names are yet to be found. However, inside sources has also revealed that they had given their word to the anonymous person to not to find out these members. Seems like a onetime wonder people! And one time wonder indeed as on the first week itself ten hundred thousand copies of their CDs were sold and their songs remained in the weekly top ten till date right from the date of their release. So dear SAM fans it is up to you to choose whether you let your idols lead a peaceful life or seek them out and get their autographs! We will be taking a short break now and in the meantime why do not you all enjoy this song number of the band that we just discussed! YES! The SAM! People. Stay tuned!

#the screen blinked and a medium quality video with high quality voice started to play#

Every day without an answer is

Just time that's passing by

From here on what will the future become?

I don't know...

Kaien Shiba sung those words into the mic with a voice full of power as he held the mic with his left hand.

He was wearing a black tux and a black vest- the tux open and the vest as it is as it kept together the sweaty shirt. Its first three buttons open and untucked. By his neck hung a very loose crimson necktie that brought out the color of his eyes. And unlike everyone, he wore faded blue jeans with a chain dangling by his belt which gave him a 'bad guy' look.

A loneliness that's darker than night

Was bewildering me

I want to become aware of someone now . . .

Because I want to escape from here

Behind him there was a huge drum set and sat behind it an equally befitting boy named Chad. His eyes were closed and his thick wild hair was messier than ever. He had worn a sleeveless shirt, no tux and the necktie was open, dangling from his neck like a garland. His tan and muscular arms glistened with sweat as he kept on playing the drums in a very fast pace.

The morning glow I see from the window

The sound that echoes in the room

The alarm wakes me and

I rush out of the house's gloomy interior

Into my bag

I jam the same ordinary things

And then head to the usual place

In front of Chad and behind Kaien, stood Yuki and Kid at the two sides with a keyboard and a bass respectively. Yuki was smiling as she played her keys with very much grace and power. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and her famous hairpins were in their usual place. She was wearing a crimson knee length dress that had burgundy and black accents and both the sleeves and the hem of her dress had a 'ripped off' effect. On both of her hands slim bangles made of glass, glistened in the stage lights. Occasionally she would take a glance at her band mates and her smile would widen a wee bit more. Her soft lingering voice complemented Kaien's strong one creating a magical effect that visibly mystified the audience and the cheering and hollering sometimes would quieten whenever those two sung.

The words that somebody said

Made me anxious and puzzled me

I don't like to argue

So I couldn't say anything

I have things like dreams and ideals but

If I go beyond things I can just feel

Reality will always be

Staring me in the back

Kid played his bass solemnly with his eyes half open. He swayed with the music and let it carry him. He was wearing his clothes exactly it should be worn, only that his necktie was undone, shirt untucked and partially unbuttoned (like Kaien's). His thin rimmed clear glasses hung from the third button of his shirt and twinkled when the metal frame caught the stage lights. He looked very prim and pram otherwise with a dash of style.

Hey, somebody tell me

Is everybody like that?

If you're happy today

Then things seem are good, they say

When I was a child

It was certainly like that

Chasing after a dream

But that is also a distant memory

One could easily feel the music throbbing and booming, vibrating through the entire place. Every bit of their performance showed just how talented they are and how much potential their band had.

Every day without an answer is

Just time that's passing by

From here on what will the future become?

I don't know . . .

The guidepost of moonlight

Shows me through the clouds passing above

The shining road I'm supposed to follow

No matter how today looks like it will come to nothing

You could see the entire of the audience shouting and cheering although you can't hear their voices as the audio was formatted that way.

No matter what

No matter what

Because I want to keep believing

Because I will wake up from the distant memory of that day

So as not forget, I will carve it into my chest

As they reached the end of the song, their voices took a softer tone and the intensity of their music lessened to a degree and they were all smiling as all of them sang the chorus at the end.

The answer is inside of me

It's something that surely exist, and so

Without giving up

Without stopping to live strongly

Even if it's too sad

And in front of us there's a time we can't go forward

We will share the troubles and between us while walking

The wind blows

No matter how far it is

#the TV was turned off#

All turned to look at Ichigo as he tiredly ran a hand through his raven hair and let out a sigh… "Tell me who sold that Ichi-nii! They were yours and you had the right to do whatever you wanted with them and by seeing them I can say that you all separately recorded your songs! So why did you let someone sell them away?" Karin cried at him frustrated. "Well, our rhythm guitarist did that. He bought the videos that were taken by our schools multimedia club and then after combining our recorded songs with the videos he sold them. He badly needed money Karin! His grandfather! His only family died and you know what he did not leave anything behind for his grandson! He is my friend you know so I had to help him…I did not think they would get this famous so after our graduation party I flew back to Japan. I could not have done anything anyways. As I had been using this dye for years now I am unable to wash it off so I just cut my hair and I am never wearing those red contacts again."

After a moment of silence a loud bark of laughter startled everybody. Issin laughed after failing to control himself, "oh poooor Kido! His grandpa didn't leave anything for him and well you had to flee cause of that! Now imagine if his angry grandpa's spirit comes to haunt you cos you helped him! Where will you flee to?" That did it and all had a very good laugh. "By the way dad I am not going out anywhere until I grow this dye out. It will take only a few months and yes the drummer of our group, he will be coming over. He is an Indian and an orphan you know and he wants to settle in here so he will be staying with us for a few days." Ichigo told them while getting up to go to his room to unpack. "Wait for us Ichi-nii! We promised we would help you! Please let us help!" Karin and Yuzu shouted after his leaving form. "Very well come up!" Ichigo said from inside his half an hour the two sisters came downstairs with an empty bag and a bundle of clothes. "Where is Ichigo?" Isshin asked them. "Well, he did not even last fifteen minutes! He almost passed out from exhaustion, so we told him to sleep. Now he is in a deep sleep already." Yuzu informed. "I just wish he can go back to being himself. I can't wait to get rid of him once again when I think he is going to be staying inside till he grows his dye out. Gosh!" Isshin silently grumbled as he watched his two daughters tidying up the table and helping each other to do a few chores.

A\N:- R and R people ^^