The Gang that Rocks

Chapter VIII. Tough luck

"No sleep again?" he asked, popping his head into her room.

"Eek!" Chizuru jumped on her futon. She'd gotten absorbed in the book and forgotten about time. "You scared me, Okita-san."

"How about being scared a little bit more? And in good company." Okita flashed her a promoter's smile. "Got some horror movies."

"Sounds good!" she answered, following him to his room.

Due to Okita's bad influence, Chizuru totally screwed up her daily schedule. They developed a habit of night film-watching when they both couldn't sleep. Chizuru was not much into films, but she didn't mind an occasional movie in Okita's company. He often asked her to watch horrors although they didn't scare him in the slightest. In fact, he found them laughable and amusing. Chizuru was not sure what was the most entertaining for him - the movie itself or teasing her for her displays of nervousness. All sudden loud sounds made her shudder.

They occupied their usual places in front of Okita's laptop when the alert of his phone broke the silence. Chizuru heard the same sound from her room.

"The band's chatroom," muttered Okita.

The pack had two chatrooms set up in the messenger. The first one was called "official". It had zero tolerance for twaddle and mostly contained Hijikata-san's announcements. The second one was informal and contained the occasional flood about this and that. The latest hot topic was Chizuru's move, and the jokes and insinuations were driving her mad. She still wasn't used to the rough and ready manners that prevailed among the pack. A couple of times Chizuru had teamed up with Okita to successfully troll everyone in the chat.

"Hijikata-san isn't sleeping either," noted Chizuru.

"Yeah, he doesn't sleep much," answered Okita. "He's so busy after all. Look." He showed her the phone.

"Urgent meeting tomorrow after 5 p.m. VERY IMPORTANT!! No skipping!"

"Tch. It's been a week and a half since the last show and he's already come up with some very important shit," muttered Okita.

"At least we won't oversleep it."

"True enough." He cracked a smile and turned on the movie.

...

Chizuru's first week in the new place made a mockery of her expectations. The things she was scared of the most turned out to run smoothly. At the same time, she faced several unexpected problems. Chizuru was not an experienced cook and she didn't know how to organize their meals and how to divide the duties. However, it somehow settled by itself. To everyone's surprise, Okita seemed to be a comfortable neighbour for her.

Using a common bathroom had promised to be confusing, but Okita carried his bathing belongings to the first floor and left the room for her.

The headquarters turned out to be a real public thoroughfare. Okita couldn't find a worse place to cradle his privacy. Besides their frequent rehearsals, the band found tons of reasons to gather. Saitou-san was a regular visitor for breakfast to work over the new pieces. Chizuru was confused when she bumped into Saitou-san in their kitchen for the first time. He could be very sneaky at times. Hijikata-san liked to drop by for any possible reason. The rhythm-and-vocal section also didn't miss a chance to pay a visit.

Like never before, Chizuru was feeling alive and involved. Little by little the crack in her shell grew. Her time was filled with her favorite work, and she started to feel that her life was finally on the right track.

...

"Look, guys, it's Niimi-san's car!" Heisuke-kun exclaimed, turning away from the window. The pack was sitting in the living room. Five p.m., full team, no delays.