Glad to see some people enjoy it. I'm going to try and write songs. I suck at it but I'm going to try and write a few for Koyuki since well it's a Koyuki based story, but I'll throw in some attempts at Chiba if you guys want it. Let me know if you think that's a good idea. And I am going to switch between band members on occasion since hell there is five of them and it'd be pointless not to even acknowledge their presence in the story.

Chapter 2

"God damn it Chiba," shouted Ryusuke after the wail of Koyuki's Explorer died and Taira's new 4-string Fender '64 Jazz Bass hummed momentarily before being unplugged by it's owner so that the blonde could hear the latest fight between Ryusuke and Chiba fighting in the recording room the guitarist had built onto the fish hut for when they needed more private settings to work out the kinks in their latest songs.

Setting his Maple Paul Reed Smith SC 245 down on the stand, Ryusuke violently pulled his friend into a headlock before taking his free hand and began to pull at the rappers afro as he growled, "You know when we're practicing to not open the door or else it'll fuck up all the recording we're doing."

"Speaking of which," came Saku's voice from the corner, "the microphones and camera are still running, so keep it going because I think this is all gonna be a kick ass blooper reel for a DVD if we ever do one."

Walking over to the computer that was set up, Koyuki hit the stop button and gave Ryusuke the okay to continue to beat on the M.C. while Taira tried in vain to get the long-haired guitarist to stop so that they could find the reason Chiba would open the door. Granted they had time off and since Chiba only needed to rest his voice on these breaks, Taira knew that the singer would barge in if he came up with new lyrics or got a practice gig. But with his kid on the way, it was usually in a panic to hide from his own anxiousness about being a dad. Taira couldn't blame him, both him and Chiba didn't really have male role models and it's always a fear for people like them to worry about turning out like their dads.

Giving a sigh and wanting to keep Chiba from finally losing his cool and pounding their lead guitarist into a bloody pulp, Taira separated them saying with, "Since Koyuki decided to leave and get back to his vacation, I'll get Chiba out of here and get him home so the upcoming fight doesn't end up breaking an amp like last time." His voice grunted during the conversation since Chiba was trying to get at Ryusuke who was being kept in a corner by Saku in an attempt to keep the damage to their equipment minimal.

Outside the fishing house, Taira had to keep pushing Chiba away from the door as the singer continued to shout and curse insults at their friend. Finally once on the street, Chiba stopped yelling and began breathing deeply before smacking Taira and saying, "Why the hell did you do that? You know we would have taken it outside." Looking at his friend Chiba saw the bassist have a small smirk spread on his lips and pulled out a cigarette for himself and lighting it. Rolling his eyes at the bottle-blonde attempting to look cool, Chiba stuffed his hands in his pockets mumbling out, "Damn bassist and your stupid pacifying tactics."

Lifting his right foot behind him, Taira brought it forward into his friends backside saying through a puff of tobacco, "Quit your whining. Hell if it weren't for those tactics how much you want to bet we'd have broken up and still be working worthless part time jobs for the rest of our lives?" He moved next to the rapper and saw Chiba's face silently agree with him. Throwing the rest of his cigarette away, Taira placed a hand on Chiba's shoulder and cautiously asked, "What was it this time that made you barge in? Lyrics, Kiku, or did you see something about another rap battle?"

Jumping up onto a short concrete garden wall, Chiba continued walking calmly saying, "Found out yesterday I'm having a daughter." Looking down he saw a warm look of congratulations in his friends eyes. It made him happy that his friends were so supportive, and he wanted to smile, but he shook his head to Taira's gaze and said, "But a test showed that both Kiku and I have the recessive gene that could cause the same kind of medical problems my brother has."

Taira could hear the tears filling his friends voice as he mentioned this latest discovery. And it was a bit of a problem since they wouldn't know until the kid would be able to talk. Not knowing what to say, Taira turned to a vending machine and walked to it. He saw that Chiba had hopped down from his ledge and followed him muttering something about wanting three cans of juice and that one was to be guava, the next nectarine, and the last was to be an orange. Getting the three cans his friend wanted, Taira took a canned soda for himself and watched the vocalist down two of the cans in less than two minutes. Letting out a loud belch, Chiba opened his third can as Taira sipped at the his own sugared drink.

Rubbing his eyes in frustration at the silence Taira asked, "So, your kid may have problems? You've dealt with these before with your brother right?" Chiba gave a nod and Taira raised his can to his mouth saying, "Well then rejoice my friend as you are more prepared than most people who have this happen to their child. And with the cash you two are pulling in you can get the best help available in making sure your daughter isn't forcibly left to a life of mediocre education just because she might not be as smart as society wants her to be."

Seeing the light return into Chiba's face at Taira's words was always a sight to behold. For some reason, no matter what the situation was, the bassist could always make his friends feel better with a drink and a couple of kind words.

Meanwhile in a burger joint a few miles away, Koyuki was leaning with his head back in his hands, a piece of paper and pen sitting in front of him, and a fry slowly being chewed between his teeth. It was a thing for him to do something like this when he was beginning to write out song lyrics. A bit of food and a tall cold soda helped him figure some lyrics out, even if they weren't exactly that melodic. Staring down he looked at the first few lines he'd come up with.

Twilight spilling across the room

The passion still evident in your eyes

I quake as my soul is

His mind had shifted off towards thinking of when he and Maho had actually slept together for the first time. This song was supposed to be a way to express how she made him feel, but even without the pressure of having to come up with a song like "Devil's Road," Koyuki was still trying to over come the success of the song Eddie had left to him and the band. Picking up his Coke, Koyuki took a couple of large gulps and headed to the trash. Putting the few fries that were left in the trash, he picked up his notebook and headed out the door. Checking his watch, he decided to walk the few blocks to a store near the apartment. Picking up a few groceries Koyuki returned to the apartment to find a note reading in Maho's untidy scrawl,

Had to run to the studio for a quick edit job.

Left at 4 and I should be home at 8 so text me if you want take out.

If you don't I'll assume you'll be cooking dinner and I'll take over breakfast duties.

Love you,

Maho

P.S.

No booze tonight since I'm not in the mood to change pee stained sheets again.

Rolling his eyes at her note, Koyuki pulled out the pork and chicken he'd bought along with a few other ingredients for the special stir fry dish he knew would put Maho in good mood. It was an old failsafe that guaranteed two things for the guitarist. The first was that Maho wouldn't turn into her typical aggressive self, and the second reason damn near guaranteed he and Maho would have a high energy evening.

Problem was that instead of eight, Maho showed up at ten-thirty with a large half empty bottle of sake, and a rather cheap bottle from the smell of it; in her right hand and one of her assistants walking her in the door. Rushing from his half eaten plate of stir-fry, Koyuki took the bottle from his girlfriend, placed it on the small table near the door and then took his drunken girlfriend from the young man. Thanking the assistant, Koyuki walked Maho into the living room. Setting her down on the couch he wiped away the out of place hairs and smiled at her half opened eyes and mumbled words.

Deciding it best to take her up to bed, Koyuki leaned in to pull her up from the couch, but the ungodly strength she obtained from when she drank came out that forced Koyuki to become her new couch pillow. Shifting from the uncomfortable position his neck was in, the guitarist kissed the top of his girlfriends head saying, "I take it this is revenge for the sheets?" She shook her head and drunkenly muttered that she'd gotten a job with Jim.

"I'll take that as probably one of the best excuses for you coming home drunk," Koyuki watched her head lift up from his chest. Feeling her body shift upward, knew what was coming and immediately closed his eyes as Maho pressed her lips to his. After a few moments of soft kisses, Koyuki felt the director shakily try and lift herself into a sitting position. Moving with her to make sure she didn't fall, Koyuki held her close and kissed her neck whispering congratulations to her.

Rubbing her face into well developed shoulders he'd gotten from Saito's rigorous training, Maho placed her lips to her boyfriends ears and quietly said, "Let's celebrate right here," pulling back she pressed her hips down onto her boyfriend. Moving her hands to the bottom of her shirt, she pulled the long-sleeved tee-shirt over her head to reveal her bare torso. Acting as if she were embarrassed by her actions, Maho covered her breasts and with a mischievous smile said, "Or are you still too afraid to take advantage of a young girl like me?"

All that could be said after that was the advantage Koyuki had was very much taken.

*Two Days Later*

Ryusuke was sitting in the room of his condo sipping at a glass of orange juice. Having just gotten out of the shower, his hair was dripping onto the tile of his kitchen as the radio played the newest song from Room 13. Despite a couple of edits, Ryusuke smiled at their recent success and when the song was finished he turned off the radio to hear the latest on the news. While he preferred the fishing house, he kept this condo as a source of entertainment and comfort. Granted the fishing house worked wonders on some of the girls he had brought home, yet a few of them expected a nice place, so he kept this place as sort of a tax write off. It didn't get him much back, but it was still a nice place to have, and it also kept his mother from getting on his case about living at his grandmothers place of business.

Pounding some of the water from his ear, the guitarist growled at his cell phone ringing on a day he actually felt like having some privacy. Answering the phone, he was surprised to hear a voice shout out, "Ryusuke Minami!"

"Mr. Davis," Ryusuke exclaimed excitedly, "how the hell are you? It's been awhile."

"About a year or so my friend, are you treating Lucille well?" The old blues man took a slow drag from the cigarette he'd just lit as Ray told him to hold on for a moment. Hearing the clunk of the phone on the counter, John tapped the ashes from the tip of his cigarette onto the ground and smiled hearing a few long bluesy notes float through the receiver. Humming along to the tune, John's free hand began to strum along a few notes to accompany the notes until the music suddenly stopped. "Now Minami, why did you have to go and stop playing such a lovely little tune for?"

"That's all I have right now. If I can track you down we can perform it together." Ryusuke waited for an answer from the blues musician, he supposed that the old man was finishing a cigarette as a knock came at the door, walking over to the door he opened it to find the old man smiling at him as the phone began to beep as the busy signal kicked in. Tossing the phone to the side, Ryusuke gave the old man a hand shake, that the man turned into a hug, before walking to the couch.

Grabbing a shirt from the hamper he kept in the living room, the younger guitarist went to the kitchen, grabbed a few drinks, and sat on the couch that was next to the recliner the old man decided to make his. Handing one of the bottled waters to the blues guitarist, Ryusuke asked why the man was in Japan only to get, "I felt like getting out of New York for a bit." Taking a look to the guitar stand, John walked over and took Lucille into his hands and smiled at the bullet holes riddling the body of the Les Paul. Running a finger along a couple of the holes he said, "Plus this old guitar has been calling out to me to play her one more time."

Smirking, Ryusuke raised his bottled juice and took a sip saying, "Tell you what Mr. Davis," he saw the old man gaze up at him before adding, "we got a gig tomorrow to test out a few new songs, so why don't we play on stage together. Me and my," he took a look at the small collection of guitars he kept in the living room before deciding to grab a nearby Stratocaster from it's stand. Returning to his seat he held the guitar in his hands saying happily, "Me and Cameron here'll join you to show the audience how to play the blues."

Raising his bottled water, John clinked it to Ryusuke's juice before the two of them drained the liquids. Staring out at the sky, Ryusuke tilted his head to the side and said, "Come on, I have a place where we can practice in complete solitude. And maybe we'll be able to catch a few fish for dinner tonight as well." The old man beamed at the young guitarist and helped him with the guitars as the two started their day of doing nothing but play the blues and enjoy some fish.

The next evening in the green room of the bar they were playing in, Ryusuke introduced John to the other members of BECK and was not surprised that Koyuki and Taira were the only ones nervous to meet him. Granted their English wasn't the problem as both had pretty much mastered it in the past couple years, save for their accents; it was more at the fact Ryusuke had made them listen to some of his rare recordings and the two idolized the man as much as their lead guitarist. At sound check, Ryusuke and John took a bit longer than the others to get ready as the management tried to make a stink over the old man being in the group.

"Well then we can just leave if you want? Hell most people have to spend half a paycheck to get a ticket to some of our shows," Taira said loudly from the bar. Setting his beer down, he walked to the stage, got face to face with the owner and whispered in his ear, "You have probably the biggest crowd you've seen in months out there, waiting to see us perform for dirt cheap and if you don't let us play this gig, you'll lose all that business and maybe never get it back." He heard the manager gulp loudly before walking off and gave John a thumbs up before heading back to his beer.

A few hours later the band was finishing their final song of the evening, a song that both Taira and Koyuki had written a couple months prior. The bass flowed in a much slower and curving nature that was a bit off the beaten path from Taira's typical Jazz and Funk styles of playing. And Koyuki's style had a bit more of a blues edge to it for the song, but the crowd was enjoying it and many of them had even pulled out their lighters to sway with the vocals and bass track.

After a final set of applause, the crowd was ready to disperse when Ryusuke walked out onto the stage and shouted in English, "Wait just a fucking minute you guys!" The crowd stopped and turned to see Ryusuke holding Cameron with his left hand as John sat in a shadowy corner of the stage. Sipping at his bottled water, Ryusuke gave it to a stage hand and continued, this time in Japanese, "Sit back down, or stand if that's what you were doing. I have with me a good friend tonight and want you to all watch this man as he is one of the reasons I play guitar. So please welcome Mister John Lee Davis."

The crowd gave a light applause at the man being bathed in a beam of light with his trade mark smile pinned to his face. Tipping his hat he settled Lucille onto his lap and plucked out a few chords before letting his fingers pluck out a sad, mournful song from the guitars damaged body. Giving him a few moments, Ryusuke joined in with a slightly more upbeat feeling that seemed to mix with Johns creating a type of bittersweet sound that had the two men bobbing their heads a bit with the beat. The elongated wails from Ryusuke's Stratocaster were somehow perfectly blending with the shorter, faster movements of Johns own playing style. The other members of Beck and the audience were so enthralled that it was a full minute before any of them had realized the two guitarists had stopped playing.

Sitting their with a small bit of sweat coming from their faces, the two stood up and bowed to the audience before walking off stage to thunderous applause. In the green room, the band was shocked to see a large sushi platter on the table that read,

Just delivered from a friends restaurant.

I apologize for my actions and hope you will continue working with us.

Sincerely,

Management

Picking up a piece, John put on a little wasabi and took the whole piece in one gulp. Chewing a bit he swallowed and shouted out, "Now that is fresh." Picking up two more, he ate them quickly and looked at the group of young men staring at him for his lack of etiquette. Smiling he shrugged, "I'm old and I traveled half way across the world yesterday. You don't like me eating it, then I'll leave you at a cross roads for the devil to take your souls in exchange for mine." Sitting down he took a plate and some of the sushi before the band laughed to themselves and began a night of binge drinking and stuffing themselves with sushi and take out food.

The next morning, Saku woke up with his face buried in a pillow on a leather couch. He wasn't particularly hung over; in fact his headache was more from sleeping awkward than from the drinks he'd had the night before. Looking to the left, he saw a familiar flat-panel television, four or five bass guitars and an amp nearby. Sitting up he popped his neck into place and stared at Taira's clock seeing that it was just after eleven. Glad that the band had called off their activities slightly early, early being nearly five in the morning, Saku was prepared to get up and go to the bathroom when he saw an unfamiliar face waving to him before heading out the front door of Taira's house.

Shaking his head at his friends latest sexual conquest, Saku relieved himself and walked up the stairs to Taira's room to find the blonde sleeping on top of his sheets stark naked with all his glory exposed. Grabbing the comforter from the floor, Saku balled it up and threw it on top of the bassist and gave a small cheer inwardly at it landing exactly where he needed it too. Walking to the dresser he checked his friends wallet to make sure nothing was taken, if it was cash they didn't have a problem with it missing, but all the credit cards and identification were there, as well as several ten-thousand increment Yen notes.

Hearing the bed shuffle, Saku wanted to let Taira know why he had his wallet when the bassist asked, "Where'd he go?" Assuming that the hung over musician was talking about his latest trick, Saku said the guy had just left and that he hadn't even touched anything in the wallet now occupying his hands. Waving his hand Taira said, "Thanks for checking that. I know it's a pain but at least it's kept us from getting our identities stolen." Getting to his feet, Taira walked into the adjoining bathroom and kept the door open a crack as he began his post-drinking rituals. Scratching his head as a stream began to flow from him, the blonde asked, "Anything planned today?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm going to head off to Hiromi's parents for the week seeing as we don't have any gigs for a bit." Staring out the window as his friend exited the bathroom, Saku added, "It's been almost six months since she's seen them, and she's getting a bit down about it. So," he pulled the train tickets from his pocket, "I got us a package that has full round trip confirmation on a huge sleeper car and full meal benefits as well since she needs to take a break from work."

Pulling on his tee-shirt as Saku finished, the now clothed bassist nodded in agreement while making his way out of the room. With Saku in front to catch him should he slip, Taira made his way to the kitchen and fixed some left-overs he'd brought home a couple days ago from an Indian restaurant one of his dates took him to. This one was a cute brunette girl from Italy who was studying abroad in Japan for the next year. He hadn't taken her home that night, but he had promised to call her when he had the time from his shows, and following his usual time-table that gave him another three days to call her.

Sitting down at the table, he pulled a soda from the fridge behind him while Saku ate some toast. Eating in silence the two were interrupted when Taira's phone rang. Raising an eyebrow he asked, "This is Taira," the person on the other end spoke for a moment before the bottle blonde said, "My guitar is ready for pick up? Is there a time you have that you would like me to come in to get it?" Remaining quiet, the bassist took down a few notes before thanking the person on the other end and looked to Saku saying, "I gotta go. Can you lock up on your way out?" Getting the thumbs up from his friend, Taira grabbed his hoodie and ran to the nearby bus stop.

It was a short ride to the repair shop and when he arrived a few of the regular customers greeted him, and the clerk gave him the okay to come behind the counter and into the back. Excusing himself from a fan who was asking him a couple questions, Taira went into the repair room to see his Music Man Stingray glowing in the dimly lit room. Walking over, he picked up his old friend and ran his fingers along the rebuilt neck. Smiling at the guitar he could have sworn it was a different one save for the fact that the paint job hadn't been changed, only reapplied and the scratches on the back of the body were all in their right spots.

Looking to his friend, Taira bowed deeply and put the payment on the table as the man gruffly replied, "Just be sure to not walk around drunk with it again. This thing wasn't easy to fix and if you do it again I'll make sure you can't get it fixed again. You're too damn fine a musician to do something so stupid and it's gonna take a long time for me to forgive you for doing something to one of the guitars that made you a star."

Nodding in understanding, Taira solemnly added to the mans comment, "Trust me, it's been hard without to perform without this guitar. And I made sure Chiba beat the hell out of me for doing something like that." He remembered the morning he woke up to see his guitar broken, and when the band told him he'd blacked out drunk and began trying to act like Pete Townshend, only to destroy the neck of the guitar rather than the body. It'd taken a few months to get the guitar repaired, but now that he had it back, Taira was feeling much better about being able to write a few more songs with the sound of his favorite guitar filling his ears.

Leaving the music shop, the blonde lit up one of his last remaining cigarettes and patted the case resting against his back. Looking up at the sun filled sky he said, "Come on Chuck, let's go home and see how well the old man fixed you up." And somehow the bassist knew the guitar was saying the same thing to him.