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Secret Identity
by Black Rainbow

Disclaimer: me only own the original characters… Takehiko Inoue owns SD characters, Jahnna N. Malcolm owns story, band name, and songs.

Chapter 12

“Illusion lightning
Casting its light on what could be;
Isn’t it fright’ning?
‘Cause that laser cuts to the heart of me.”

Hana’s voice combined with Fujima and Rukawa’s creating a harmony that drove the crowd insane. His fingers rippled across the strings of his guitar, which suddenly felt like it had become part of his body or something. This was where he belonged. That much he knew.

From the moment the band took the stage, Hana had caught sight of Kiyota in the crowd, swaying and really getting into the music. He also noticed Tetsuo joining the crowd. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd enjoyed their performance immensely.

As he blasted out the last line of the song, he noticed a couple more guys coming in with Tetsuo. /Kami-sama. ‘Niichan would probably get arrested or something, if not beat up to near death by them./ He played the final strains of the song, and a new thought formed. /Me, too, probably./

The crowd continued shouting after them, chanting for an encore. “MORE! MORE! MORE!” The band ran offstage, Mitsui almost laughing with joy, Fujima needing to sit to absorb what had happened, Rukawa actually smiling widely.

“They love us!” Mitsui exclaimed. “They love us!” He couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. He had almost given up his dreams to pursue music, and he had always figured that one day the band would just give up and look for real jobs, but . . . “They love us!”

As the crowd’s chants continued, the announcer ran towards them, frantic. “Get out there before they tear the place apart!”

Hana grabbed Mitsui’s arm. “Play without me.”

“What? You’re our lead singer! Are you serious?”

“I’ve never been so serious in my life,” Hana muttered. “Look, play ‘Sin’, okay? Only Rukawa and Fujima sing on that one.”

“What about your solo?”

“One of you can handle it.” He glanced back towards where Tetsuo was. “I need to get ‘niichan out of here.”

“I thought you said –”

“‘Haruko’ is ‘niichan, okay? No time to explain – Tetsuo’s here… go!” He shoved the shocked Mitsui towards the stage and turned away to find his brother.

“Oniichan!” he called out when he caught sight of Kiminobu. The older boy turned to look up at him, startled.

“Aren’t you supposed –”

“Tetsuo’s here. I’ve got to get you out of here.” Kiminobu’s eyes widened a fraction in fright. “Come on,” he hissed, dragging Kiminobu out of the place.

When they reached the back exit of the club, Tetsuo was there. The two boys stopped running, and stood, panting and staring at each other. Hana took a step forward. “You’re not going to touch my brother,” he told Tetsuo threateningly.

Tetsuo swung at Hana, but a voice barked out, “Hold it right there.”

The three figures wheeled around and were stunned by the sight of Kiyota Nobunaga. He had a fierce expression on his face, and he held out a small leather case, which flipped open to reveal a badge and a photo ID with the words ‘Drug Enforcement Agency’ on the top.

They were still staring at Kiyota when he stepped towards Tetsuo and clapped handcuffs on him. The commotion had drawn the attention of some of the people backstage, who came in to look. One of them was the EMI records guy.

“Nobu? What are you doing here?”

Kiyota looked up in surprise. “Shinichi! I was, er…” he looked down to Tetsuo’s handcuffed wrists. “Working,” he concluded lamely.

The other man grinned. “It’s so weird to meet like this,” he said.

“Excuse me,” Hana interrupted. “Who ARE you?”

“Don’t worry, Hana,” Kiyota said, smiling. “If your brother testifies against them, he could get off with a very light sentence.”

“You’re a /police officer/?”

“Uh-huh,” Kiyota said. “Sorry about lying to you earlier, but I was working undercover; for what it’s worth, I AM a fan of Androgynous Zone. . .”

“So you weren’t stalking me…”

Maki raised his eyebrows at that. “Something you want to tell me, Nobu- kun?”

The other boy turned beet red. “It was all just part of the job.” He turned. “I guess I have to go,” he muttered, taking Tetsuo with him.

“See you!” called out Maki, smiling at the confused looking Hana and Kiminobu. “He’s a close friend of mine,” he said by way of explanation. Hana just shrugged.

“Attention all participants,” the announcer droned, before continuing, “the judges have made their decision!”

Hana stared at his brother as his heart stopped. That second stretched long, becoming a moment he knew he’d always remember, probably the most important moment in his life. At that time, to him, there wasn’t any yesterdays or tomorrows. There was only today, that moment. That was all he lived for.

“All of you know that the winner of this year’s Battle of the Bands will get a recording contract from EMI. That’s right . . . the band that wins today’s competition are going to be BIG. Do you want to know who they are???”

The crowd screamed out an affirmative, “YES!”

“Yes,” Hana whispered to himself, afraid that he might suffocate from the lack of air. “Just tell us already…”

Everyone was holding their breath as the announcer took the slip of paper from one of the judges, took a look, and smiled.

“The recording contract goes to – and I might add that this is a unanimous decision – it goes to ANDROGYNOUS ZONE!!”

The club exploded with the screams. Fujima and Mitsui raced to the stage, dragging Rukawa with them. Hana let out a breath of relief.

“Will Miyamoto Hana please come forward.”

At that moment Sendoh joined the band on the stage. The audience started another chant, “We want Hana. We want Hana. We want Hana.”

Hana closed his eyes as the tears fell. He couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. “What I always wanted,” he whispered reverently, even as he wiped off the tears and went onstage with his easy, confident smile.

“Here’s your prize,” Sendoh said, stepping forward to hold out a signed contract with EMI.

When Hana saw Sendoh, it was as if all of his happy thoughts crashed to the ground. /What am I going to do about him?/ he wondered sadly, remembering all the things Sendoh did for the band, and the way it was when he and Sendoh were together.

Hana took the contract and smiled at the crowd. “Thank you,” he murmured into the microphone. “This really means a lot to all of us. Of course, ” He gave a mischievous smile before adding, “we knew we’d win anyway… because I’m a tensai!”

Fujima just let out a laugh. Rukawa rolled his eyes. Mitsui snorted. The crowd went berserk as they screamed out his name, along with his band members’.

/We’re going to be famous/.

When everything has quieted down, Hana explained everything that happened that night (including what happened to Kiminobu and Tetsuo, and who Kiyota really was) to Fujima, Rukawa and Mitsui. Mitsui’s eyes narrowed with anger when he heard what Tetsuo did.

He stood up and told Kiminobu, “we need to talk.”

“Wh-what?” Kiminobu looked up at his ex-boyfriend in confusion. “Hisashi –” After a look at Mitsui’s face he decided not to point out that tonight was Hana’s night, and an argument would just make his brother’s day bad. He stood up and followed Mitsui out of the club.

“Who wants to bet they get back together?” Fujima murmured.

“Hana, can I talk to you for a while?”

He closed his eyes when he heard Sendoh’s voice. “Sure.” He got up and walked towards the dressing room, which was empty by now – all the others have gone back home.

“Do you know, Taoka wants to buy out your contract,” Sendoh said as he closed the door behind them.

“Really?”

“Hai. He could never see what’s in front of his face. And–” He turned to look at Hana. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.” He smiled. “I think you know what it is.”

“Akira..” Hana said softly, his mind going frantic over excuses why he and Sendoh couldn’t be together.

I want to concentrate on my music and you would only distract me.

I’m a guy.

Hana opened his eyes to see Sendoh right in front of him, his face nearing for a kiss. “You can take back the contract,” he said suddenly and loudly.

Sendoh drew back in shock. “WHAT?”

“I said, you can take back the contract,” Hana said quietly. “I don’t deserve it. I lied to you. I’m not –” he paused to catch his breath, “I’m not who you think I am.”

Sendoh only stared at him.

“I’m not a girl, okay? I can’t like you. It’s all wrong.”

Sendoh was still quiet. Suddenly angry, Hana gave him a small shove.

“What? Can’t you hear me? I’M A GUY! You liking me is wrong! I lied to you, okay?” He let the contract flutter from his hands onto the floor as he ran out of the room.

-TBC-

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