Like a Demon

Jayne woke up in her bed to Ray bouncing up and down on top of her. “Mama! Wake up, Mama! Wake up, wake up, wake up!” he chanted, bouncing harder and harder until she groaned and moved him off of her.

“Good morning baby.” She smiled, kissing his nose.

“I’m not a baby!” he giggled, letting her lift him up and carry him to the kitchen to join the rest of her band.

“Good morning, my love!” Mei sang, kissing her on the cheek as she set her son down. “What’s got you in such a good mood?” she asked worriedly as Dex walked in and froze.

“Go put pants on!” he hissed as Ray shouted Toshiya’s name excitedly, followed by the sound of several male voices laughing.

“Please, for the love of god tell me, Dir en Grey isn’t sitting in our living room?”

“No, Kyo’s in the bathroom.” Mei shrugged before pushing her back into the bedroom and throwing her some clothes.

As soon as she walked into the crowded living room after putting on a black pair of jeans, and white T-shirt, she was pulled into a tight hug that took the breath right out of her. Before she could figure out who had her, someone else pulled her into a hug that was twice as suffocating as the one before, before she was finally rescued by two sets of arms pulling her to safety. When she opened her eyes, she saw Die and Toshiya standing in front of her grinning ear to ear, Karou on one side of her, and Toshiya on the other, both trying not to laugh as she gasped and panted for air.

“Nice to see you guys too.” She laughed finally, turning around and pulling her rescuers into a three-way hug, kissing them both on the cheek.

“Why didn’t we get a kiss?” Toshiya demanded.

“You didn’t rescue me from a guitarist and bassist who call their death grips a hug.” She smirked before hugging Kyo quickly and sitting down on the floor beside her son, who was playing cars with Drew.

“Why are you all here? I thought we were meeting you at the shop?” she asked finally.

“Yeah… about the shop, Jay.” Dex frowned.

“What happened?”

“It caught fire last night. Lucky we had our gear for that show last night; otherwise we would’ve lost it with everything that was in the shop. The building burned to the ground; there’s nothing left.” Drew explained softly.

Without saying a word Jayne jumped up and took her phone off of the table before dialing Mel’s number.

“Pick up… pick up, please Mel, answer!”

“I did, what?”

“Mel! Oh my god, are you okay?”

“I’m fine; I was able to get out with Veronica. The only things that got hurt can be replaced. Everything’s fine, except, we all lost our jobs. No one works at Sound anymore. The shop doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Are you serious?” Jayne breathed, going into a panic knowing she now had no income.

“Yeah, hey I have to go.”

“Okay, bye Mel.”

“Bye.”

Jayne instantly slid down the wall and started crying quietly; not wanting anyone in the other room to hear her, but the apartment was just too small; everyone knew she was crying.

“Jayne-chan?” Shinya asked softly as he and Mei walked over to her, leaving Dex and Drew to keep Ray, who wanted to “fix Mama”, and other five four concerned men out of the kitchen.

“I’m okay, Sh-Shinya.”

“Hey, no you’re not. You’re crying, Jay, what happened?” Mei pushed.

“Mei, everyone at the shop lost our jobs… How, how am I going to take care of this?”

“We’ll be okay, I promise. We’ll be okay.” Mei smiled, pulling her friend to her feet and holding her hands on either side of her face until she stopped crying, at which point she wiped the tears away and pushed her into the bathroom to “fix her face”.

“She’ll be okay, come on.” She smiled, pulling the concerned drummer into the living room before ordering everyone to ignore the fact Jay was crying.

When Jay came back, Ray leapt from sitting between Karou and Kyo on the couch, to grabbing her legs. Stepping on Karou’s crotch as he climbed over him to get to her.

Kyo started laughing instantly as Karou’s face contorted in pain while he tried not to make a scene. It was a failed attempt, as he grunted and pinched his knees together, holding himself and nearly falling forwards off the couch.

“He didn’t mean to,” Drew muttered while trying not to laugh out of respect. If it had been Dex trying to stay on the couch like that, he would have pulled a muscle laughing by now.

“He knows.” Mei snickered; translating his pained and grunted Japanese.

“Why was you crying?” Ray demanded while tugging on his mother’s pants legs, demanding her attention. “I was just sad over something, don’t worry about it. We have to get you ready to sing for your school!” she smiled, picking him up and waiting for Kaoru to recover before leading everyone out the door and to their van.

“We’re going to fit everyone in here… how?” Dex questioned. “Easy, you, Kyo, Karou, Toshiya, Die, and Shinya take the van. Drew, myself, Ray, and Mei take the car.” She answered, earning laughter from Drew. “The car won’t start, remember?” he reminded. “Right… Dex, them, and Ray take the van.” She sighed.

“How are you getting there then?” Dex demanded, already knowing the answer.

“We’ll walk, of course. Meet you there!” she waved, kissing Ray on the forehead before walking off in the direction of the school.

“This here is why I put the guys in the van.” Jayne laughed as the sky unleashed pouring rain down upon them. “Yeah, God forbid Kyo get his hair messed up.” Mei smirked as she danced along side Jayne and Drew.

“I would be more worried about Die, he seemed more conscious on stage over how he looked, than Kyo did.” She laughed.

“True, but I think it’d be the drummer who cries over his hair. He seems a little… sweet.” Drew announced.

“Shinya is not gay!” Mei shouted while Jayne laughed. “I don’t know, Mei… as much as you love him, he is a little too nice.” Jayne informed.

“He’s your friend; you should know he likes girls!”

“He does, as a friend.” Drew laughed

“Shut up.” Mei spat and walked faster, breaking into a run when they finally made it to the school half an hour later.

As soon as he saw her, Shinya had Jayne in a tight relieved hug. “We were just about to go out looking for you!” Dex explained as Shinya let go of Jayne and hugged Mei.

“Yeah, well it’s a long walk.” Drew panted, following everyone to their seats at the front row to watch the play.

Every kid on the stage during Ray’s class’s performance was so nervous they could hardly sing, except for Ray, and his friend Jun. Both of them stepped up to the center of the stage and sang their part of “This Land is Our Land” as a duet in Japanese and English.

Jayne was so proud of her son that she started crying the same way she had cried watching him perform with Dir en Grey the night before. Jun’s parents were seated beside them, also beyond proud of their son, giving a standing ovation when the two bowed to the audience, holding hands and waving Japanese and American flags while the other kids in their class waved flags that reflected their families’ heritage.

Jun’s father’s smile turned into a scowl when Kyo stood beside him, applauding with the rest of his band and Ray’s family. Both young boys were confused when he took Jun by the hand and pulled him away from Ray and Jayne, walking away without a word to either of them.

“Hell no.” Drew muttered after catching what Jun’s mother said to her son on their way out, after ordering him to stop crying and get into their car.

“What just happened?” Dex questioned as Jayne explained to Ray that Jun’s parents were probably tired and wanted to rest, and that’s why he couldn’t play with his friend.

“They don’t want Jun and Ray playing together anymore, because of who Ray’s mother associates with.”

“Dude, I know they don’t like us, but damn. It wasn’t a problem before.”

“It isn’t us, it’s them.” Mei frowned sadly, “He was okay until he noticed it was Kyo standing beside him. That’s when he turned into a stern and bitter man, and took Jun out as quickly as possible.”

“We’re very sorry. Perhaps after we leave, they will see that you and your son are not bad influences on their son, and allow them to remain friends.” Karou frowned, understanding what Mei had said, before leading his band to the door after giving his apology.

“What? No, no you don’t have to leave. They will never be open-minded like that; they are a very old fashioned family. Jun is going to be a doctor, it’s been decided since before he was born. He’s already engaged to be married; he’ll meet her when he’s nineteen, and marry when he’s twenty. By then she will be either eighteen, or almost eighteen.

“Your reputation isn’t the highest in their standards, but Ray adores you five. Just look at the way he looks at you, you’re like gods in his eyes! If you want to help Ray, stay and come to dinner with us. I’m sure he could use your help tonight anyway.” Jayne smiled.

Die, Shinya, and Kyo all broke out in approving grins, while Toshiya looked at Karou with his best puppy pout, silently pleading for his approval. “All right, where are we going?” he chuckled, unable to contain his quiet laughter as Ray jumped up and down excitedly and grabbed his hand to pull him to the car.

“There’s a small family owned Japanese restaurant Mei goes to.” She answered.

“Where are we going?” Dex demanded as they tried to fit everyone into the van, since the rain was still pouring down, and their new rock star friends refused to allow anyone to walk in it.

“Tochikura’s.” Mei answered happily.

“You just want to show Mich off to the band.” Drew snickered.

“Shut up! Michio is not the reason I go to Tochikura’s. I go for the food. I go home if I want Michio.” She smirked and climbed into the back of the van where they would usually keep their gear.

Dex drove while Ray, Toshiya, Shinya, Karou, Die, Kyo, and Drew took the seats, and Jayne, and Mei packed themselves into the back behind Toshiya Die and Ray. When they made it to the restaurant an older man was standing at the door smiling ear to ear waiting on them.

“Michio told us to expect you to celebrate here tonight, after Ray-chan’s performance.” He smiled in heavily accented English.

“Of course, where else would we go?” Jayne smiled, bowing respectfully before taking her shoes off at the door.

“With such well-known guests, I would have expected a nicer restaurant. Not a diner built from an old man’s home.”

“You and I both know your wife makes the best food in the city, Mr. Tochikura.” Mei shrugged.

“Is that the voice of my future daughter in law I hear?” Mrs. Tochikura beamed as she walked out of the kitchen.

Mei looked down at her feet and blushed as Michio jogged in and hugged her before kissing her lightly on the lips.

“Ew!” Ray complained burying his face in what he thought was Drew’s leg, but since he and Toshiya were wearing the same colored pants, he was mistaken.

“Ah, Ray-chan, there will come a day when you no longer find that to be disgusting.” Mr. Tochikura nodded before leading the group to their table.

Without waiting for them to order, Mrs. Tochikura started bringing out food, setting out large portions of everything on the menu before retreating with her husband to the back room to let the musicians dine in peace.

“This is incredible!” Die marveled before refilling his plate. “Real, homemade Japanese food has been hard for us to find on this tour.” Shinya laughed, also happily digging in. “We told you it was the best restaurant in the city.” Mei grinned proudly as Ray accidentally failed with his chopsticks, and hit Kyo in the head with a piece of chicken.

“I am so sorry! He’s still learning how to use them, and as much as I’d like to teach him, I’m worse than he is.” Jayne explained quickly, hoping he would understand and not be offended by her son’s unintentional actions.

“Would you like some help?” Toshiya laughed after a third piece of food had fallen.

Ray just looked up at him shyly and nodded, making Mei laugh and pull out her cell phone to tape the event.

“First, hold them like this,” he instructed, positioning Ray’s little fingers properly, “Now try moving this one, like this.”

Ray got it to shift before dropping it.

“That’s all right, they’re tricky. Try it again!” he smiled, waiting in calm amusement until the kid succeeded. “Great! Now, try picking up that noodle there, and eating it!”

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so proud to eat a noodle.” Drew laughed as everyone applauded Ray’s little success. “He just needed a good teacher.” Toshiya smirked and sat down.

“Yeah.” He laughed.

“Wait, stop. Since when do you understand Japanese?” Dex demanded, glaring at Drew.

“Uhm, with as much as Mei speaks it, and as much time as we spend here, added to the music Ray, Jay, and Mei listen to, do you really need to ask that question? I just picked things up here and there until I got to the point I can understand it.”

“And you’ve been acting like you can’t understand it this whole time?”

“Keeps me from having to speak it.” Drew shrugged and continued eating his meal with a grin as Dex pouted and ate in silence.

Their entire dinner was full of laughs and jokes, and playful insults to each other until they were politely asked to leave so that the Tochikura family could close up and get some sleep. Michio followed Mei out to take her to their house, while everyone else piled into the van.

“Right, where’s your hotel?” Jayne yawned, as she got ready to pull out.

“Actually, we can’t go back to the hotel. We were found by a swarm of new fans there, and according to the text message we’ve all gotten, it isn’t safe to return.” Karou explained.

“So where are you staying?”

“We don’t know yet.” Shinya answered honestly.

“Then you’re staying with us. We only have one bed, but you guys can have it; the floor is comfortable enough.” She decided and started driving.

When they got to the apartment, the guys were led into the bedroom by Drew, while Dex, Jayne, and Ray set up in the living room. Of course sharing a bed between the five of them was awkward for the rock stars, eventually ending in everyone sleeping in the living room. They all planned on playing and joking around for a while, but that didn’t happen. Within an hour everyone was asleep on the floor, or in Kyo’s case the coffee table.