Guardians

Chapter 1-3

Naoki sighed in contentment after savoring the sensation of smooth, rich beer, warming him in its passage. This was the moment he had most looked forward to. Now that the tension of preparation and performance was over, he could relax and really enjoy a good drink. He didn’t even mind that his band members were long gone.

After the show, Guardian and their hired roadies had hurriedly gotten their gear packed away into the van and joined their manager, Sasaki, for a round of beer and bar snacks with the venue staff. They were all tired from the long road leading up to their shining moment in the limelight, and most of Guardian weren’t big drinkers anyway, so the celebration was brief but gratifying.

“Here’s to a successful start to Guardian’s oneman history,” Naoki had toasted, beginning a string of comments both joking and sincere.

“Here’s to all the pretty new faces we scored tonight,” added Kirin.

“Here’s to our star-dusted future,” Reika said with an overly straight expression.

“What the heck does that even mean?” Kirin’s jostling hip-bump had set Reika’s mug sloshing and almost endangered Naoki’s sandal-clad feet.

“It means we’re gonna have it all,” Kai promised. “Here’s to all of you—and to me—because Guardian is more than just music; it’s the perfect balance of personalities and talents.”

“Yeah, yeah. Will someone say cheers so we can drink already?” Sasaki had suggested with false scorn. Without her believing in them and pushing them to work harder and think larger, Guardian would still be playing minor events in out-of-the way venues. She could say whatever she wanted at that particular moment. “Here’s to four talented men, with big hearts and a bright future,” she said, sincerely now, with a small smile that alighted upon each of them in turn.

“Cheers,” Naoki had agreed, downing his first mug for the night.

Now he was on his fifth but he’d been smart enough to drag the roadies to a bar within walking distance of his own place, so he had no worries except for the cold weather on the walk home—and the best answer to that was more beer!

Unfortunately, his drinking buddies weren’t in for the long haul and after one more round, Naoki found himself traversing the lamp-lit streets with his jacket slung over his shoulder, wondering at his tenacity against the windy winter night. He moved slowly, glancing up past the streetlights to the handful of distant stars visible from the city. It was a rare moment of peace.

His short bangs were pulled back from his face by a headband but he brushed phantom locks away from his eyes by habit as he gazed up at the stars, remembering; not the concert from a few hours ago, but the one that had started it all. Kai had forgotten lyrics left, right, and center, ruining Naoki’s best poetic moments. Kirin had paid too much attention to Reika as his rhythmic partner and forgotten to set a comfortable pace for the vocalist to breathe properly. Meanwhile, Reika had played so flawlessly that he’d put them all to shame.

Back then, Naoki hadn’t yet found a balance between his usual stoic outward nature and the showmanship needed to glue eyes to the stage. His early fans were those who appreciated the technicality of guitar play, rather than those who were easily star-struck, but the others had quickly gathered followings that spread as they unleashed their charisma.

Now, Naoki had overcome that flaw and the cheers that had embellished his solos tonight were proof. Each of them had learned how to combat their own weaknesses, and better yet, how to highlight each others’ strengths. There was always room for improvement, but Guardian was now the band that Naoki had envisioned when they’d first come together in the studio to match Reika’s bass-work to Kirin’s drums and quickly moved on to combining all four parts with promising results.

As the main composer, Naoki was often asked privately if he felt threatened by Reika’s various musical masteries, but he’d never felt that way at all. Reika rarely brought new songs to the table, content to let Naoki lay down their musical foundation, but his insights and suggestions were always a welcome addition to Naoki’s music. Truthfully, they made a strong team.

So here they were, a four-man band who had finally come together in that sense that made separate musicians into an unbreakable unit. Around them was growing a grid of support, from Sasaki’s management to the roadies who were attracted to their abilities as much as to the p*****t, and from there to supportive venue staff and media, and inevitably to an ever-widening network of fans.

The very concept that there were people out there who he had never spoken to—or even seen clearly under bright light—who supported and admired him, suddenly came at him with unexpected force. Fans were a given for any halfway decent musicians who put themselves out there, but Naoki had never expected the bond he himself felt growing each time he saw the same faces gazing up at him on different stages, from different areas of the crowd.

Guardian wasn’t just about preparing a stage for his own musical career—it wasn’t even just about the four of them as a band anymore—it was more than that. It was a place for people to gather and come together and expend the stress and pain of their lives in exchange for a fun experience and good memories. Guardian gave as much as it took, and that was what it meant to be a successful musician.

Checking his thoughts, Naoki scoffed at his unusually idyllic musings. Such deep thoughts were very unlike him. In fact, he wished he’d had the foresight to schedule the coming interviews for that very moment so that his drunken flashes of insight and euphoric reminiscence could reach those they were inspired by. He thought of calling Kai, to share his rare philosophical thoughts, but he knew there was only one member who would certainly be awake. As he fumbled one-handedly for his keys, Naoki flipped open his phone with the other and thumbed the touch screen to scroll through his address book until he reached Reika’s name and number.

~*~