• Ritsu sighed and pulled his red hoodie closer around himself, his long honey blonde hair blowing about in the wind. It was a cold day in October, Halloween to be exact. The 17 year old had been living on the streets on Tokyo for three months now. He had left his home town back in July after his best friend’s funeral. That town held too many painful memories for him now. Ritsu cast his gaze up to the cloudy sky as he felt ice cold raindrops begin to fall. His life had been nothing but bad luck so far. His family was gone, his closest friend murdered and now he was homeless. He was wandering the streets of Tokyo, playing small gigs to earn some money to feed himself and saving the rest so that he could maybe one day rent a cheap flat.

    The teen adjusted the strap of his guitar case on his shoulder with a sigh. He was on his way to one of the many live houses in Tokyo to play an acoustic set, trying to earn some money for food and if he was lucky a place to sleep for the night. What he didn’t know was that tonight would change his life, for the better.

    As he stepped into the club, he looked around, taking in the familiar set up. He'd played here before a few times. He knew the teens and young adults would be dancing in the 'pit', as it was called, while some heavy metal or 'Visual Kei' band was playing. Those bands always had at least one guy dressed convincingly as a girl, sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. It was an area in front of the stage that should be a dance floor but often played host to mosh pits.

    Right now the only thing to be heard above the loud chatter of many people was the song "LEMONed I Scream" by the long dead, but still adored, ‘hide’. That fun loving man with his bright pink hair and baggy fluorescent clothing was the reason Ritsu had ever even picked up a guitar in the first place. He smiled at the memory before walking up to the bar, attempting to get the attention of the bar tender.

    "Hello I'm Ritsu Ishihara, I'm supposed to be play a set tonight," he told the middle aged man when he was finally noticed. The teen’s voice was deep and velvety, like honey. It was a pleasant sound to hear. The bartender nodded and gave him a piece of laminated card which the teen then hung around his neck, his backstage pass. The man then led him to a door beside the stage and let him in.

    “There’s another band before you so you’re up in about half an hour. Just listen for your name being called,” the bartender told him in a rough voice, probably made that way by years of smoking. Ritsu nodded and made his way into the dressing rooms, dropping his bag in one and taking out his guitar. After checking that it was in tune he began to play a randomly picked tune, plucking the strings quickly with practiced ease.
    Suddenly another guitar join in the melody, the chords being played higher up the fret board. Ritsu looked up, his honey blonde hair falling in his bright green eyes. The other person in the room was a man with warm brown eyes, long black hair with deep purple streaks in it and he was wearing a form fitting black top, tight black shorts with black garters holding up shimmering purple legwarmers.

    “H-hello,” Ritsu stuttered, his hands stopping their movements on the strings of the guitar. He wasn’t good at making friends with new people. The other teen smiled energetically and put down his guitar.

    “You’re good” he told him, still smiling. He pretty much bounced over to the other chair in the room, which was actually a sofa, and sat himself down on it. “What’s your name?” he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly and leaning forward, supporting himself with his elbows on his knees.

    “Ritsu, and yours?” he inquired, holding out his hand for the other to shake. The tall teen took his hand and shook it lightly.

    “Yukihiro” he told him just as the name of a band was called. He looked towards the door and pouted. “We’ll I have to go… Oh but, give me a call” he said and handed that boy a bit of paper with a number on. “Our band is gonna need a new guitarist when our other one leaves after tonight.” He explained before running out of the room.

    As Ritsu watched Yukihiro’s band perform from the side area of the stage he smiled to himself, his sad green eyes now gazing hopefully at the teens on stage.

    Maybe he wouldn’t be homeless for much longer.

    Maybe he would join the band and they’d make it big and he could buy his own apartment, or one of the members would let him live with them until they did.

    Maybe his luck was changing.